2006 Subaru Legacy: adaptive cruise control problems

Filed Jan 30, 2018 · Acceleration · 137,713 miles · NH

While driving in traffic all of a sudden the gas pedal stops working, the check engine light illuminates the cruise control light illuminates but the pedal has no effect on the engine the car slows very quickly and comes close to causing an accident. I have checked forums on the web and found where many others have had same issues. The forum is subaruoutback.org please check this sight the code is p2138 any help will be appreciated

Filed Jan 27, 2017 · Acceleration, Engine · 80,000 miles · DE

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 subaru legacy. While driving various speeds, the vehicle lost acceleration and the check engine and cruise control warning indicators illuminated. The contact coasted to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the technician could not find a code to identify the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.

Filed Apr 8, 2016 · Fuel system · 149,000 miles · NC

Two occurrences so far on wednesday march 23 and tuesday april 5. Vehicle suddenly displays check engine light and the cruise control light flashes and vehicle drops into "limp mode." problem is apparently due to wear on the potentiometers in the drive-by-wire system. This wear causes different readings which makes the motor think something is wrong with the pedal and cuts the vehicle speed to roughly 5 MPH. First occurrence driving along at posted speed of 45 MPH. Second instance trying to leave from a stoplight, got into the intersection and the vehicle speed dropped, was barely able to get vehicle out of intersection. (cel code p 2138 - throttle position sensor)

Filed Mar 20, 2016 · Engine · 170,000 miles · PA

Was in cruise control around 45 MPH, came to a stop and ce and cc lights illuminated, and gas pedal was dissabled, so a fellow motorist helped me push the car away from the intersection. After turning engine on and off several times throttle control came back and I could drive home (ce and cc lights still on). I replaced the gas pedal and reset the lights. Similar problem reoccurred on way to work, ce and cc lights came on but still had throttle control and cc was inactive. I suspect a disconnect in the drive by wire logic for the gas pedal versus the cc.

Filed Nov 18, 2015 · Acceleration, Engine · 140,000 miles · MA

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 subaru legacy. The contact stated that the vehicle would not accelerate when the accelerator pedal was depressed. In addition, the check engine and the cruise control warning lights remained illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 140,000. The VIN was not available.

Filed May 21, 2015 · 88,111 miles · CO

The engine light and cruise control light came on & remained. Car slowed to a crawl. When car restarted could drive at a normal speed, but warning lights, listed as above, remained on. Took in to mechanic who stated the throttle pedal needed to be replaced as apparently there is an inherent defect (has happened to many others). Technically should be a recall, but so far is not!

Filed Feb 17, 2015 · Acceleration · 52,000 miles · VI

I was driving about 40 MPH when I realized that I had no control of the pedal/gas. When I looked at the dash board the check engine light was on and the cruise control light was flashing. I had to pull over and when I put the car in park the vehicle revved high. It took about 15 minutes before the car restarted. I was able to drive home. The diagnostic machine indicated that it was the throttle pedal position sensor.code p2138. The throttle body was replaced. I am still having the same issues.

Filed Dec 28, 2014 · Acceleration, Electrical · 36,000 miles · NH

I was driving with my son (9) during the evening of 12/16/14 on side roads looking at christmas lights. I was going 15-20 MPH. Night was dry and clear. Suddenly, the check engine light came on steady, cruise control light began flashing and I had absolutely no acceleration! I pulled over and put the car in "park". Engine revved between 2000-3000 even though I was not pressing anything, just idling in p. Turned car off for a min, back on, dash lights still on - ce & cc. Still had no control over the gas pedal but when taken out of p, car got itself up to 15 MPH somehow. We were very close to home so coasted home and into the driveway. When shifted to p at home, engine revved again. Next morning I drove it to school, ce & cc light still on but car drove ok. When I drove it again, dash lights were off and it drove fine. Same exact issue happened again on 12/23/14, again at a low speed on a side road, thankfully. Error code on the car is p2138 - throttle position sensor. There is no warning before this happens, car is fine and then suddenly it is not. From what I see online, this has been a common occurrence lately with this car. I am terrified that it will happen while I am in traffic or on the highway and cause a serious accident! Please investigate this with subaru, I see that a lot of people have trouble getting it resolved and I don't have the time or money to pay for something that appears to be a common subaru defect. Thank you for your time and attention to this serious issue!

Filed Nov 9, 2014 · Acceleration, Electrical · 92,000 miles · DC

My 2006 subaru outback ll bean has been cutting out on me while driving. One incident was on the highway at high speed. The gas pedal went limp and I had to navigate over 2 lanes of traffic to get to the shoulder. Gas pedal was completely unresponsive. Check engine light came on and the cruise control light began flashing. Every time this has happened it was either raining or snowing outside. Took the outback into the dealer and was told they weren't sure what the cause was because they have never seen it before. They suggested replacing the gas pedal assembly, but they were not certain. The same situation happened once when I turned on the cruise control.

Filed Sep 29, 2014 · Acceleration, Electrical · 66,100 miles · MD

While crossing a four-lane road, the accelerator pedal went limp and caused the engine to become unresponsive. The car would not accelerate and barely made it across the lanes of traffic to the median safely. The check engine light illuminated and when placed into park, the engine revved to approximately 2500rpm without my foot being on the pedal. I turned the engine off, and restarted it only to have it rev again on its own to 2500rpm. It took 5-6 attempts to restart it before the engine idled appropriately and the accelerator became responsive again. The check engine light remained on and obd code p2318 was returned when I plugged in a scanner to the port. This is not the first time this event has occurred; it has been random and sporadic for about 8 months now, sometimes occurring as often as 3-4 times per week to going 2 months in between episodes. Speed does not seem to be a factor, it's happened at both freeway and parking lot speeds, in all kinds of weather and at various temperatures, with the cruise control on and with the cruise control off.

Filed Jun 28, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 63,892 miles · CO

The vehicle stopped responding to throttle pedal input, resulting in having to pull off the road, across lanes of traffic. Engine light comes on and cruise control light flashes. After restarting 3 times the lights go away. Dealer couldn't replicate so would not cover under warranty. This has happened on several occasions since, usually only in summer. Code is p2138 and appears to be a consistent problem with subaru vehicles.

Filed Dec 30, 2013 · Acceleration · 64,000 miles · AZ

Tapped brake pedal to disable cruise control. No throttle control when resuming manual speed control. Coasted to a stop through multiple lanes of freeway traffic. Engine kept running possibly at raise idle speed when stopped. No loss of power steering or brakes.turned key off. Restarted after maybe less than a minute. Throttle control resumed. Check engine light was on. Drove to multiple locations to get codes read. After 2 or 3 restarts check engine light went out. Found a shop to read codes. Code p2138 in memory. Have removed throttle pedal assembly and tested position sensor resistance values. Some readings may appear to be slightly out of range indicated in service manual. Intend to recheck readings and possibly replace pedal assembly. May also check harness resistance and/or consult dealer. Mileage reported is approximate.