Transmission failSafe

[X5-D-Sport]

Driving earlier today...

Car refused to go beyond 4th gear, regardless of throttling.

Then lost drive altogether

I put into neutral for 5 secs whilst coasting, & back into drive.

Transmission Fail-Safe came up & car locked into 3rd or 4th gear by the feel of it.

Stopped on hard shoulder, switched off for 2 mins & restarted, and drove another 20 miles fault free as if nothing had happened.

It's not done stuff like this before, so I'm curious of what it could be ?

Battery is new, lots of volts 13.8 > 14.1 generally.

any ideas of why this happened ?

[X5Sport]

Get a code read done to see what got logged is the simplest check.

Check the condition of the oil - any sign of discolouration or smelling ‘burnt’ is a bad thing (indicates clutch slip).

Could be it got too hot and pressure got lost?  It’s been warm out there!

Torque converter on the way out?  Can start to show as a slight rattle.

Low oil level perhaps?

Unlikely to be the electrics unless the alternator stopped playing - but you should have a battery warning light for that.

Check connections to the box and it’s ECU.

Might be some other suggestions from the knowledgable crew

[X5-D-Sport]

Hi again Sir,
The road was smooth, no pot holes to wobble connections, & the stop & re-start was on smooth ground too.

Two things to note.... the air temp was 32 degrees, & i noticed a vibration from the center of the car after we re-started & were on our way again.

Just prior to the issue, I was commenting to my other-half how smooth the drive was....
I spoke toooooo soon I guess.

3 hours earlier, the D-Sport did get a wizzy run on the motor way, but it was cooler then.

The gearbox was supposed to have been overhauled by the previous owner 10 months ago... and is potentially still under warranty..

[henrym3]

No other warning lights like 4x4, dsc or abs? I’ve had failsafe a few times in the past and none have actually been the g/b. It was just receiving bad information from elsewhere. As X5sport says a scan is the best bet

[X5-D-Sport]

I have a friend who has the scanning software, so... will drive gently & get this done this week.