| Issue ID | 894553 |
| Internal NHTSA # | 10437752 |
| Manufacurer | SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. |
| Brand | SUBARU |
| Model | OUTBACK |
| Model Year | 2006 |
| File date | 13/11/11 |
| Component | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL |
| Product type code | VEHICLE |
| Description of the problem | I was driving at night at 55 mph in my 2006 subaru outback. The check engine light came on and the cruise control light started to blink. The accelerator pedal became unresponsive and it appeared that the car's engine went into idle mode. I was losing speed and decided to move my car to the shoulder of the road. I shut off my engine and waited a minute or two and tried to restart the car without success. A few minutes later i was able to restart the car and the accelerator pedal seemed to function normally, although the two warning lights were still illuminated. The next day i started the car a couple of times, the accelerator pedal functioned normally and both warning lights were no longer lit. The car operated normally for about one week. This indentical problem recurred again one week after the first incident. I drove my 2006 outback to my independent subaru mechanic who read the error code as p2138. He has seen several of his client's cars with this problem recently and recommended that i take my car to a subaru dealer for inspection and repair. A few days later i had my outback serviced at my local subaru dealer. They diagnosed the problem as a faulty accelerator pedal sensor (integral to the pedal assembly) and confirmed the p2138 error code. The pedal sensor was replaced and (two days later) the car appears to be functioning normally again. The repair bill was about $320 for the parts and labor. I do believe this is a potential safety issue. Although both times the accelerator pedal became unresponsive i was on a road with very few cars and had no difficulty getting safely to the side of the road. The situation could have been more dangerous if i was trying to change lanes at high speed with lots of traffic around me. *kb |
| Vehicle Mileage at Failure | 63700 |
| Number of Occurences | 2 |
| Source of the issue | NHTSA WEB SITE |
| City and State | BOULDER, CO |
| VIN pattern | 4S4BP61C367XXXXXX |
| Was vehicle invloved in a crash? | N |
| Was vehicle involved in a fire? | N |
| Was incedent reported to police? | N |
| Was medical attention required? | |
| Was part original equipment? | |
| No. of injured persons | |
| No. of fatalities | |
| Date of purchase | 07/08/26 |
| Was original owner? | N |
| Anti-lock brakes | N |
| Cruise control | N |
| Number of cylinders | 4 |
| Drive train type | AWD |
| Transmission type | |
| Vehicle speed | 55 |
| DoT tire identifier | |
| Tire size | |
| Location of tire code | |
| Type of tire failure code | |
| Was defective tire repaired? | |
| Date of manufacture | |
| Type of child seat code | |
| Type of restraint | |
| Dealer's name | |
| Dealer's telephone number | |
| Dealer's city | |
| Dealer's state code | |
| Dealer's ZIP code |