2007 Subaru Outback Cruise Control Problems

Your accelerator became unresponsive while driving 65 mph on a highway. The issue appears to be related to an intermittent throttle position sensor failure (diagnostic code P2138), which causes the accelerator to stop responding. Even after mechanic repairs, the problem has recurred multiple times over the past year, and mechanics sometimes cannot pinpoint the issue because it's intermittent. The fix will likely involve replacing or reprogramming the throttle position sensor.

DRIVING AT 55 MILES PER HOUR ON HWY 213, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, LOST POWER(LIMP MODE), CRUISE CONTROL FLASHING. PULLED OVER TO SIDE OF ROAD ON HILL(BARELY ABLE TO MAKE SAFE SPOT). TURNED OUT VEHICLE. RESTARTED(LIGHTS STILL WARNING), BACK UP AND FORWARD TO ASSURE POWER. DECIDED TO TRY TO GET TO NEARBY COMMUNITY/AUTO SHOP. WAS ABLE TO DO SO. DIAGNOSIS: P2138. THEY PERFORMED DIAGNOSTIC PROCEDURE, RESULTS INCONCLUSIVE. CYCLED THE ACCELERATOR THROUGH NUMEROUS POSITIONS AND RATERS WITH VARIATIONS ON POSITION/PRESSURE APPLIED TO PEDAL, AND MONITOR LAB SCOPE. SENSOR SIGNALS WERE PRECISE AND WITHOUT ERRORS. OWNER RESEARCHED ONLINE AND FOUND NUMEROUS CASED OF SAME-WITHOUT RESOLUTION FOR MANY PEOPLE-REOCCURRING WITH COSTLY REPAIRS TO ATTEMPT REPAIR. SUGGESTED CALLING SUBARU.COM WHICH I DID. NO REASSURANCE AS TO PROBLEM BEING FIXED, JUST SAID TAKE IT TO A DEALER. CONCERNED WITH SAFETY AS I DRIVE MY GRANDDAUGHTER IN CAR, AS WELL AS SAFETY FOR MYSELF AND OTHERS. WILL TAKE IT TO DEALER BUT NOT OPTIMISTIC ABOUT A PERMANENT FIX AND SAFETY OF FUTURE DRIVING.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 SUBARU OUTBACK. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 75 MPH, THE CHECK ENGINE AND CRUISE CONTROL DEACTIVATION SENSORS ILLUMINATED BEFORE THE SPEED SUDDENLY DECELERATED TO APPROXIMATELY 20 MPH. THE FAILURE OCCURRED ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS. AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS TURNED OFF AND ON, IT OPERATED NORMALLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHO WAS UNABLE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 120,000.

PROBLEM P2138 THROTTLE CEASES TO CONTROL CAR ENGINE SPEED. IN NEUTRAL IT SETTLES AT ?4000 RPM. STOPPING AND RESTARTING THE CAR STOPS THE PROBLEM, BUT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT REMAINS ON AND CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT FLASHES FOR 1-2 DAYS. CRUISE CONTROL IS NOT FUNCTIONAL WHILE IN THIS STATE. THIS CAN HAPPEN AT ANY SPEED, BUT TYPICALLY AT 55-60. HAPPENS INTERMITTENTLY, NOW 3 TIMES IN THE PAST MONTH. HAD THE THROTTLE SENSOR REPLACED ONE YEAR AGO, AND WE HAD NO PROBLEM FOR 11 MONTHS UNTIL THE PAST MONTH. *TR

2007 SUBARU OUTBACK. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO NO RESPONSE FROM GAS PEDAL. *SMD THE CONSUMER STATED HE STOPPED FOR A RED LIGHT AND BEGAN TO TURN RIGHT AFTER THE LIGHT TURNED GREEN. THE VEHICLE THEN ACCELERATED TO AROUND 20 MPH AND WOULD NOT GO ANY FASTER. HE WAS ABLE TO PULL INTO A PARKING LOT AND STOP, AS THERE WAS A SCRATCHING SOUND COMING FROM THE VEHICLE. HE NOTICED THE ENGINE WAS TURNING ABOUT 2,000 RPM AND WAS RESPONDING TO THE AIR CONDITION CYCLING. WITH THE TRANSMISSION IN NEUTRAL, THE IDLE SPEED WENT UP TO AROUND 2,400 RPM. ALSO, A FLAG WAS SET FOR THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT THE ENTIRE TIME, WHICH HE WAS INFORMED IT WOULD CAUSE THE CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT TO BLINK AT A VERY SLOW RATE.

