2006 Subaru Outback: stuck in gear or won't shift

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 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 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 4, 2018 · Acceleration, Electrical · 74,000 miles · VA

While driving car check engine light will come on and cruise control light will flash. Car goes into limp mode and the accelerator will not longer respond dropping the cars speed drastically. This can happen on any road, at any speed, and any weather condition. Temporary fix is to stop and cycle the cars power three or four times. More permanent fix is to replace the pedal assembly-accelerator at a cost of $199. Happened a few dozen times before I finally got the pedal assembly replaced. Issued started early 2016, and replaced the assembly in 2018.

Filed Dec 6, 2017 · Acceleration · 120,000 miles · WI

While traveling at highway speed the gas pedal quits working and car goes into limp mode, this is where car travels at 30 MPH with no control from the gas pedal, the check engine light comes on and the cruise control light flashes, the only way to reset the fuel pedal is to pull over, shut car off for 1 min. And restart pedal will work but check engine light and cruise control light will flash until error code is reset. Code is p2138 . This may fix pedal temporary but it will happen again. When pedal quits working this is very dangerous in heavy traffic. This has happened to the car at leased 20 times, have not found a permanent fix yet. Needs to be recalled and repaired

Filed Oct 26, 2016 · Acceleration · 152,500 miles · NY

On three occasions within a two week period I was driving on city streets and the car would not accelerate when the gas pedal was depressed. On these occasions I was starting from a red light or just after I had braked for something, depressed the gas pedal and the speed did not change. The check engine light came on, the cruise control light flashed and the car went into limp mode. I limped to the side of the road and turned the engine off. On the first try to restart the car it would not turn over. After waiting and trying again the car turned over and the gas pedal would work. The check engine light and the flashing cruise control light remained on and went off after starting the car a couple/few times. I went to my mechanic to check the car and he found p2138 three times in the history. This happened once when entering a traffic circle and twice while crossing intersections, very dangerous! Info on this site and a subaru outback forum shows this to be a problem many have experienced. I called the manufacturer.

Filed Feb 4, 2015 · Acceleration · 94,000 miles · FL

While traveling down a residential road, my 2006 outback sedan lost acceleration control and went into limp mode in which it was only idling and had no control from accelerator. The check engine light illuminated and the cruise control light began blinking. I turned the engine off from drive, moved the shifter to park and restarted the vehicle after a minute or so. It started up fine but seems to be idling low, sputtering and hesitating a little. Especially when reversing slowly or pressing the accelerator very lightly from idle. A mechanic nearby said the problem code was reading "bad throttle position sensor." I believe the error code was p2138. Upon researching the issue and as others have suggested, this is supposedly a common problem yet no real reason for the failure can be identified. Some have said that replacing the throttle body which includes the aforementioned sensor helped the situation. Other said that replacing the accelerator pedal assembly which includes the accelerator pedal position sensor has helped. In a few cases with both repairs, the problem recurred. I am bringing my vehicle to the dealer to read the history of failure codes and repair the problem. A note to fellow complainants out there, please update your post if you had a repair done which solved the problem and how long it has been since an recurrence if any since the repairs were made, it really would help the rest of us out there who don't want to let the dealerships scratch their heads and charge us for unnecessary repairs.