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Thread: ENGINE FAILSAFE PROG??? please help

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    ENGINE FAILSAFE PROG??? please help

    So....Im driving my 2001 540 last night and I get off the highway and come to a red light (everything's fine.) As I put the car into first gear the car starts bogging causing the RPMs to jump up and down and also causing the car to start smoking from under the hood. I pull the car over and shut it off...The car will not turn back on and the temp. gauge is in the red...But the car did not overheat. Also when I popped the hood there was what seemed to be a burning smell coming from beneath. The display read ENGINE FAILSAFE PROG...HELP!!! I had to have the car towed to my house and I don't even know where to begin...

  2. #2
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    Any leaks? Oil, Antifreeze?

  3. #3
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    no leaks i have oil and antifreeze..it smelled like plastic burning under the hood for a couple seconds... now car doesnt start and car still says ENGINE FAIL SAFE MODE...anybody know anything or experience anything like this

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by toez540 View Post
    no leaks i have oil and antifreeze..it smelled like plastic burning under the hood for a couple seconds... now car doesnt start and car still says ENGINE FAIL SAFE MODE...anybody know anything or experience anything like this
    I just recently went through this ordeal. In my case it was the wiring that had gone bad which in turn caused the DME/ECU to go bad.

    It wasn't as bad as yours but my car was at the stealer for 2.5 weeks.

  5. #5
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    mine kicked on once while i was getting on it. turned the car off, back on, it went away. . . i think my maf is gone.

  6. #6
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    It might be AIr related. While the guys were tweaking the SC install on my car, the fail safe was going on when they revved it passed red line on idle. Seems the air routing was not properly sending the air into the engine. Could be the maf. Why dont you check the codes and post them on here. Most likely its not a big deal as bad as it sounds. The burning smell does seem scary though. One step at a time....

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  7. #7
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    i finally fixed it on my own this afternoon, thanx guyz for the help.. but who i really need to thank is this guy dagoo98 from http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=164268 ... i googled a couple things and found that... i was so happy to do this on my own for $20.. i know i woulda got raped at a dealership for such a cheap sensor and there bs ass labor

  8. #8
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    what a beautiful day for forum enthusiasts everywhere!

  9. #9
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    So it was the fuse right

  10. #10
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    99 540i
    When that happened on my car I had to replace the electronic throttle.
    1999 540i Sport

  11. #11
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    It was the coolant temp sensor located on the lower radiator hose, also a fuse blew that was under the passenger side cabin filter. That all caused the temperature needle to be buried red, but the car didnt over heat! Then the car wouldnt start and OBC read ENGINE FAILSAFE MODE..
    Last edited by toez540; 05-15-2008 at 06:48 PM.

  12. #12
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    Hi. 2003 540i 6 speed Sportt that I just purchased recently. 103k miles. I received the same engine failsafe message two days ago along with the yellow DSC warning staying illuminated. Engine itself was fine/runs fine. No overheating, nothing. Pressing the DSC button has no effect once this warning light is on.

    When I stopped the car, turned it off, let it sit. Restarted, then the warning light went off and all was well. Today I drove her and after several miles, same thing..the EFP message along with the DSC warning that stayed on. Engine ran perfectly fine. Only thing I can think of is that it started raining today and again two days ago when the light/warning came on.

    Any suggestions as to what this may be? I'm not showing any brake/ABS warnings. Everything else is working fine, and the battery (which is an OEM BMW labeled exide) is a green indicator.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by toez540 View Post
    The display read ENGINE FAILSAFE PROG...HELP!!!
    I just love the idea that his car would be like, asking for help.

    My display often reads: "Hey owner, don't mean to inconvenience you but if you couldn't tell from the smoke in your rearview mirror, I'm sort of on fire. Think you uhh... think you can do something about that? No rush or anything. I mean if your busy it's ok but you know just wanted to bring it to your attention. You know what, you seem busy... I'm probably bothering you. On second thought don't even worry about it. I'm fine."

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  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by lesguy View Post
    Hi. 2003 540i 6 speed Sportt that I just purchased recently. 103k miles. I received the same engine failsafe message two days ago along with the yellow DSC warning staying illuminated. Engine itself was fine/runs fine. No overheating, nothing. Pressing the DSC button has no effect once this warning light is on.

    When I stopped the car, turned it off, let it sit. Restarted, then the warning light went off and all was well. Today I drove her and after several miles, same thing..the EFP message along with the DSC warning that stayed on. Engine ran perfectly fine. Only thing I can think of is that it started raining today and again two days ago when the light/warning came on.

    Any suggestions as to what this may be? I'm not showing any brake/ABS warnings. Everything else is working fine, and the battery (which is an OEM BMW labeled exide) is a green indicator.
    Couple of updates. OBDII Code reader showed two stored codes: P0120 and P0221. Had no CEL light, just the Engine Failsafe and the DSC Warning light. CLeared those codes. Ran her this morning (sunny but no rain/dry roads) on a couple of errands for about a total of 20 miles highway/city mixed. Runs perfectly fine. No Engine Failsafe, DSC seems to be working fine/no DSC warning light. USed the cluster testing mode to check battery voltage at rest. 12.2V was the readout. Just ran a OBDII Code scan again, no codes. I do, however, smell a slight oil burning smell coming through the vents, so I suspect it's time for valve cover gaskets but not sure if thats at all related to the Engine Failsafe issue of late.

