2005 Subaru Legacy: check engine light

Filed Sep 20, 2022 · Acceleration · NV

While driving, cruise control and check engine light comes on and then the car won't accelerate. Engine revs really high and when pushing accelerator pedal, car will not move. The check engine code states "throttle position sensor". This has happened more than 20 times

Filed Nov 18, 2020 · Acceleration · 141,000 miles · CA

Driving southbound on hwy 17 at 60mph 11/15/2020 engine suddenly went to idle. Throttle became unresponsive. Check engine light illuminated. I drifted to safety off the highway. Engine still idling, throttle unresponsive. After checking under the hood, I restarted the car and normal throttle response returned. I cautiously drove home and read the code for the cel: p2138 -- throttle position sensor voltage correlation. A quick search found others have solved this problem by changing throttle control to an updated version that uses hall effect method instead of a rheostat. I inquired with previous owner of this car and found it had happened once before.

Filed Nov 6, 2018 · Acceleration, Airbags · 56,000 miles · PA

Takata recall,was talking to dealership,but lights still indicate airbag ,cruz control , check engine light came on.was taken to dealership for repair and reset.but I don't think it was done. Other recalls on break line coating's not done , I lost break lines while driving,at three different times.subaru issued a second recall , with explicit attention to the area where the line connects to the break for rust.the dealer was to to replace any break lines showing damage in this area.this recall was taken in and again was not replaced . They coated maybe on top of the rust. I had the remaining break line replace asa percausetion measure ,all cost to me.seat belt not retracting , when released.,this was replaced twice .it still does it and the webbing I cought up in the door closesing. The rug hook drives side replace three times warning lights still on ,for cruzcontrol,does not functioning. I used it maybe 3 time's since l bought the car new.went through the first set of tires,cubbing do to warped rodtors in not even 700 miles.still doesn't stay in alinement.eats tires ,4sets by 67'00 miles.dash electric ,cd ,heat radio, security system defo all one computer panel, would wear battery dead over night. I had to plug it in to slow chargerthat shut down went battery was charged.untill a correct replacement ,unit could be found.took awhile, very limited legacy wagon. I have a brief case af picture s and work orders in plastic sleeves.when time for warranty was up , I had less then 20'000 miles on the car.subaru corporate,paid some of the serious fuel issue it had. I have not had a collision what does vehicle. I t has been maintainedregularl a peice of rubber trim was coming of the day l brought it home, I photoed this, it's first picture in my book.the dealership tryed glueing it on.it never stayed on . I should have been replaced as metal clip's in trimrustnowonfender.

Filed May 14, 2017 · Fuel system · 70,000 miles · VT

Fuel leaking from top of gas tank. No collison. Gas smell began as check engine light lit and cruise control light started slow blink. Smell has gradually grown stronger. Smell strongest on the passenger side. Smell sometimes enters car interior.

Filed Dec 19, 2012 · Electrical, Fuel system · 93,000 miles · GA

For the second time my check engine light has come on and my car has gone into a fail safe mode while driving (eliminating the ability to accelerate). The code the computer provides is p2138, which refers to the throttle position sensors (there are two) not being in agreement. I took the car to white bear lake subaru in white bear lake, mn to have this issue resolved. They did not replicate the check engine light and therefore would not perform any service. The issue again happened, this time over 1,000 miles away in georgia and I was almost run over by multiple vehicles as I tried to get to the side of the road - the car was not responding. Therefore, this issue is a serious safety hazard.

Filed Oct 14, 2012 · Acceleration, Electrical · 89,600 miles · MN

Car has been very slow to reduce rpms when shifting gears or when stopped (and in neutral) for the past few weeks. Today, when pulling into a starbucks, the car surged forward. Luckily I have a stick shift and just pushed the clutch in. After surging, the check engine light came on. Using a diagnostic tool, I found that the car is throwing error code p2138. This indicates that the accelerator pedal position (app) sensor is either bad or has a poor connection. The detail on the error stats "the ECM has detected that the app sensor 1 and app sensor 2 disagree more than 4.5% for less than 1 second." essentially, one or both throttle-by-wire circuits isn't functioning properly. I went online and found that this is an all too common problem and some folks have found that their cars are surging forward, threatening safety.

