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Thread: Fault Code: P1636 - "ENGINE FAILSAFE PROG"

  1. #1
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    Fault Code: P1636 - "ENGINE FAILSAFE PROG"

    So, among all the other stuff that has gone wrong lately...this shows up.

    Wednesday, I was driving quite a bit, and had a sudden loss of power...and then died . OBDII said "Misfire Cylinder 6 with Fuel Cut-off." Tried started, but acted like no spark at all. Let it rest a bit, and then started...but ran like crap. Felt like ignition coil was definitely dead. Lurched it back about 10 miles, and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Came back out...started right up. Got it home and threw in a new coil on cylinder 6 -- ran good.

    No problems...until yesterday.

    Driving again, and sudden readout on the dash with "ENGINE FAILSAFE PROG." Poor power, and idle went up to about 1100 rpm (should be ~750). Got it home and stopped it. Checked a few obvious things, checked for vacuum leaks, etc. Nothing showed up. DISA in perfect working order. Pulled the idle control valve -- clean and clicks with shaking as it should.

    Maybe the throttle body?

    Guesses or suggestions are certainly welcome! Thanks!

    ~Sean

  2. #2
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    Just to clarify:
    Failsafe event 1-misfire with fuel cutoff #6. Replaced #6, problem appears to be solved
    Failsafe event 2- no additional codes reported?


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  3. #3
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    When you get the "Engine Failsafe" and the car goes to a high idle it means the car's ECU/DME doesn't know where the throttle is at or it can't control it. You probably also got the traction control light and your cruise control won't work. At least that's what happens on the 540's.
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  4. #4
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
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    Exactly... Usually "ENGINE FAILSAFE" is more than misfires and has to do w/ DBW related parts, or, some other grave error. I know ME7/V8's better of course but I know for sure that to some degree same is true for MS43 aka M54's.

    Maybe the throttle body connector got nudged around a bit when you did the coils? For sure read codes first, I'm guessing either a throttle body or pedal code comes up. And you can try some contact cleaner on the throttle body connector, M54's have been known to be fussy about connection and harness resistance, my bud could never get his 100% until he finally replaced the engine harness. Maybe that was overkill and had he just put a new connector on the TB end it would have worked but at any rate it fixed his problem. But he threw proper directive codes the whole time pointing at the problem.
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
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    2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
    2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)

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  5. #5
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    Just to echo GG above, try some contact cleaner to clean and then re-attach the TB connector and socket.

  6. #6
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    Thanks for the suggestions. Consulted my mechanic as well. He suggested it could be the Idle Control Valve and/or (of course) the Throttle Body. I've gone ahead and ordered one and should arrive in a couple of days. I'll stab it in and see if that works. Went ahead and cleaned out the ICV as well (for grins). Will update when TB is installed and let you know.

    Really appreciate the feedback! Thanks!

    ~Sean

  7. #7
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    Got the throttle body (used) in yesterday. Stabbed it in. Cleaned all the connectors/connections, and buttoned everything down. Started right up. NO MORE ISSUES!

    Thanks for the input, everyone! Really appreciate your help!

    ~Sean

  8. #8
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
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    Yep! Good deal. Too bad that era of DME's is so poor at diagnostics for the TB's (i.e. instead of getting a CEL and some codes long before failsafe you just suddenly go FAILSAFE). Hopefully the used one works for a while for you but they do wear out so if it happens again it might be that used one only had so much life in it. w the M62TU's we have also found the non-dealer new parts seem to be significantly crappier than the dealer ones, sometimes only lasting a year or 18mos, so the general advice is to cough up for the dealer part, or, at the very least, buy a VDO (supposed to be OE same as dealer but doesnt seem to be as good...) from FCP so you can get infinite warranty returns on it.
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
    2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
    2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
    2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)

    Former:

    1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
    1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)


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