Trans failsafe program

My 54plate range rover vogue it's done 108 thou miles last week trans failsafe program cum up on my car sum one put it on there computer to check it and they said it was the 5th gear on gearbox what cum up on it and said I need a new gearbox costin £3200 it this true or can it b fixed the car wil go 1st thing on a mornin and once I stop the car wil not go and just revs up and wil nt move I hav to turn car off and start again to go but then does the same soon as I stop ?

Whole idea of transmission failsafe program is to stop you makin your gearbox worse than it is :welcome:

Was it a main dealer? Take it to a transmission specialist. It is so you don't damage it worse. My Ford did that earlier in the year, thought it was transmission, took it to garage and they put it on the computer and was the abs/speed sensor in the rear diff. Under 200 for repairs, happy days

Have you ever serviced the transmission and changed the ATF, before?

After trans failsafe cum on it only got drove when I tuck it to garage for them to hav alook and they said that code cum up 5th gear what ever that means . Yes tuck it to a proper place that fixs range rovers no never serviced the transmission I had the car a year

Dont this mean the box is fubared? Jm is the gearbox man.

The garage I tuck it to said I need a need gearbox costing £3200 but was just wounding if it cud be fixed or are they rite bout gearbox ?

goonarmy said:

Dont this mean the box is fubared? Jm is the gearbox man.

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What do u mean I hav only just joined here

Clairesilk said:

What do u mean I hav only just joined here

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Jamesmartin will kno the answer. But sounds like its shagged. Dont know if the price is right but wouldnt surprise me.

*minty* said:

Whole idea of transmission failsafe program is to stop you makin your gearbox worse than it is :welcome:

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That what I thought cau there has bein nowt amatter with car apart that but garage said I need a new gearbox they said its no good

goonarmy said:

Jamesmartin will kno the answer. But sounds like its shagged. Dont know if the price is right but wouldnt surprise me.

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Do u no if a gearbox can b fixed or does it hav to b replaced ?

Clairesilk said:

My 54plate range rover vogue it's done 108 thou miles last week trans failsafe program cum up on my car sum one put it on there computer to check it and they said it was the 5th gear on gearbox what cum up on it and said I need a new gearbox costin £3200 it this true or can it b fixed the car wil go 1st thing on a mornin and once I stop the car wil not go and just revs up and wil nt move I hav to turn car off and start again to go but then does the same soon as I stop ?

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You could ask for a second opinion ...

Do you know if you have the ZF or GM transmission ?


Thinking on ...

A known vulnerable point with the 5HP24 relates to the area around the internal snap ring that retains the ‘A’ clutch pack.

The end of the clutch drum into which the groove for the snap ring is formed can fatigue over time and break off.

If this has happened in your transmission I wondered if the pump could perhaps keep up with the resulting clutch piston seal leakage & maintain some pressure at cold temperatures but then when the fluid gets hot the increased leakage causes the engagement pressure to drop & the clutch suddenly gets dumped, leaving you in neutral.

Clutch ‘A’ is used in gears 1 to 4, but not in 5 or reverse.
If you haven’t already taken your transmission in for repair you could maybe try the transmission in reverse when it’s hot and won’t drive forwards to see if reverse is unaffected?


Unfortunately, if this is the problem, the transmission would need a complete strip to gain access to the affected components.
The fix is to replace the input/turbine shaft and drum assembly.
The ‘clutch B’ inner drum usually has to be replaced, too, as it also gets damaged due to it being so close.


but the problem can also turn out to be caused by a faulty voltage signal from the rotary potentiometer in the transfer box shift motor.
It gets communicated as a TRANS. FAILSAFE PROG message from the transfer box ECU via the CAN bus to the transmission controller.

Autologic (the diagnostic software generally used by Independents) was unable to identify this fault though Testbook/T4 (used by the LR stealers) was.

It might be worth you checking out and eliminating this first before concentrating on the transmission?

Clairesilk said:

After trans failsafe cum on it only got drove when I tuck it to garage for them to hav alook and they said that code cum up 5th gear what ever that means . Yes tuck it to a proper place that fixs range rovers no never serviced the transmission I had the car a year

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every 50k trans need a service, filter and fluid change. If done on schedule ( proper mainteance) 200-300k miles on transmission is not uncommon lack of service kills them

Dippypud said:

You could ask for a second opinion ...