'07 SUBARU OUTBACK 2.5I W/ AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. WHEN TRANSMISSION WAS COOL CODE P0720 WAS SET FOR VEHICLE SPEED SENSOR FAILURE. AFTER DRIVING FOR A WHILE ERROR WOULD RESET AS SENSOR PRESUMABLY WARMED AND BEGAN WORKING NORMALLY. I IDENTIFIED AND CONFIRMED THE FRONT VEHICLE SPEED SENSOR WAS THE PROBLEM. A WEEK AFTER THE INITIAL FAILURE, AND PRIOR TO MY BEING ABLE TO REPLACE THE SENSOR, THE BEHAVIOR OF THE FAILURE CHANGED: AT HIGHWAY SPEED (60-65MPH) THE CAR WOULD AUTOMATICALLY SHIFT INTO FIRST GEAR AND FEEL LIKE THE BRAKES WERE SLAMMED ON. THIS BEING AN OBVIOUSLY DANGEROUS AND SCARY SITUATION, MY SHORT TERM SOLUTION WAS TO CUT THE WIRE GOING TO THE SENSOR UNTIL I COULD REPLACE IT. (THE SENSOR IS HARD-WIRED INTO A 3-SENSOR WIRE HARNESS THAT REQUIRES ACCESS INSIDE THE TRANSMISSION TO BE REPLACED). JUST PRIOR TO THE CAR AUTOMATICALLY SHIFTING INTO FIRST GEAR I ALSO HEARD THE SAFETY SOLENOID IN THE SHIFTER ASSEMBLY (THE ONE THAT PREVENTS THE OPERATOR FROM PUTTING THE SHIFTER INTO PARK WHILE THE CAR IS MOVING) QUICKLY CYCLING ON AND OFF, SO MY ASSUMPTION WAS THAT A PARTIAL SIGNAL WAS BEING SEEN BY THE ONBOARD COMPUTER AND INTERPRETED AS IF THE VEHICLE WAS TRAVELING AT A SLOWER SPEED THAN IT REALLY WAS. AFTER CUTTING THE SPEED SENSOR OUT OF THE CIRCUIT THIS ASPECT OF THE FAILURE HAS NOT REPEATED ITSELF. *TR

INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). 2007 SUBARU OUTBACK WAGON [XXX] PURCHASED CAR NEW. HAD WHAT I CALLED ENGINE 'REVVING' OR INCREASED ACCELERATION FROM FIRST WEEK OF DRIVING CAR. REPORTED PROBLEM TO DEALER AND THEY WENT THROUGH A SERIES OF REPAIRS WITH NO CHANGE IN PERFORMANCE. THEY SENT A 'CORPORATE' MECHANIC TO TEST THE CAR. HE EXPERIENCED THE INCREASED RPM'S WITHOUT STEPPING ON THE GAS PEDAL BUT STATED THE CAR WAS NORMAL. HE THEN TOLD ME TWO THINGS, THEY HAD FOUND THE SAME PROBLEM IN ANOTHER CAR AND THEY HAD A FIX FOR THE PROBLEM FOR THE 2008 BUT NOT 2007. 1) WHEN FOOT IS OFF GAS, THE CAR ACCELERATES. 2) COMMONLY OCCURS ALMOST EVERY TIME I PRESS CLUTCH AND TURN. HAS ONLY HAPPENED 2 TIMES WHILE IN GEAR AND DRIVING. APPLICATION OF THE BRAKE DID SLOW THE CAR 3) CORRECTIONS INCLUDE: GAS/AIR RATIO SENSOR REPLACED, SUGGESTED I RUN 3 TANKS OF PREMIUM GAS, REPLACED POWER STEERING PUMP, REPLACED THROTTLE BODY AND ACCELERATOR PEDAL, DISCONNECTED IDLE SWITCH FROM POWER STEERING PUMP AND SUGGESTED I LEAVE THIS DETACHED WHICH I DID NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH, I HAVE TRIED FOR A RESOLUTION THROUGH THE DEALER, THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU AND SUBARU CORPORATE WITH NO RESULTS. *TR

HESITATION ON ACCELERATION,BETWEEN 1500 AND 2800 RPMS .WHILE ACCELERATING QUICKLY AT AN INTERSECTION OR ROLLING STOP. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 SUBARU OUTBACK. WHILE DRIVING 60 MPH WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL ACTIVATED, THE VEHICLE GAINED SPEED DOWN HILL AND ACCELERATED TO 80 MPH. THE CONTACT DISENGAGED THE CRUISE CONTROL BY APPLYING THE BRAKES. THE DEALER FOUND NO FAILURES AND STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS DESIGNED IN THAT MANNER. THE MECHANIC AT THE DEALER INSPECTED THE VEHICLE AND STATED THAT THE CRUISE CONTROL COMPONENTS DID NOT APPEAR TO HAVE FAILED. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 19,751 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 8,841. UPDATED 01/02/08. *LJ

2007 SUBARU OUTBACK 2.5I, 5-SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSION -- WHEN MY FOOT IS TAKEN OFF THE ACCELERATOR TO SHIFT THE ENGINE ACTUALLY ACCELERATES RATHER THAN DECELERATES. IT CAUSES THE CAR TO JUMP FORWARD MUCH QUICKER THAN THE DRIVER PLANNED WHEN THE NEXT GEAR IS SELECTED. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE CORRECTED.*AK