Rev Limiter?

Yesterday after I got home from work, I pulled my car in the garage, and like I sometimes do, I reved it up. It did something different than it usually does though. When the rpms reached 3000 the engine started to cut out. It would just bounce there off the 3000 mark and would not let it go any higher. I know some vehicles have the saftey mechanisms in place, but why would it just start doing it now out of the blue. It did this in park and in neutral. When in drive, the engine preformed mormally. Also when I shut the vehicle off and turned it back on and tried to rev it in park or neutral, it preformed normally. The vehicles is an 07 Outlander and has less than 3000 miles on it. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. This is concerning me a bit!!

Well the outtie has a rev limiter, but its not set that low. Sounds like a sensor had been tripped for heat or something since you had just got home from driving. Like a self safety feature. Since you restarted and it didnt happen again, it probably reset.
 
I wouldnt worry about it, unless it starts happening all the time.

Thanks for your insihgt.  I did let it idle for a lot longer than usual.  I started it 15 min before I was ready to leave work to warm it up, but I then got caught up with a customer and it ended up siting there idle for over an hour.  Not moving, so no air going through the engine.  That makes sense!! 

my question is, why do you rev it to 3000?  Seems unnecessary.

I noticed my rpms seemed really low.  Like it was idleing low.  I don't usually, i just happened to then I guess.  I don't beat my outie at all.  Just happened to rev it up a bit higher than usual.

Well, I guess since it has such low mileage on it, if it was idling exceptionally low, i'd just take it to the dealer and have it looked at.  It's under warranty.  But that is just what I'd do.

They normally idle at 500-700 rpms.
 
Yes there is a rev limiter but its up in the redline. I would explain how I know for sure but it makes me cringe just thinking about it.

It's probably a software limit that's effective when it's not in gear.
 
Puts less wear on the transmission if you suddenly threw it into gear...probably considered a safety feature
 
Could it have been part of a software update for the engine/transmission hesitation?

quote:

ORIGINAL: bnilguy

It's probably a software limit that's effective when it's not in gear.

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I would tend to agree.  I have seen this on other vehicles that I have owned.  Odd that it changed when you shut it off and restarted it though.