"Transmission Failsafe Prog" messaged appeared?

SECNEW

MEMBER
1998 BMW 540I
136,000 MILES

My car was able to move normally except when the car is on Idle and when I engaged the auto gear, the response seems to be very slow. The car was able to reverse as well. A few days before this alarm, I did encounter the car being sluggish or bog whenever I accelerate the gas.

1 Reply

SQM

MECHANIC
6,383 POSTS

Hello,

It sounds like an issue with the transmission control module.
The car will go to the failsafe mode when the module detects issues that can damage the transmission.
Just about all of the fail safe mode will produce diagnostics trouble codes.
The vehicle need to be scanned to retrieve the codes.
This will help with the diagnostics of the issue that you have.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/reduced-power-limp-mode

Keep in mind that the transmission can go to fail safe mode if you are low on transmission fluid or if it overheats due to having poor transmission cooler performance.
Be sure to check the fluid level and verify it is correct.

Another possibility is a faulty throttle position sensor. If the throttle sensor provides incorrect data the computer will trigger the fail safe mode as it is unable to determine the positing of the throttle and cannot determine the optimum air/fuel mixture.

Please let me know of any questions.
Thank you.

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