I sincerely doubt that the rev limiter is in any way effected by dirt in the oil......It is much more likely a product of the traction control coming into play. There is a button that at least partially disables the VTC (Vehicle Traction Control) down by the hill holder and parking brake. When you push it (With the engine running) you should get a yellow "VTC" warning light. See if that helps with your rev limit problem.

 

Well no I'm not losing any traction. I have huge mud tires on 18" wide rims. The problem is that when the check engine light comes on I'm forced with low rpms and a lack of all torque. And if anyone posts should have got a 3.6, I wanted to but I only drive manual, and that model did not.

-the only thing I need to know is how to remove the rev limiter computer so I can continue on my adventurous lifestlye in a car I love rather than having to trade it for a jeep that can handle it. The rev limiter is usual set just over 7500rpms in my car. When the check engine light comes on my car will max at 3750rpms. Help! This really sucks

 

hmmmmm....

hope the traction control helps and this isn't related to....; http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums....org/forums/104-gen-4-2010-present/36671-2011-ob-cvt-reverse-power-problem.html

 

Welcome to the forum - you posted in the Classifieds, but I am sure a mod will move this thread.

You need to install some proper offroad tires and you won't need to be running at high rpm. Tread lightly!

Oh yeah, find another place to service your car - that one is clueless.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

 

1: Thread moved to correct area.

2: Get better tires.

3: That dealership has no clue, go somewhere else. Essentially they told you "Because the duck is wearing pants, the sky is made of potato" for all the sense their statement made.

 

you may be in new territory with your use of the car.



If the car's system is trying to limit forces on the CVT or other parts, there might be some help for you through Romraider and an ECU reflash but, it would be completely experimental.

maybe ask at the RomRaider Forum; http://www.romraider.com/forum/index.php?sid=ab41469b7867607d9912afb0f3a88d89

 

I reckon the OB drivetrain ECU has a "limp mode" to prevent damage when design limits are exceeded.
With "huge mud tires" and "18" wide rims", those design limits will be easily exceeded.
I'm sorry, the OP's story has troll overtones.

 

Honestly the tires barely fit the wheel wel at this point

 

So pretty much no one knows what's wrong with my outback including the dealer and I'm on my own /: ****. I'm starting to hate my car why can't you just work like the day I drove you from the lot! Then it would be an almost perfect everyday car.

 

For one your tires going big without modifying the gearing does reduce your hill climbing ability. Meaning your already some what tall for off roading geared stock OB was made even less capable by putting big tires on it without modifying the gears to get or even keep what low gearing it offered in stock format.

Engine light could be AT issues caused by tires too large and not enough gearing the limp mode may be there to prevent you from frying the Torque converter. Which would be why the dealer doesn't see anything wrong given they aren't trying to climb the hill behind the shop with your car.

 

Nothing is busted the dealership checked it out read the tool that reads why the light is on and said the check engine light came on from dirty oil. But I change it monthly so that a load of bs. But yeah if I can figure out where the sensor or computer module is I can gladly just rip it out and never deal with this again.

 

...dealership checked it out read the tool that reads why the light
is on and said the check engine light came on from dirty oil.

Pure distilled essence of Meadow McMuffins! Ask the dealer to show
you where the "dirty oil sensor" connects to the wiring harness.

Just because some village-idiot dealer can't diagnose the problem
doesn't mean there's no problem. SOMETHING is busted -- and I'll
bet that it has nothing to do with muddy oil.

...idiots abide!

Looby

 

If it only happens occasionally as you are off roading maybe you could get a cheap reader that clears the code to get going again. but if its happening continuoussly that wouldnt be to practical. wish I had a better idea but chances are the cars just trying to protect itself.

Oh, I just had a thought, could the thrashing and high rpms of offroading be foaming the oil making it read as dirty and tossing a code?

 

a huge problem if you need to get up extremely steep hills to get out of the woods.

You are doing something to trigger limp mode which limits revs to prevent self-destruction.
Is climbing "extremely steep hills" when you notice this?
Perhaps the Outback isn't the right vehicle for these extreme off-road conditions?

 

Subaru cars don't even have any sort of oil condition measuring ability. Seems the Dealer fed you its the blinker fluid line for that one.

#1 Gear selection
#2 Tires
#3 Power

Take the CVT out of AT mode put it in MT mode 1st gear the gear ratio is lower than what the AT will choose in AT mode - and its been mentioned by a few gear heads that the AWD power allocation is altered some when your in MT mode 1st and 2nd gear.

