general problems of the 2005 Subaru Outback

P2138 code. Gas pedal stops responding to inputs. Car goes into limp mode and managed to get car off the road. Shut off and waited 5 minutes, restarted and it works again. Associated p0500 code also present. First time this has happened on this car.

Every once in a while the gas pedal stops functioning. It happens at highway speeds as well as local roads. When it does happen you have to find a safe spot to pull over and shut off the engine for at least a minute or more. Restart the car and the pedal comes back. This is very hazardous. I could end up getting rear ended. My grand children ride in the car. The scanner code came up p2138 Subaru recommends that the gas pedal assembly needs to be replaced. It's a 185. 00 part plus labor. I don't understand why there isn't a recall because of the safety issue.

Intermittently and without warning, the accelerator pedal will become unresponsive. On multiple occasions, the vehicle was in motion when this happened. The speedometer fell to 0, and when pressed, the accelerator pedal did nothing. The vehicle had to be limped to the side of the road and restarted in order for it to work again. The check engine light would then come on. On other occasions, the accelerator would not respond immediately upon starting the vehicle, and the check engine light came on immediately upon starting. This has the potential to be extremely dangerous or fatal if the car were to go limp when driving on a highway at high speeds, or taking a turn. Research has shown that this is a widespread problem with the Outback, and action needs to be taken by Subaru. This should be treated as a recall.

Car randomly goes limp while driving, accelerator will not respond. Have to put it in neutral and eek to the side of the road. Very dangerous! check engine light illuminates, pulling a p2138 code.

Accelerator pedal randomly stopped functioning while driving straight on flat road approximately 30mph, resulting in no speed control, able to drive only on idle speed. First seems like not 'shifting gears' correctly, then no speed control. (many comments in online forum of elusive problem to diagnose by Subaru dealers and much money spent with only random success. ) when restarted car drove normally with 'check engine light' on about 3 miles then same thing, accelerator went limp, no speed control but got me home. Car taken in to dealer the next day. (drove down hill approx 30 miles with no problem). Service department claimed "not current code" (clearly the problem is intermittent) and said never heard of such a problem (nonsense, it's all over the web); they cleaned the throttle mechanism, hoping that would fix. Drove car to san francisco about 100 miles and four days later it failed again, same scenario--acceleartor fails to function while driving on flat ground, this time going about 20mph, 55f outside, after about 5 minutes of driving, in san francisco this third time! serious safety hazard if happens on a freeway, a bridge, a hill, etc. Called two Subaru dealers, nobody wants to help!.

My Subaru (and others '05-'09) have serious computer issues causing the car to stall out in the middle of traffic. I got the car special edition of consumer reports and the article below is no joke. Subaru Outback '05-'09 have gotten terrible reviews for the following: major engine issue and drive issues and more. The dealer and headquarters will not acknowledge that there may be a serious need for a recall. When disconnecting and reconnecting the battery, the car will stall out the next day in the middle of traffic. Car ran but then stalled out in the middle of traffic. I was able to get it off the road eventually and take it to the dealership. The dealership did not want to acknowledge the issue and wanted to charge me $200 for diagnosis. I do not feel safe driving my car because I need to get a new battery ($225 at Subaru which I can't afford and $119 at firestone), however, firestone does not have the memory stick Subaru does and I run a very good chance of stalling out in traffic after the work is done at a non Subaru dealership. Neither the dealer nor headquarters will acknowledge this article that this safety issue has happened to others too. This is very unsafe for me and others on the road here is an article which describes exactly what happened to me. A recall needs to be involved and Subaru must be waiting for a major accident to happen. I am not willing to put my life on the line anymore by driving this unsafe vehicle. This article provides exactly what is going on. . Read more...

While traveling in heavy flow rush hour multi-lane traffic at around 65 mph and at merging point of multi higher exchange with near zero shoulder or stopping lane, the car suddenly lost response from accelerator pedal. I manage to coast to a stop just between the triangle space separating two of the major highways viaring two separate direction with very heavy traffic at high speed on both sides (nearly getting smashed several times before coming to the only possible yet dangerous place to stop). The car remain idling but very limp; afraid to venture to continue to the next exit because there would be no shoulder area to pull over, I called for help thinking the car had ran out of gas and was just running on fume. After enduring several minutes of near death moments of being crashed into by on-coming vehicles at high speed merging traffic coming from a curving road, I dangerously ventured to open doors into flowing traffic to fill the tank escaping death many times. The car started and was able to get off highway to fill tank. Same limp pedal repeated again two days later coming off a two lane {two-way) bridge with absolutely no shoulder. I was able to coast to the end of the bridge to turn into a business parking without being plowed by the heavy traffic around. Obd reading of the car indicate p2138 pointing to faulty fly-by-wire defect in the accelerator position sensor which is part of the accelerator assembly. I manage to escape death with this manufacturer defect. I just wonder how many crashes and deaths have resulted and will continue to result because of this very well reported issue with these Subaru Outbacks before the accelerator assembly units are recalled?.

Car suddenly looses power and will not run above 1500 rpm it will run but you have to turn it on and off several times it does this when pulling out or going steady down the road . . . . Cruise light flashing and check engine light on.

From an intersection, I slowed down to make a right turn and upon completing the turn, I put my foot on the gas pedal to accelerate and the pedal was unresponsive. I had enough momentum to quickly turn onto a side street out of traffic. The gas pedal when pushed down all the way would not accelerate and did not make the revving sound. This is the fifth time this has occurred to me since purchasing this new vehicle in 2005. It seems to be occurring more often now.

