Newb w/infamous trans fail issues, 03 3.0L

[cattywampus]

Originally Posted by Weasel

Pretty well concealed, and the wiring problem I mentioned is very uncommon... but there are so many things that can cause train failsafe, just like there are many things that can cause a check engine light. Although it can be more common for transmissions or trans control modules at higher mileages, you can't fix anything without knowing exactly what your dealing with. Hopefully it's something cheap and easy for ya, fingers crossed!

i hear ya. it's just disconcerting when you've read posts about mis-diagnosis even from the dealer but i guess ya gotta start somewheres. disconnected the battery yesterday and have yet to plug it back in hoping it will reset the codes. wishful thinking, i know. will prob have to pay the dealer to have the radio code given to me now too

the day that all this happened, i did pack about 200lbs of water in the rear cargo area and shortly thereafter, i parked on a pretty steep driveway. think these issues might be related to the electrical parade now going on in my instrument cluster?

[damas9963]

[QUOTE=Weasel;655401]Before spending tons of money on modules/transmission rebuild, etc. I'd have the dealer diagnose it as I just fixed a 7 series today that was in limp mode. They were expecting to get an estimate on a whole transmission or control module, but when I told them a rat chewed through the can bus wires that go to the trans module. All I had to do was properly splice a couple wires together and clear the faults. I only knew to look at that circuit by the can faults stored and wiring schematics printed straight from the test plan in the GT1 tester.

I'm having the same issue with my X5-2001-4.4i ( Tran failsafe prog, lights for ABS , Brake and DCS all yellow, and service engine soon). I have an OBD II diagnostic tool ( bought recently from costco for $35) it's showing me 3 errors:
1- P0171 ( System too lean, Bank 1).
2- P0600 ( CAN data Bus Malfunction).
3- P1747 ( Undefined Code)...

I was wondering if my problem is with some wiring according to these codes? Please advise..
Thanx

[Weasel]

The lean mixture code can be one of two things... if it is adaptive values too lean(set at idle) it would be unmetered air (vacuum leak). If it is multiplicative values too lean (off idle under load) it would be a mass air problem. That would be the needed information to know where to look.

The can bus malfunction would need proper diagnosis by equipment that can communicate with and read faults from all the modules that communicate on that bus. Nothing you can do unfortunately...

Undefined code, most likely a BMW specific code that is not a generic OBD code... yet again nothing you can diagnose with your current setup.

In your case it is best to either go to the dealer, or find a really good BMW specializing independent equipped with BMW's GT1 tester.

[butter82]

except mine has only happened when it's raining out.

I just received a call from the dealer and they're telling me the EGS module is fried. There is wear from the cover and water has been getting in? Does that make sense? I was under the impression that the module is hidden behind the firewall? Can anyone provide more color?

Thanks,

[Ghost-Flame]

I had the exact same thing happen on Monday night. the trans went into limp mode after the engine rpm fluctuated wildly between 1000 and 4000 all by itself, the trans failsafe warning cmae on. I parked the car for a few minutes, shut it off. When I restarted the warning cleared and the car ran fine. I have put about 200 miles on it since that episode. The local dealer says sometimes the computers give false or spuradic readings. It could be a sign of a lot of things from wire shorting to the beginning of a major trans failure. I'm gona run til it won't.

Ghost

[butter82]

you may want to take preventative action. this is the 2nd time it's happened to me. 1st time i let it sit over night and the next morning it was fine; similiarly this time around it happened again but b/c it rained so hard, it kept coming back as i was driving to the dealer and by the time i got there - it was off again.
Again, they told me water was getting into the box holding the EGS unit was getting shorted along with some of the wires getting fried. As of current, the failsafe light is off (i'm assuming b/c the car has had time to dry off since). The dealer quoted me 1800 to fix everything and prevent the leak from happening again.
Has this happened to anyone else? I'm assuming if the light is off then i should be able to just fix the leak portion and hold off on the egs unit? the car seems to be running fine. Thoughts??