Filed Mar 9, 2010 · Engine · 64,448 miles · NH

Check engine light came on, pulled over immediately and checked oil on the side of the road also looked through owners manual. The oil was a quart low, turbo making suction noises, pick up from a stop or quick throttle to pass on high way was gone. Added a quart of oil and had an oil change & check engine light diag done the next day ( drove maybe 60 mile with light on). After the oil change metallic noise from passenger side of engine could be heard and exhaust was pouring out thick smoke. The code was p011 timing issue, turbo banjo (oil line filter) clogged. Car has 64k on it oil changed every 4000. Found this is a very common issue that is a very hot topic on many subaru forums. Subaru will not cover under this issue warranty sighting that consumer maintenance caused sludge to build up on the banjo bolt filter. Yet subaru has no mention of cleaning or maintenance of the turbo banjo bolt filter in the owners manual. This issue caused my car and others to have engine damage requiring the customer to fit a 4 to 11 thousand dollar bill to fix. Subaru should issue a recall and refund customers that had to pay out of pocket.

Filed Dec 4, 2009 · Engine · 104,000 miles · CT

The turbo in my 2005 subaru legacy gt split in half when I was driving home from work. It made a squealing noise, with no warning lights prior to the turbo going, however exactly when it happened the check engine light came on with the cruise light blinking. I was told by a certified subaru technician that the turbos in these cars do not just split in half and rarely have problems. However, I was told about the banjo bolt oil filter located under the turbo, unseeable when getting a routine oil change, however this filter needs to be cleaned otherwise it clogs and starves the turbo of any oil. I was never aware when purchasing this car of that problem, and nowhere in my vehicles manual does it say anything about the banjo bolt oil filter and how it needs to be cleaned on a regular basis. The turbo in my car is the only part that needs to be replaced, however finding a turbo for the 05 legacy gt is pretty expensive, and the used turbos are even harder to locate than any of the other 05 subaru models. I am currently still without a car and I believe the turbos in the 05 legacy gt's are defective due to the banjo bolt oil filter clogging excessively.

Filed Aug 19, 2008 · Engine, Transmission · 74,000 miles · OR

The letter I sent to subaru of america (edited): I am the owner of a 2005 legacy gt. On august 5th, 2008 my family and I were headed to boise, idaho from bend, oregon. About an hour and a half from home I noticed that the engine was revving abnormally high to maintain speed. I called the shop back in bend (thomas sales and service) and they recommended that I have the car towed back to them. When we arrived back in bend the tech at the dealer inspected the car and determined that it was a turbo issue, as I had suspected. The service manager at the dealer who informed me the issue would be covered under warranty. Parts were ordered and service was scheduled. Several days later I was contacted again by the service manager who informed me that since my car was at 74k miles (but still inside the 5 year warranty period) it would not be covered and that the repair costs would be right around $2000. Naturally I was upset with this news. I am a member of the website legacygt.com and started looking around for information regarding my problem and found a service bulletin regarding the banjo bolt screen in the turbo getting clogged. At no time was I ever contacted by subaru or my dealer regarding this potential problem or I would have had it checked out. I am also a member of mysubaru.com and was not informed there either. I have had regular oil changes performed and have performed several myself (I have no record of this in the form of receipts, see attached copies) and the night before we left for boise I checked all the fluids and the air pressure in the tires and found everything was good. I was planning on having the oil changed again in boise. I have always used high quality synthetic oil since after the first couple of changes. What is really troubling is that at no time did I ever get a warning from a check engine light or error code, yet I seemed to have had a catastrophic failure.

Filed Sep 6, 2005 · Electrical, Lights · 2,000 miles · CO

With approximately 2,000 miles on my brand new subaru legacy gt I was driving 80 miles to my home. The lights on my dash were flickering and the cruise control worked, then stopped working when I would try to decrease or increase my speed. Once I got into the canyon about 20 miles from home (a curvy road next to the colorado river) all my interior and exterior lights went off suddenly. I maneuvered my way to the side of the road, shut the car off then turned it back on. Thankfully, the lights came back on. I took the car into the subaru dealership and they didn't find anything. They said they couldn't fix it until the problem was duplicated. My main concern with this statement is that if I crash my car and injure myself or kill myself because the lights went out, it will be fairly difficult for anyone to "duplicate" the problem. Second issue happened about a month later when the cruise control light began flashing and the check engine light came on. I took it to the subaru dealership and they discovered a valve body problem. Meanwhile a day later I was driving and the car would barely move. It felt as if it were stuck in 3rd gear. I took it back in and drove a rental car until the part came in. I have the car back now with the 2nd and 3rd problem fixed, but with still no resolution to the fact that my lights could again shut off while I am driving at night.

Filed Aug 16, 2005 · Engine · 20 miles · NY

At different throttle inputs there is an engine stutter/stumble. This failure is dangerous because it happens often when accelerating. Subaru denies this is a global problem for early production vehicle as does the dealer. There are many posts about this problem at www.legacygt.com including an apparent fix/logic upgrade. Subaru claims that the logic upgrade can only be applied when there is an engine light. Numerous vehicle owners have had the fix done without an engine light and they have seen an improvement. Something needs to be done before someone is killed due to this stutter happening during at the wrong time.