Lost throttle response on expressway with oncoming traffic from on-ramp almost causing collision while trying to move to the shoulder. Applied brakes to stop vehicle once on shoulder, car was revving at 3300 rpms. Placed vehicle in park and turned switch to off. Started car to find the throttle still revving to 3300 rpms and turned off again. Waited 5-minutes and started car again with the throttle at normal idle. Drove car 15-miles and the cruise and check engine light turned off. Happened in rainy and cold weather.

Bought the car from a Toyota dealer in June 2011. Within 5 days of buying it, when driving the car on highway, within 15 mins of driving, all of a sudden the car jerks, with a sudden drop in speed, with the check engine light turned on and cruise light starting to blink. Car would not speed up no matter how much the accelerator is pressed. I had to pull the car to the side of the road. I have taken it several times to Subaru service. . . They seem to know what the problem is and attempt to fix it - I pay them and drive it back home and, the same problem persists. I get the same code each time - p0638. Replaced throttle body. Replaced timing belt. Replaced the throttle control relay. Etc. The mechanics seem to test drive it and find no problem with it. Every time they seem confident that they have fixed it. But, everytime I begin to drive, the car faults and the speed drops in the middle of the road. It is a danger to anyone in the car and to passengers in other cars.

The contact owns a 2005 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that the accelerator pedal would intermittently become unresponsive. The dealer repaired the defect, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 65,696 and the current mileage was 75,000.

On approximately 10 occasions right after a rain when I start up the car the engine light starts blinking and the car runs roughly with little power. After a short time the car power returns but the check engine light stays on for about a week. Once the light goes out the car then runs normal until the next rainstorm. It then does the same all over.

I have been having a problem with my car for the 2-years and has been getting worse. The throttle pedal at times will become non-responsive and the engine idle cannot be controlled. At this time the check engine light is on with a code. P2138. I have taken the car to the dealer with no luck they could not find anything wrong. The car has left me stranded several times and I had to limp or be towed home. The rpm can be anywhere from idle to 3000 rpm and as I said the pedal has no control. I have replaced the accelerator pedal assembly and the problem was gone for the past six months. It has now failed again.

The contact owned a 2005 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that the brakes failed to engage and the vehicle crashed into a tree and caught fire. The air bags did not deploy. Four people were injured and police and fire reports were filed. A month prior to the accident, the vehicle was inspected and no failures were found. The vehicle was inspected after the crash and it was discovered that the tumbler system was defective. The VIN was unavailable at the time of the complaint. The current and failure mileages were unknown. Updated 7/16/10 updated 07/27/jb.

2005 Subaru Outback. The car was in park and my right foot was tucked back behind my left foot which was resting on the foot rest pad on the far left side of the floor. The engine was idling normally when suddenly it went to very high revs for 4 to 5 seconds and then returned to normal idle. Later the same evening, as I slowly entered my garage and applied normal brake pressure, the car first slowed (as expected) then suddenly began to accelerate. I applied hard brake pressure and the car stopped. It did not seem like the engine had revved as high as the earlier incident and it only lasted for a couple of seconds, but there was a definite, brief surge forward as I entered the garage.

While driving north on 91 to vermont this car handled great in snow, . On the other hand the return trips the roads were plowed packed snow it was like the rear end was on ice skates(or ghost walking} whatever you call it when it happens it will scare the [xxx]out of you. The first couple times it happened, I had every excuse why it wasn't the car, I thought the stock tires were shot, so I bought 4 brand new dunlop snow tires. I hoped problem would be solved, car handled even better in snow same on packed snow/ice. Thought maybe the thule box was catching wind, removed thule box. Problem did not get better. I began searching for similar issues online and came across many suggestions that stock suspension sucked, which I kinda new, so I replaced suspension with supposedley the best available kyb hoped that after that investment problem would be solved, I was wrong again. After deeper investigation online I learned of ghostwalking. If I had bought a chevy cavalier or Ford taurus or any other piece of crap that you wouldn't expect to handle said conditions it's one thing but for a car that either endores or is endorsed by the us ski team, ski patrol this car is not safe. About two months ago I was driving up a straight away it had rained earlier. I was driving about 55 I the limit is 45 and the rear end slipped out and the car began ghostwalking. I don't feel safe driving my daughter in this car that I hoped to one day give her. I owned a 95 Outback and had none of the above problems had reg tires. Since finally figuring that I'm not crazy and other people are having this problem that can't be fixed,I want to trade it in but worry that whoever buys it might crash and die, icant very well go trade in this car and tell them this handles great, best car I ever owned just don't drive it on packed snow you no the reason you want a Subaru in the first place. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

- the contact stated that the driver was pulling into a parking space with a 2005 Subaru Outback when the car unintentionally accelerated. The contact stated that his mother was doing about 5 mph. The contact stated that is was a nice day and weather was not an issue. The contact stated that the car stopped when it struck trees and that front end damage was done to the car. The contact also stated that the car's engine continued to run until his mother turned the car off. Updated 1/19/2007 -.

The contact owns a 2005 Subaru Outback. When the contact attempted to move forward, the vehicle accelerated on its own and crashed into another vehicle. There were no injuries. The failure occurred a total of three times. The most recent failure was on January 10, 2009 while parking the vehicle. She took the vehicle to the dealer, but they could not duplicate the failure. A report was filed with the manufacturer and they stated that there was no recall for the vehicle. The failure mileage was 30,000 and current mileage was 44,000.