On my way to work today I lost drive when accelerating to 70mph from 50. Before getting on to the motorway all was well, booted it on the slip road to get upto speed hit about 60 and the revs went up to 5000 with no effect on speed.

Started to slow down and managed to reach the next junction.
Stopped and all was well again, got to work on side roads with no trouble. Shifted both auto and 'manual' OK on my continued journey, which obviously wasn't spirited.

No undue smells, noises or puddles, nor any error messages.
Any ideas what's gone on or what to check before I set off for home?

 

Sure sounds like a slipping tranny

 

I had similar problem on an earlier ZF transmission (BMW). Turned out to be pretty well clogged filter.

 

Back home from work,

took a slow drive around the car park, windows down, a/c and radio off, listening for anything untoward.

After not hearing anything set off for home, back street route home then jumped on the motorway for 1 Jct.

Boot down the slip road and shifting was fine, up to 70 mph, past the point of this morning's interference. Sailed past my Jct and heading up the long, uphill section of the motorway to put some extra load on, rock solid at my chosen speed, shifted down OK when I got off to return home.

I have been getting occasional TRAC and ASC lights, which stay on for a journey and then turn off at next start up, perhaps there's something electrickery related?

I'll pull the battery tomorrow and give it a good charge, my regular, short runs may well have caused a low charge.

 

If not the battery it may be a wheel speed sensor - the car relies on them.

 

Well, after charging the battery to 100% on the charger, and driving for a week the drive, or lack thereof, problem hasn't returned.


Neither has the occasionally appearing TRAC/ASC warnings returned.


I only hope that it was an electronic problem caused by low voltage/amperage rather than something more serious, though I've not heard of such an issue, when mechanical, resolving itself with no action needed.

 

i had a sort of simmilar issue when my battery was low,
firstly the traction control ect light were on, and gearbox fault.

lost driver, came to a stop, put it in park then back into drive and all has been good for the last 1000 miles (fully charged now of course)

 

Symptoms returned today on the 300 miles journey through the Middle of Wales back home.

Stuttered three or four times, seems like it hasn't changed up when accelerating, and then just revved. Slow down to a speed where the gear before the (not working) change will operate and it hooks up and drives again. Found this out the third time, previously I'd stopped put it into PARK and off it went again.

Did this for roughly the first hour, then was faultless for the next three in varying traffic conditions (B-Road blast, A-Road cruise, and motorway stop/start/crawl).

Still no closer to working out what's going on, why, or how to recreate the condition for diagnosis.