2006 Subaru Outback: check engine light

Filed Oct 14, 2021 · Electrical · ME

OBD Code P2138 (Throttle/ Pedal Position Sensor/ Switch D / E voltage correlation). This code pops up intermittently resulting in the car going into "limp mode". Truly dangerous, if this occurs when traveling at speed in traffic or when pulling away from a stop light. It is hard to pin down; but, it generally happens with high humidity or When you start the car after a cool night when there has been a lot of condensation that has formed on the car. A check of Subaru forums shows that this is a prevalent and / or recurring problem with many Subaru models. (I have also found mention of similar problems with other manufactures.) Dealers and mechanics have confirmed this problem with other Subaru makes. There is no advance warning of this malfunction until after it occurs. Once it occurs the car goes into "limp mode", the check engine light flashes and the cruise control light flashes.

Filed Sep 23, 2021 · Fuel system · 217,000 miles · CA

The contact owns a 2006 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the vehicle shut-off with the check engine and cruise control warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle went into limp mode as the contact steered the vehicle to the shoulder of the highway. Due to the failure, the contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic where they diagnosed the vehicle with a defective throttle body. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was repaired but remained in the possession of the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 217,000.

Filed Mar 2, 2021 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 140,000 miles · UT

I experienced my gas pedal no longer working while driving, car was driving well, on a residential street going about 25 MPH, then there was suddenly no gas/acceleration, had to coast to a stop. The check engine light came on, cruise control light was flashing. About 2 hours later the car was running normal again. The diagnosis code given was p2138 throttle/pedal position sensor/switch d/e voltage correlation. It is very scary and unsafe to suddenly not have power while driving, will be driving on the outside lane until the problem is fixed to I can get out of traffic safely.

Filed Feb 19, 2021 · 156,000 miles · NC

I'm driving along & suddenly all the lights go on & the accelerator pedal does nothing, the car just loses power. I have to pull over, not always in a safe spot, because it won't do anything! Turn the car off & wait 5 minutes. Then it will start back up, with the check engine light & cruise control light blinking. After about 3 restarts those lights turn off. I've had theerror code read & its p2138. When a car just stops driving in the middle of traffic, it's very dangerous & I've been reading online that it's common in this year subaru & it needs to be addressed!! It's been happening more frequently & last time on the freeway!!!

Filed Feb 16, 2021 · Acceleration · 146,000 miles · AK

I was driving straight down the highway going about 50-60 MPH and out of nowhere my throttle peddle failed to work. My car immediately slowed down to a crawl and I had to quickly find a safe place to pull over on a road with barely any shoulder. Luckily not many cars were on the road so I did not have to worry about a pile-up accident. The check engine light came on and stayed on while the cruise control light began to flash on and off. After turning the car off and waiting a few minutes I decided to try and drive the car again since I was in an area with no service and it was below freezing outside. The car started and I could use the throttle peddle and the car drove with no problem for about 5 miles before the same exact thing happened. Luckily someone drove by and I was able to catch a ride with them to get service and call a tow truck. This issue came out of nowhere with no prior issues to the car. This is a very dangerous issue that could result in not only an accident on the road because of the rapid speed decrease but also risks leaving people stranded like I was.

Filed Jan 5, 2021 · Acceleration · 160,000 miles · ID

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 subaru outback. While driving at 35 MPH, the contact attempted to depress the accelerator pedal however, the pedal remained in the upright position. The vehicle shifted into limp mode. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact pulled over, turned off and restarted the vehicle. The vehicle was driven to the residence. The failure recurred several times. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed nor repaired. Neither a dealer nor the manufacturer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 160,000.

Filed Nov 26, 2020 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 156,000 miles · CT

At highway speed the vehicle suddenly lost power. The check engine light came on solid with the cruise control light blinking. The car did not respond to any inputs from the accelerator pedal and began to decelerate. Upon stopping and shifting into neutral the car held itself around 2800rpm with no accelerator input from the driver. After reading the check engine light code, the car gave a p2138 indicating a problem with the pedal position sensor.

