On my way back from work yesterday got a "transmission failsafe program message". It was near home after a long city commute with lots of stop and go traffic. I must have been in 1st gear moving slowly after a brief stop in the traffic. Almost immediately pulled over and got the IID connected which showed something along the lines of "Pressure Solenoid 5" under the transmission group.
Oil temp was 113C BTW.
Stupid me, thinking that I had emailed the codes to self, I went on to clear the code. Code cleared alright but turns out I hadn't sent the mail and the draft was discarded.
Anyhow, I went on to drive home uneventfully and was even able to go on with my...date night which included a 60 km drive through all sorts of winding roads up and down the mountains here. I'm grateful that the fat girl didn't throw any message, making a good impression, as always lol.
This morning I did some research through RRPhil's most informative posts and from what I understand it could be a wiring or a solenoid fault.
Last oil change was 45k km ago with ZF lifeguard fluid 5 and ZF filter etc. kit. The gearbox has not given me any real trouble in the 5 years / 130k km I've owned the car for. Oil has been changed thrice during this time.
I have already purchased a ZF oil service kit and have it at my friend's garage waiting for him to make some time for it as he is overwhelmed by workload lately.
The question is, since an oil change is scheduled anyway, wouldn't it be a good idea to have the solenoid changed as well? Or since the code was cleared, not to reappear in several km could that be just a hiccup?
Would I be correct ordering part 0501208542 as replacement of the solenoid 5 EDS 5 on RRPhil's pic. below?

New solenoids seem to be stupidly expensive now, so I’d be tempted to run the vehicle for a while and see if the error reoccurs, just in case it was a glitch. You could maybe swap around EDS 5 with one of the other (identical) solenoids to see if the fault moved with it, to check if it was the wiring at fault rather than the solenoid.

Phil

Hey Phil, thanks for chiming in. I'll look up the solenoid changing procedure on the workshop manual and swap it during the oil change next week, if I can't source a new one locally at a reasonable price. Btw drove another 100km today through all sorts of roads and traffic without any issues.

Two weeks on and the problem hasn't reappeared; must have been a glitch. Had the oil changed yesterday and inspected the solenoid plugs and wires while at it. Everything looks fine. On a side note, the oil was pretty bright for nearly 49000km and the magnets had minimal metal powder on them. I did used to get a minor rpm fluctuation on a certain stretch of a road while a gear change was about to happen (almost impossible to tell by anyone not regularly driving the car) but apparently this is now cured by the fresh oil.

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Seems that the problem did come back this morning, while driving in town, probably with 4th gear. I do remember hitting a slight bump then immediately getting the "Transmission failsafe program message". I drove another 400 or so meters before stopping, switched ignition off and restarted and the message disappeared. I did pull the codes this time though.


IP-Instrument Pack

0xBD EBV function fault received from ABS ECU

0xBF Instrument Pack checksum incorrect

0x8D Transmission Interface Bus fault

LCM-Light Control v11

0x59 Transmission emergency program fault

0x0094 Unknown

0x0095 Unknown

PATS-AntiTheft

0x63 Key 6 - Random code tolerance increased

TBOX-Transfer Case

0x5212 Battery undervoltage -

0x5223 Noise on actuator signal -

TCM-Transmission

0x5 Pressure line solenoid 5 fault: General fault

The car drove normally for the rest of my commute to work.

The ‘noise on actuator signal’ message for the transfer box relates to a faulty potentiometer in the shift motor. This would certainly generate the failsafe message as the vehicle doesn’t know which range it is in.

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Hey Phil,

Thanks for pointing out the potentiometer. I am aware of the "noise in actuator signal" error and I do occasionally get "Transfer box neutral" / "High Range" messages. They briefly pop up and then go away. This has been going on for years, literally. It takes an engine restart for the Low/High switch to become available again and I am then able to switch from high to low and vice versa. This cures the aforementioned messages for weeks or even months.
I therefore believe the "Transmission failsafe program" to be caused by something entirely different. Or I could also be sorely mistaken.

I think you’re going to have to swap EDS 5 around with 2, 3 or 4 to see if the error moves with the solenoid. Buying a new solenoid would be an expensive way to find out that it was the wiring loom at fault.

Phil

I should have done that with the fluid change. But since neither myself nor my mate was very confident doing the swap I decided to take my chances granted it hadn't come back then. I'll keep an eye out for a solenoid and harness and perhaps try to reach out to the official ZF dealer here while trying to kick the can down the road until next service.