Do you know if you have the ZF or GM transmission ?


Thinking on ...

A known vulnerable point with the 5HP24 relates to the area around the internal snap ring that retains the ‘A’ clutch pack.

The end of the clutch drum into which the groove for the snap ring is formed can fatigue over time and break off.

If this has happened in your transmission I wondered if the pump could perhaps keep up with the resulting clutch piston seal leakage & maintain some pressure at cold temperatures but then when the fluid gets hot the increased leakage causes the engagement pressure to drop & the clutch suddenly gets dumped, leaving you in neutral.

Clutch ‘A’ is used in gears 1 to 4, but not in 5 or reverse.
If you haven’t already taken your transmission in for repair you could maybe try the transmission in reverse when it’s hot and won’t drive forwards to see if reverse is unaffected?


Unfortunately, if this is the problem, the transmission would need a complete strip to gain access to the affected components.
The fix is to replace the input/turbine shaft and drum assembly.
The ‘clutch B’ inner drum usually has to be replaced, too, as it also gets damaged due to it being so close.


but the problem can also turn out to be caused by a faulty voltage signal from the rotary potentiometer in the transfer box shift motor.
It gets communicated as a TRANS. FAILSAFE PROG message from the transfer box ECU via the CAN bus to the transmission controller.

Autologic (the diagnostic software generally used by Independents) was unable to identify this fault though Testbook/T4 (used by the LR stealers) was.

It might be worth you checking out and eliminating this first before concentrating on the transmission?

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good paste and post

Where abouts are you

i'd get to a transmission specialist. Dealers seem to prefer to replace rather than fix, I suppose it saves them having to employ real mechanics rather than fitters.

Blanny said:

Where abouts are you

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Hi I am in Sunderland

Thor1950 said:

good paste and post

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Useless Merkin comment ...

SteveD said:

i'd get to a transmission specialist. Dealers seem to prefer to replace rather than fix, I suppose it saves them having to employ real mechanics rather than fitters.

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That's prob rite that cau I hav bein reading storey and say they can b fixed depending on what it is

Thor1950 said:

every 50k trans need a service, filter and fluid change. If done on schedule ( proper mainteance) 200-300k miles on transmission is not uncommon lack of service kills them

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Just checked paper work there is a lot paper services done and its got transmission on it I hav nt done 1 but hav nt done loads miles on it

Dippypud said:

You could ask for a second opinion ...

Do you know if you have the ZF or GM transmission ?


Thinking on ...

A known vulnerable point with the 5HP24 relates to the area around the internal snap ring that retains the ‘A’ clutch pack.

The end of the clutch drum into which the groove for the snap ring is formed can fatigue over time and break off.

If this has happened in your transmission I wondered if the pump could perhaps keep up with the resulting clutch piston seal leakage & maintain some pressure at cold temperatures but then when the fluid gets hot the increased leakage causes the engagement pressure to drop & the clutch suddenly gets dumped, leaving you in neutral.

Clutch ‘A’ is used in gears 1 to 4, but not in 5 or reverse.
If you haven’t already taken your transmission in for repair you could maybe try the transmission in reverse when it’s hot and won’t drive forwards to see if reverse is unaffected?


Unfortunately, if this is the problem, the transmission would need a complete strip to gain access to the affected components.
The fix is to replace the input/turbine shaft and drum assembly.
The ‘clutch B’ inner drum usually has to be replaced, too, as it also gets damaged due to it being so close.


but the problem can also turn out to be caused by a faulty voltage signal from the rotary potentiometer in the transfer box shift motor.
It gets communicated as a TRANS. FAILSAFE PROG message from the transfer box ECU via the CAN bus to the transmission controller.

Autologic (the diagnostic software generally used by Independents) was unable to identify this fault though Testbook/T4 (used by the LR stealers) was.

It might be worth you checking out and eliminating this first before concentrating on the transmission?

Click to expand...

Hi there it is a gm and it does not reverse it's fine on a mornin when it's cold soon as the car heats up when u stop it wil nt let ya pull away and just revs up