Tire selection is important!!!!

#3 Power vs gears your friend has a Jeep with lower gearing built for this type of stuff - you do not.

 

If one were to be serious about making their 2.5L OB as capable off road as possible without lifting it. First thing would be to put 16inch wheels on it with stock diameter tires. Meaning you have more tire between the wheel and the road and have more ability to air down some. Also by keeping the stock tire diameter or even being slightly smaller - you retain body clearance for suspension travel with the tire and you do not impact your lowest gear option which with the OB might be too tall for steep climbing to start with.

If you put taller tires on the car your reducing the climbing ability due to the impact on the gearing ratio available.

 

He is running 235/55/18's as he mentioned earlier which (barring differences in tires depending on manufacturer) equates to an increase of about a .3" radius difference from the stock tires when measured statically (13.8" radius stock to 14.2" radius with new setup). Do you think this would be enough to change the gear ratios that significantly or do you think it just starts to be a limitation of the vehicle as designed at that point per Upflying's comment?

 

If the CEL is coming on, I think it would be wise to check and see if it is because you are trying to climb so steep that the oil is uncovering the pickup. No oil pressure = very very bad.

 

Sounds like you are putting the car through some tough stuff. I know you want to just remove the rev limiter but it is likely there to save some part of your car. Your problem isn't that the car has this safety rev limiter but that the safety rev limiter is being tripped. You should get the root of this problem fixed instead of ignoring it. I would suggest next time your CEL comes on take it straight to another dealer, not the same one you have seen, and have the code pulled. If that isn't a possibility then find another shop with a full computer scanner and have them read the code. As others have said, the Outback doesn't have a sensor to determine if your oil is clean or dirty. This means the dealer you went to isn't telling the truth, more common than you would believe. There isn't a thing any of us can do beyond guess at the problem without the real code tripped that is causing your CEL.

 

Excellent advice

sounds like you are putting the car through some tough stuff. I know you want to just remove the rev limiter but it is likely there to save some part of your car. Your problem isn't that the car has this safety rev limiter but that the safety rev limiter is being tripped. You should get the root of this problem fixed instead of ignoring it. I would suggest next time your cel comes on take it straight to another dealer, not the same one you have seen, and have the code pulled. If that isn't a possibility then find another shop with a full computer scanner and have them read the code. As others have said, the outback doesn't have a sensor to determine if your oil is clean or dirty. This means the dealer you went to isn't telling the truth, more common than you would believe. There isn't a thing any of us can do beyond guess at the problem without the real code tripped that is causing your cel.

 

Hey everyone who's talking about my tires. Your off topic. My car off roads perfectly. I beat my friends charokee and I've towed dodge rams out that were stuck where I had already gone through. The cars performance is awesome and especially I know what I'm doing. But multiple times this check engine light come on and a rev limiter kicks down from a normal 7500 RPMs to a max of 3800 RPMs.

Now I've read everything you've all posted and ill have to take my car anywhere else, the people that work at my dealership are either liars or stupid. But even after its fixed i still want the computer out so when the check engine light goes on again my rpms aren't limited in half. I absolutely hate that feature and needs to be removed.

 

You are definitely on the right track by going somewhere else for this problem. Just remember that the rev limiter in this case isn't a feature, it's likely there to save some part or group of parts in your engine or drive train. The first step is to find out why this safe mode rev limiter is turning on. If it's because of some part that isn't working correctly then fix the part and you shouldn't have the problem again. Now if it is because the car can't handle what you are trying to do and the computer is saving the car from major damage then that's a different story which we can tackle once we get there.

 

The only way to circumvent the limp mode limiter on modern OBD-II, electronic throttle cars, would be a fully custom ECU (ie MoTeC). Assuming the 4th get Outback is not a most popular tuning platform, I would expect a multi-thousand $$ investment via reputable Subaru tuning shop to build one from scratch, + added risks of reduced reliability, engine damage and loss of warranty.

Get your CEL issue fixed and you'll be good.

 

My guess is because of the steep incline you are driving up that the oil is all running to the back of the reservoir causing a sensor to pick up and read as low oil pressure, same thing can happen with transmission fluid. This happens to jeeps as well with at transmissions and the fix is usually a deeper tranny pan and oil pan. My guess is your check engine light never comes on until you are in the steepest areas. It's coming on for a reason, if you disable the rev limiter you are throwing a band aid on a situation that is. Going to fry your tranny or motor.
This is a relatively easy situation to verify, do your homework before you make a big mistake.

