Trans Fail Safe One Solution Essay

[X5patX5]

Right apologies in advance for this long winded essay, but hopefully it will help someone out of a big bill. In April I bought an E53 X5 on a 2001 plate, it was a rushed decision after making my way to Oxford from London to buy one, only to find out it was sold when I got there, and the seller could not be bothered to let me know.

I purchased one the same day being silly, as I had the money in my pocket and needed a car urgently. On arrival the seller told me his wife had the car and it took 30 minutes before his brother showed up in the car, long story short they were warming the car up, the car even had a private plate which he said I could have at no extra cost, and I purchased the car for £5700.

From the sellers shop to my house was around 15 miles and the car drove fine no problems.

The following morning I came out and started the car, put the car into drive and it would not move and the message TRANS FAIL SAFE came up on the dash, I then put the car in Reverse and it moved, so I put it back into drive and it moved at around 10mph for about 5 seconds, and as it picked up speed it kicked out tons of black smoke bringing everyone behind me to a standstill, I must admit it was kind of funny but a worry.

I took the car to around three mechanics who all told me it was the gearbox and it needs to be rebuilt starting at around £1600 to £2000, which made me think I have just been done, so I parked the car up and took public transport. I then joined this forum and looked around the internet but could not find one solution for this problem, but several with all different solutions, but the gearbox being the problem popped up here and there.

After two weeks I thought ok round 2, I went to start the car and it was dead, I then jumped the car and it started and drove perfect until I got about 6 miles from my house and the TRANS FAIL SAFE message came up and the car shut off. I tried starting the car and it turned over and on my 100mph 6 mile journey home all the lights came up on the dash.

Right being a mechanic once upon a time, working on Black Taxis I decided it was time to get to work, and do the easy stuff I could manage, so I gave the car a service, Oil, Air Filter and all six glow plugs and out of 100% I would say before I done this mini service, the car was running at 10%. I then went to a local BMW specialist and told him about my Christmas tree on my dashboard and he offered to come and have a look, and found out that the reason why I was getting this message was due to my alternator being burnt out.

I was told that because of all the electrics on this car the alternator is like the heart of the vehicle so if the alternator is not working 100% the car will struggle. I bought an alternator for £120 and a brand new Battery, but on starting my car there was a loud rush of what sounded like water coming out of a tap and then a bang and loads of what I got to find out was gearbox oil. The gearbox was fine but the heat exchange (17207500754) had exploded and this was down to the car not running the oil fluids properly due to the alternator.

Anyway I found a second hand Heater Exchange unit and on starting the car, all the lights went out and the car sounded alive and I would say was still driving sluggish but had reached at least 45% now. The gearbox oil you can only get from BMW and it is not cheap, but working in the trade I managed to get myself 5 litres for £50. (I work for the Volkswagen and Audi Group, just in case you were wondering).

I then was advised to change the oil separator (11127793164) and I can honestly say my oil separator looked like a blob of black soot and after this action my car was now driving at 75%. I then changed the cold temp switch (13621703993) and the pressure converter (11747796634) and I can now say my car is driving at 95%.

As an everyday normal driver the car is fine, I only now get smoke if I kick down with the pedal to the metal but nothing like the Batman smoke clouds I use to do. I will probably have to use some injector cleaner or take it to a garage and get them to perform one of them engine flush procedures, but for now I am happy.
In total it cost me around £450 to £500 including labour which is better than a £2000 gearbox rebuild, and I have not seen the Trans Fail Safe message since.

The seller obviously knew there was a problem with the car which did not show itself when the car was warm, but that was my problem and my own stupidity for rushing out and buying just anything, but I do believe he sold the car because he was told the gearbox had gone and I hope by letting everyone on this forum know the above, this will save some of you from getting rid of your pride and joy as gearboxes rebuilt or brand new are not cheap.

Check everything first!!!!!!!!!!!!

[brewer]

Thanks for sharing.  Good advice indeed.

As many on here know (often from direct experience!), the battery can throw all sorts of errors and is legendary for throwing up transfailsafe.  If the battery is low/dead and/or struggles to start the car on turnover (i.e. takes > 5 secs) then the car often automatically throws up transfailsafe and locks the car in 2nd gear, preventing any changes up or down in order to safeguard the box.  Turning off the ignition and waiting for the car to shutdown often resets this message.

I personally have experienced this several times.

Of course, the curse of a flat battery can also be a direct result of a faulty alternator, as per your tale.  Alternator fail on these vehicles more frequently than most due to the heavy load placed on them from the abundance of toys and electrical systems.

Brewer