If the problem is electrical like in my case the only harm is that starting off the line in 4th or 5th gear def puts undue stress on things.
I've driven a total of about 50 miles on failsafe mode in the 3-4x it's happened to me.
It was always caused from water getting into the connector going to the transmission. It was apparently actually wicking through the cable like a straw from the top.
Actually once was from a loose connection at the alternator.
Check your running voltage i think it's test 7 or 8 make sure that's not dropping that will kick in failsafe then if you have the same five speed transmission as the 3.0i, then a strong candidate is water in the connector.
I'm curious if the down grade could be shifting water in the connector bringing up the error in down grade.
In my case twice it happened shortly after a huge splash of water hit me from a passing semi truck.
In both those cases, i drove the front right tire onto a curb so i could crawl under the car and get to the transmission connector. Shake out the water and I was good to go.
The very first time i had the water in the connector problem i had slam shifts before it went to limp.
The two times it happened while driving 65–75 mph 105–120 kmh it was in 5th and just stayed in fifth until i got where i pulled over found a curb to drive onto.
You can do those two checks at the least to figure out if one is the cause.
I can't remember if it stays in 4th or 5th but it's a slow launch to say the least. It's definitely meant more for getting you home once than multiple trips. I would be borrowing a car from family rather than drive in case it is an internal damage issue that will strand you. If it's structural it's more likely end of life damage and driving on it with just risk an epic failure vs. boring just stops working. I really never see a car where a badly acting transmission comes back from internal faults other than solenoid based slam shifts where there's usually no error.
–awr–
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