 

I like this too. Had the though your angle was too steep as well.

 

do we know what the code is? Pxxx ? w'ever

All newer cars will disable traction control, cruise control and perhaps take other protective measures if a DTC code is set.

RomRaider and a ECUflash may work. But probably only someone at the RR forum would know. ( RomRaider • Index page ) But, if there's a good reason for the code to be set, then yeah, some mod like a 'windage tray' or ???? may be required.

As delivered, Subarus are not great 'rock crawlers' . They are considered good for 'soft roading' - mud, gravel, dirt, snow. Anything more aggressive and you either should choose a different vehicle, or be prepared to modify the car. The time to determine what mods are needed is before purchase.

 

Wana beat your friends 4x4 rigs. Get an ATV put it on a trailer and tow it to the location.
All the big time 4x4 off roaders in my family who spent years custom building crazy 4x4 rigs all have ATV's now with a nice pickup they use to haul the ATV on the road with.

They go places their custom built 4x4 rigs would have never gone and when they break something it doesn't cost em $1000's in broken vehicle parts and the challenge to haul the broken rig out of the woods. LOL

 

I like it.

 

Check this video I posted in another thread:

Disable engine limiting factor while keeping traction control

 

Lol, you replied JUST as I deleted my post, I thought that maybe I'm a bit ...well...retarded...now THIS post proves it

 

Fair enough but you did have a good point.ha ha
I just removed the post

 

BESIDES some of the great advice already given, a ScanTool OBD bluetooth module and Torque for Android (and maybe iPhone?) should help out - you can check things like the oil pressure, transmission sensors, etc.

I have a 2010 Outback 2.5i Premier with 6 speed manual, and there's tons of sensor data.

While "pricey" (maybe $150USD for the hardware and the software for free), it has other advantages besides allowing you to see exactly WHICH error is being thrown in near-real-time.

As a for instance, I am currently running at about 28mpg average. On a car rated for 27 highway. I've got 240 miles logged so far, and in increments of 26 (the distance to or from work), 10 miles of each 26 is city-ish driving on "surface roads". From using it, I've learned what my car likes and doesn't - which helped with my MPG.

Long story short - or shorter at least: I just got the car last week - I only got about 21mpg the first 200 miles... the manual is an interestingly weird beast. Interesting gear ratios, a long throw clutch (very reminiscent of my previous FAR older cars), and a sweet zone for better mpg.

Anyway, back on topic, you'll hopefully be able to see what's really happening using such a tool. Perhaps it is a transmission overheat causing it? I know the 6MT in my model year had an issue (for a short part of the production run... my 2010 was built in Dec 2009 - the issues were Feb-March I think).

As for disconnecting the *computer*, that seems a bit ridiculous. Here's a short list of the things the computer either affects or controls:
- variable braking
- shifting brake force between wheels
- over-rev for all sorts of things (in neutral, or when the car is on cruise and one shifts or just depresses the clutch)
- aspects of the cruise control
- aspects of the fuel injectors
- aspects of the air and exhaust functions

The important part before you render your car useless by disconnecting the computer:
I could see trying to disable the SPECIFIC FEATURE for a certain issue, but the fact is, what you are suggesting seems bizzare: you want to lobotomize THE CAR for.... ummm... you don't know WHY (you know what you want to accomplish, but not WHY (ie: WHY the limiter is being enabled and WHY the engine light comes on)).

Think about it - if your foot is hurting, before you know WHY, do you just simply decide to cut off your entire leg? That is what you are proposing. Perhaps when you figure out the why's, then cutting off the leg makes sense (but I bet you that's a rare rare scenario that would require such drastic action - and nonetheless, as mentioned, you'll need something to handle all the functions I and others listed - and more).

Best,
Rob

450 miles into my brand "newish" 2010 Subaru Outback and loving it!

 

OP,

A lot of people on here are giving their opinions but you never told us what the CODE was, only what the dealer told you.

We might be able to better help you if you can give us the ACTUAL CODE!!!

It's obviously not dirty oil. It sounds like it could be low oil....

Need the code...

 

If you have a smart phone, a free app and a $15 elm327 adapter and you can read your own codes.