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Acceleration & cruise control

2002 Subaru Outback Acceleration problems

Owners have filed 12 complaints about the 2002 Subaru Outback's acceleration & cruise control with NHTSA - 8% of all its complaints, most recently on February 12, 2014. They describe 1 crash, 0 fires and 3 injuries. Unintended acceleration, surging, throttle problems and cruise or adaptive cruise faults.

Complaints
12
Recalls
1
Crashes
1
Fires
0
Injuries
3
Deaths
0

Acceleration recalls for the 2002 Subaru Outback

Vehicle speed control: cables

04V128000127,580 vehicles affected

The problem
On certain passenger sedans, wagons, and sport utility vehicles, the cruise control cable could come out of its track on the cruise control lever and lodge on the control lever tab when the accelerator pedal is released. If this condition occurs, the throttle will not return to the idle position and will remain in an open position.
The risk
If this occurs during vehicle operation, the driver could lose control of the vehicle, which could result in a crash.
The fix
Dealers will install a cruise control cable retaining clip to the cruise control lever tab on the throttle shaft in order to prevent the cruise control cable from coming out of its track. Owner notification began on april 12, 2004. Owners should contact subaru at 1-800-782-2783.

Acceleration complaints

Fuel systemAcceleration & cruise control

Upper front fuel line and connection to throttle body? Is leaking raw gas and fuel is pooling on top of engine just outward of upper exhaust manifold area. *Tr

Filed Incident Fuel system, gasoline · Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10563982
Acceleration & cruise control

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 subaru outback. While attempting to shift into park, the vehicle abnormally accelerated without warning, causing the contact to crash into a nearby fence. The contact was not injured. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for further testing to determine the cause of the failure. The failure and current mileages were 71,000. Updated 07/19/2010. *Lj updated 07/26/10*jb

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10330190
Acceleration & cruise control

I pressed the gas pedal to accelerate around a corner and when I eased off the gas pedal it remained stuck down. I put the car in neutral and braked so I could pull over. I shut off the car, and when I restarted it, the engine revved . I had to put my foot under the gas pedal and lift it up to resolve the problem.*Ak

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10194716
Acceleration & cruise control

Just started car and pulled up to stop light and hit break pedal. All of a sudden there was a sudden acceleration and the car started forward and I had to lean on the break very hard to stop. This occurred 2 times both after starting the car after at least a 1 hour off time. I thought at first it was my foot on both pedals but the second time I stopped the car with my left foot and was nowhere near the accelerator. I contacted subaru but they denied any problem. I put if off until I saw an article in st louis post dispatch to letters to tom and ray magliozzi the car guys and the letter was from another subaru outback owner with the same problem. *Nm

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10158438
Acceleration & cruise control

2002 Subaru outback wagon has 48,000 miles. Car stalls at red lights, sputters and hesitates when trying to accelerate from a stop. Dangerous trying to get on highway. Dealer tested all systems and said nothing was wrong with the car. Independent mechanic tested it and said main computer not working properly. Check engine light never came on. Mechanic reset computer but suggested I get rid of the car asap

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10125447
Acceleration & cruise control

Vehicle experienced sudden acceleration. Owner was pulling into a school parking lot when suddenly the vehicle began to accelerate. The engine revved, and the driver had both feet on the brake while the vehicle continued to accelerate. Driver put the vehicle in neutral, and allowed the vehicle to coast before it shut down.*Ak

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10117722
Fuel systemTransmission & drivetrainAcceleration & cruise control

Dangerous hesitation in first and second gears especially. At stop light, upon attempting to accelerate, car bogged down, rpms dipped and nearly stalled before car finally accelerated with a violent jerk forward and back. Has happened on numerous occasions. Very dangerous-nearly been in three accidents already. So far the dealer has bled the clutch, adjusted the clutch, replaced the clutch, replaced knock sensor, replaced coolant temp sensor and replaced front oxygen sensor and problem still as bad as ever if not worse. *Jb

Filed Incident Fuel system, gasoline · Power train · Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10107604
Acceleration & cruise control

The engine began to idle roughly quite a few months prior (dealer unable to detect any problem), subsequently experienced hesitation from stop; progressed to fluctuating idle speed from 750 to 500 rpm with self correction to 750 after car had been driven and fully warmed up which progressed to episode of hesitation while driving up hill with near engine stall. Thereafter had a few episodes of engine surging while stopping in drive, which did not stop when put into either neutral or park (dealer unable to diagnose...

Read the full complaint

any problem, did software replaced but problem continued to degenerate). Engine stalled when it came to stop then when restarted continued to have surging as above described. Engine would have hesitation and near stall also during regular operation on highway even at cruising speeds from 20 mph to 65 mph. Dealer currently attempting to diagnose problem again.*Ak

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10093177
Acceleration & cruise control

When applying pressure to the accelerator pedal vehicle would jerk and experience sudden deceleration. When removing pressure from the accelerator pedal the vehicle stalls. Dealer indicates this is normal for this type of vehicle, and there is no a remedy for this problem. *Ak

Filed Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10034053
Acceleration & cruise control

The vehicle experienced sudden acceleration.*Jb

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 10009276
Acceleration & cruise controlCrash3 injuries

The consumer states that while pulling into a parking space, the vehicle went into full throttle resulting in a crash. The cause is unknown. *Nlm *scc

Filed Incident Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 8019949
Acceleration & cruise control

Engine stalls on acceleration from a stop. At times the engine will die when accelerator is pressed. Dealer was contacted and vehicle taken to dealer. Dealer states that there are numerous vehicles which have the same problem. All of them are 2002 models. Dealer states tha tvehicle cannon be fixed at this time due to a lack of knowledge of what to do. This occured the first week of august 2002. Dealer was contacted on september 5, 2002 and stated that vehicle still could not be repaired due to lack of knowledge. Dealer stated that the engineers in japan were working on the problem but it will be at least two more months before it would be known what if anything could be done.*Ak

Filed Vehicle speed controlNHTSA 766781

Subaru Outback acceleration complaints by year

Outback acceleration problems, every year

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Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked . Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data

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