Hi all!

I have an EL 97 ex-police V8 which is going into limp mode. Here's what happens;

- Cold start, drives normally for first 5-10 mins
- Blows the "auto tx" 15 amp fuse and goes into limp mode
- Engine starts to overheat (presumably coz the fuse is wired to cooling fans)
- Have to wait several hours before you can simply replace the fuse and the process repeats itself

The only exception to this is that the other day I replaced the fuse in the morning (cold start), turned the ignition and POP.. the "auto tx" fuse blows again. Today I put in a new fuse at cold start, turned the ignition and fuse remained but blew after 5 mins of driving as usual.

I notice that whenever the fuse blows, the car goes into limp mode but have no idea why. I dont think its electrical as on most occasions it takes time to blow and something tells me that if it was electrical, the fuse will blow as soon as you turn the key or start the engine.

Anyway, thinking it was low on tranny fluid I took the car straight to the transmission guys. Fluid was "very dirty" but full. They were quick to presume that the tranny was RS and were even quicker to give me a price on a total replacement!!

Later when I discussed this with an auto sparky he says it could be one of the seven solenoids..?

I know the easiest way may be to just get this looked at but was concerned that it may take "several hours" just to locate the problem - plus the cost to fix thereafter.

Before I go ahead with getting a diagnosis, is there anyone here that may know what the problem could be based on the set of circumstances outlined above? Have you heard of anything similar where something causes the "auto tx" fuse to blow?

I read about a few limp mode problems on this site but didnt really relate. I dont get any power lights flashing and no other indicators.

Thanks for helping out

I took the car to a mechanic last week and got it plugged into a computer scan. It was connected to something in the fuse box area.

Faults appeared around the cooling fans and auto trans oil temp sensor, which we found out to be part of the wiring harness inside the tranny!

Thankfully, I had arranged an auto-sparky that morning before I went to the mechanic. It was a mobile service and he came to my house in the evening and diagnosed the problem in around 30mins and...... it had nothing to do with the cooling fans or tranny.

After all that, it turned out to be just one wire rubbing against the chassis. He simply cut the exposed wire, put in a new piece and its all fixed! Been driving it for a week with my fingers crossed and on-edge hoping nothing stuffs up but its all good.

For those of you who are interested, the auto tx fuse wiring links to the cooling fans, tranny, air bag module, ABS..

good to hear. i like it when you think its gonna cost you a fortune and then it turns out to be something real simple