Sorry for the long story, but wanted to get some feedback and the details help!

Car belonged to my folks for 10 years. My father could be an aggressive driver, but the last 4-5 years, it was mom only and short slow errands. I got the car in August 2014.

After 2,000 miles (80,046), I got the gearbox failure message. This was after a very spirited drive on Mt. Palomar (for San Diego CA folks ) and Wildcat canyon. I pulled over and by accident discovered that turning off the car cleared the message.

Local indy shop pulled code (P0829) and said error between 5-6th gear and quoted me $6700 for new transmission. I declined and went to research. I found a service bulletin (JTB00072) about this and several other gear errors if the driving style changes dramatically. I thought "ah ha!" and took it to my local dealer to flash the TCM, per the service bulletin and assorted successful posts.

No more issues for another 2,150 miles. Same type of trip and same length...approx 2 hours of twisty road, varied speed driving and get into town to see the gearbox failure message again (82,200 miles). I was at a light so I knew to shut down and off I went.

I am not planning on doing anything about it this time, but was thinking this was "normal" behavior when the driving is so different than prior driving, even with the same driver.

Is this true? Am I just burying my head in the sand for a pending transmission failure?

 

Have you checked the fluid level? Plastic pan, electrical sealing sleeve and the cooling lines - all known areas for leaks.

You may want to invest in a pan, fluid and sleeve change and if your cooling lines are leaking or weeping (high probability) might be worth while to get them changed out too...

The above will give you peace of mind...

 

Thank you, good advice. The car has been in for several items, including two transmission leaks (both repaired, one being the cooling lines and the other being the pan). If it is leaking again, both the indy shop and the dealer missed. I realize this is completely possible, but not probable

 

two important areas covered - that's good. Take a close look at the electrical sealing sleeve - very, very prone to leak across the top of the trans case - very hard to catch but can cause a world of woes...

One more thought - I hope they checked the fluid level after each leak was addressed, especially the cooling lines..

 

Check the battery is better than adequate - 12.5V at least after standing overnight, engine off, headlights on.

 

Abonano, yes they checked (well said they did anyway) and so far I have good service from both.

New battery already added

I will add the electrical sealing sleeve to the list of things to check.

 

Same car and same problem..roughly. Mine tends to happen as a 3-4 gear issue. I do the same thing to clear it when it happens. Turn off and turn on. Problem goes away for awhile than rears its ugly head when I have sudden braking or harsh turning in drive only.... it pops on. If my driving habit changes from heavy foot on the highway to quick stops in local traffic it may pop on. It initial lead me to believe fluid levels of course but I have been through checking fluid levels, pans/filters/sleeves replaced. Yet it still comes back. I have read of this issue previous to my changes of the above and found that this ZF tranny is shared in numerous cars including the Hyundai Genesis and Mercedes Benz plus others. I am to understand that the solenoids can be the issue and if I can locate the right part numbers for the ones from Benz (Which I was told were better, though same tranny?)I will be installing into mine. I hope you report your fix if there is one to be found because its really getting on my last nerve

 

Had the same issue (3-4 gear) that happened once. I replaced the fluid (did it myself to ensure the right fluid, pan etc were used, but most importantly, that the fluid level was correct and had the TCM re-flash. 12,000 miles later without a single tranny incident. I do not push the car hard. I will go up to 110mph but not aggressively.

 

motofreak72, your story matches mine and really makes me think it is just the TCM sometimes reporting something that isn't physically a problem.

I can live with that, as long as it isn't a real issue.

I'll add fluid level to my list, too, just in case.

 

I have the same issue too (3-4 gear load) gearbox fault, turn ignition off and goes away. Did trans pan, lifeguard fluid and sleeve change and TCM/PCM reflash.

All that's left is the cooling lines - I figured I did that much, might as well "go for the gold" - it's been too damn cold to get them done but I'm real hopeful as believe it or not I think my trans might be slightly overfilled... Didn't realize it has to be a light trickle at 40C but changing out the lines and rechecking the fluid should do the trick..

 

I have a similar issue from time to time with gears 5-6. Restarting the ignition removes the trouble code message. Changing trans fluid, pan/filter, and sleeve didn't fix the problem, and I think it's something mechanical in the trans. I haven't tried reflashing. I have the Mongoose SDD--can it be done myself? The problem happens when sudden pressure is put on upshifting or downshifting between 5 and 6, such as hitting the cruise resume after slowing and the trans tries to jolt back up to cruising speed. So I just realize that soft spot and drive gently around it.