'ENGINE FAILSAFE PROG'... any idea???

king_julien · #1 11-24-2008, 04:13 PM

Hi again all...

After all that commotion with the Oil Separator... I somehow got another problem in hand.

Took the car for a long run a couple of days ago to see the 'smoke' has disappeared. It disappeared alrite then I took it for an alignment. It needed an alignment for sometimes now but I could never find a garage who could accommodate for 22" alloy until that very same day. Anyway got the alignment done and 5 minutes later after driving away from the garage, ABS light came ON, DSC light came ON, HDC light came ON and Brake light came ON along with a message "ENGINE FAILSAFE PROG". I turned the engine OFF and turn it back ON again about a minute or 2 but the problem was still there.

Cut long story short. Drove home took about half an hour or so, turn the engine OFF again. Waited about 5 minutes and restarted it again and this time, ALL the lights were gone but the message was still there. Then yesterday, took the car for another spin to see if the problem was still there. FIRST of all, NO PROBLEM LIGHTS AT ALL and SECOND, the message was not there. Drove the car and it was fine as if nothing happened. A Big Relieve...

Unfortunately, when I took the car out today, the message came back up again but NO PROBLEM LIGHTS CAME ON. The car drove fine and after several minutes the message just vanished, disappeared...

I'm sure the problem is far from over yet and its just a matter of time those lights and messages come back on again... Any idea why this is happening... How do I get rid of it? Do I need to put in the diagnostic tool?

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NOVAX5 · #2 11-24-2008, 07:11 PM

your alternator is on its way out. x-mas tree effects will occur again when the alternator death leads to killed battery. have them replaced now or you will get strainded later. i had this issue 2 weeks before the battery went out then alternator went dead causing the engine to use the battery to power up the car and eletronics, then the battery and the alternator died at once when my wife was driving it on highway. scary stuff. everything shuts off no lights, nothing. she was able to pull over the shoulder and get it towed.

king_julien · #3 11-25-2008, 04:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NOVAX5

your alternator is on its way out. x-mas tree effects will occur again when the alternator death leads to killed battery. have them replaced now or you will get strainded later. i had this issue 2 weeks before the battery went out then alternator went dead causing the engine to use the battery to power up the car and eletronics, then the battery and the alternator died at once when my wife was driving it on highway. scary stuff. everything shuts off no lights, nothing. she was able to pull over the shoulder and get it towed.

Hi NOVAX5,

Thanks for your reply, will check the alternator and the battery today and post the result. Does anybody else has the same symptom and experience? Anything else do I need to check?

X Foomph · #4 11-25-2008, 05:19 AM

Hi King,
Yes, I had a similar experience. It ended up being a faulty alternator and it also started with the same systems you mentioned.
Read this : Dynamic Brake Control Light Stays On
I hope you get it fixed/replaced soon & that its covered under your warranty. Let us know how you get on.

PS: Don't leave it too long and end up draining the battery to zero, cause then you can add that cost (new battery) to the repair, not to mention the potential inconveniance of maybe breaking in down in a not so nice place at the wrong end of the day.

Good luck

simoncpw · #5 01-27-2009, 01:12 PM

I've just experienced something similar tonight.... and:
1) stop and start the engine without problem, but as soon as I put from "P" to "D", the engine stopped. Retried a couple of times... then finally, I gave it a few high rev, put it in "D" and it was able to move.
2) stopped and parked the car for a about an hour for dinner. It started without any problem, no message, no warning lights... but I notice the LED / lights in the odometer get slightly brighter when I rev the engine at idle.
3) the weather here is pretty cold here (12c) although not as cold as some other countries.

- Does it look like it's problem related to the alternator / battery?
- Can I wait and continue to drive for a week before I take it to the workshop (they are currently on Chinese New Year holiday here)?

Mine is a 2002 4.6

Thanks.