  15. #15
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    codes P1341 , P1347 and P1345 showed up in my car . Got the same message on my dashboard 'engine failsafe prog' I believe its time for new spark plugs. My RPM's jump at a cold start between 700 -900 . I also got codes P0120 and P0221 but I don't know what those are . If anyone can help me out I would gladly appreciate it .

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by BryanEm7 View Post
    codes P1341 , P1347 and P1345 showed up in my car . Got the same message on my dashboard 'engine failsafe prog' I believe its time for new spark plugs. My RPM's jump at a cold start between 700 -900 . I also got codes P0120 and P0221 but I don't know what those are . If anyone can help me out I would gladly appreciate it .
    That's an old thread. Anyway, I just had those last 2 codes on my X5 and it turned to be combination of vacuum leak and low battery charge. With any modern car, smart battery charger is a must and with any aging car, vacuum leaks are inevitable. Check those 2 things first and go from there.
    2010 BMW M6 SMG Coupe * Black Saphire Metallic * Full Leather Merino Black
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  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by lesguy View Post
    Couple of updates. OBDII Code reader showed two stored codes: P0120 and P0221. Had no CEL light, just the Engine Failsafe and the DSC Warning light. CLeared those codes. Ran her this morning (sunny but no rain/dry roads) on a couple of errands for about a total of 20 miles highway/city mixed. Runs perfectly fine. No Engine Failsafe, DSC seems to be working fine/no DSC warning light. USed the cluster testing mode to check battery voltage at rest. 12.2V was the readout. Just ran a OBDII Code scan again, no codes. I do, however, smell a slight oil burning smell coming through the vents, so I suspect it's time for valve cover gaskets but not sure if thats at all related to the Engine Failsafe issue of late.
    Followup:
    So the issue has become more frequent. (from once every 2-3 months, to once a week). And today, for the first time, the engine actually did go into some form of failsafe mode where idle jumped from approx 500 to 1500 rpms every 2-3 seconds (tach needle seemed to stay steady during this idle hunting) and then the engine would stall out completely and shut down. Upon restart, the engine ran fine for a few seconds, went into failsafe mode and would not respond to accelerator inputs. The idle went back to the 500 to 1500 rpm hunting mode, then shut back down. Fortunately I was still in my residential development, so I was able to wait, restart after a few mins, and quickly limp back home into the garage.

    Same codes as above (p0120 and p0221). I pulled the connector from the throttle body, sprayed electrical contact cleaner on both ends (plug and onto the actual pins/connection point on the throttle body), let it dry, then reconnected and restarted. No CEL/No DSC, but idle was steady at a high 1300rpm.

    Is there additional cleaning internally on the actual throttle body sensor that can be attempted? Or should I focus on the accelerator pedal as a culprit?

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by lesguy View Post
    Followup:
    So the issue has become more frequent. (from once every 2-3 months, to once a week). And today, for the first time, the engine actually did go into some form of failsafe mode where idle jumped from approx 500 to 1500 rpms every 2-3 seconds (tach needle seemed to stay steady during this idle hunting) and then the engine would stall out completely and shut down. Upon restart, the engine ran fine for a few seconds, went into failsafe mode and would not respond to accelerator inputs. The idle went back to the 500 to 1500 rpm hunting mode, then shut back down. Fortunately I was still in my residential development, so I was able to wait, restart after a few mins, and quickly limp back home into the garage.

    Same codes as above (p0120 and p0221). I pulled the connector from the throttle body, sprayed electrical contact cleaner on both ends (plug and onto the actual pins/connection point on the throttle body), let it dry, then reconnected and restarted. No CEL/No DSC, but idle was steady at a high 1300rpm.

    Is there additional cleaning internally on the actual throttle body sensor that can be attempted? Or should I focus on the accelerator pedal as a culprit?
    Are you sure your battery is charged (confirmed with smart charger, not by voltage meter or OBC) and no vacuum leaks?

    Because with the exact same scenario, I've resolved my issue on X5 by keeping battery charged and finding vacuum leak on broken nipple that's part of the intake tube after MAF.

    I even ordered new throttle body (returned it later) and then realized that voltage and vacuum leaks can cause the strangest issues on modern cars.
    Last edited by BMW540san; 12-09-2015 at 12:29 PM.

  19. #19
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    Thanks. Battery and charging system tested fine. Ended up unplugging the connector on the throttle body spraying electronic contact cleaner, letting dry, then reconnecting. Been fine since then (yesterday) but expect the issue to return. I also checked plug 3 on the DME to inspect for any corrosion but all was clean and dry with no sign of corrosion nor dried coolant

  20. #20
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    SOLUTION! I know this its kinda late but same F#%*ing think happen to me. And I got to the bottom! Crankcase vent valve behind the intake manifold was original and old (100,000 miles). Changed it out with NEW BOLTS cause torques are shit. And she drives like "Wet Pu$$y"





    QUOTE=toez540;13006221]So....Im driving my 2001 540 last night and I get off the highway and come to a red light (everything's fine.) As I put the car into first gear the car starts bogging causing the RPMs to jump up and down and also causing the car to start smoking from under the hood. I pull the car over and shut it off...The car will not turn back on and the temp. gauge is in the red...But the car did not overheat. Also when I popped the hood there was what seemed to be a burning smell coming from beneath. The display read ENGINE FAILSAFE PROG...HELP!!! I had to have the car towed to my house and I don't even know where to begin...[/QUOTE]

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