Filed Feb 6, 2020 · Acceleration · 122,500 miles · MD

The same problem has happened several times over the past several months, randomly, while vehicle is in motion, both on highway and on auxiliary roads at lower speeds. On 01/20/2020, while driving ~65 MPH on the highway, suddenly, the car lost power--although my foot was on the gas pedal, no acceleration was possible. The car "locked up," and began to decelerate, since no gas was available. The check engine light came on, with the flashing cruise light simultaneously on. Luckily, I was able to move the car across the highway and stop on the shoulder. The car was turned off, and I re-started and drove away. When this same type of event occurred another time, on 02/01/2020, the car was in motion on an auxiliary road, ~30 MPH, in heavy traffic. The car again locked up, no gas was available--the car was only able to drift very slowly. I was able to make it to a stop light, which, luckily, was a red signal. At the stop, I shifted the gear into neutral. While in neutral, the engine revved to ~2500 RPM, even though no pressure was being applied to the accelerator pedal. I had to restart the car twice, but the problem didn't clear right away. After a few minutes, it did. In the several other instances when this very unsafe condition of loss of power/acceleration and revving in neutral has occurred, when the car resets, the check engine light also resets, so the code cannot be read in time. Following the most recent incident, I was able to read the error code: p2138 throttle/pedal position sensor/switch "d"/"e" voltage correlation. I have read many other reports to the federal safety agency and on subaru online forums of this very same problem. I have read that it may have been corrected on subsequent year models, but not on the 2005 and 2006, and dealers don't fix. This is a very serious, dangerous, life-threatening condition. I am afraid to drive my car. Please investigate. Should be a recall.

Filed Feb 2, 2020 · Acceleration · 150,000 miles · MI

P2138 check engine code. Vehicle lost all power while traveling 55mph in 4 lanes of traffic. Gas pedal didn't work and the engine was racing. Thankfully I was able to coast over into the left turn lane. The vehicle would only move forward while in drive and at a slow crawl. I was able to get a large enough window to crawl across the other 2 lanes and crawl into a parking lot. I ended up getting towed from there. When checking for repairs I had a smaller 'subaru only' repair shop tell me this is a very common problem and I am lucky no one was injured. They said they repair 1 to 2 of these each month. My local subaru dealer says they've never heard of the error code or my specific problem. They don't even stock the part I need. The internet has many reports of my specific scenario. This seems like a serious safety concern to me. Something is not right here but no by seems to be doing anything about it.

Filed Sep 9, 2019 · Fuel system · 153,000 miles · MA

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 subaru outback. While driving, the check engine warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to bertera subaru (499 riverdale st, west springfield, ma 01089, (413) 734-4964) and a smoke test was completed. The contact was informed by the technician that a new fuel tank was needed. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact had previously taken the vehicle to the same dealer. At that times, a smoke test was completed and the fuel cap was replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they would provide a small allowance towards the repair or towards a new or used vehicle. The approximate failure mileage was 153,000. The VIN was not available.

Filed Feb 15, 2019 · Acceleration · 175,000 miles · MI

Error code p2138, lots of people are talking about how subaru is not fixing or calling out the defect in the accelerator pedal position sensor. Issues with connections of the plug, water/dirt causing corrosion to not allow it to work, and dealers not fixing the real issue. I was driving and slowing down as light was red but then it changed to green. I pushed gas and wouldn't allow me to accelerate and check engine light came on. 30 seconds later pretty much all of my indicator lights came on. Cruise light was even blinking. Videos I've been watching talk about fly by wire pedals and how it puts cars into limp mode. Which is what it was doing when I first try to accelerate. I cleared a lot of codes by doing the cruise button reset which for now turned most lights off but still have limp mode issues when first trying to accelerate after a complete stop.

Filed Jan 20, 2019 · Engine · 180,000 miles · TN

Lost all acceleration while driving on interstate in downtown nashville, tn. Check engine light came on at the same time. Car was on and in drive, but gas pedal was unresponsive. Was able to idle to shoulder. When gear was shifted to neutral or park, car would rev up to 2k RPM. While waiting for tow truck, car resumed normal function and check engine light went off. This has happend twice so far, but auto shop unable to diagnose since check engine light does not stay on.