Cause
Worn transmission friction element
A clutch pack or band inside the gearbox that has lost friction material and no longer grips as it should.
These are the parts a gear is actually made of. An automatic selects a ratio by applying two or three elements at once; each is a stack of steel and friction plates squeezed together hydraulically, or a band wrapped round a drum. Wear shows first as time, not as failure — the element takes longer to grab, which the module measures as apply time and reports before anything feels wrong.
Slipping is what wears them, and slipping is self-accelerating. A clutch that slips generates heat; heat degrades the fluid; degraded fluid carries less pressure and grips worse, so it slips more. The debris shed along the way circulates into solenoids and valve bodies that were healthy, which is how one worn element becomes a rebuilt transmission.
Do not assume wear from the code alone. Low pressure produces identical symptoms and identical apply-time codes, and it comes from fluid, seals, a pump or a solenoid — all of them cheaper than opening the gearbox. Pressure testing before disassembly is the step worth insisting on.
Which physical clutch a lettered element refers to is vehicle-specific; the standard does not say.
Typically specialist work. Needs equipment or training most home workshops do not have.
Some of these codes mean you should stop driving
10 of the 21 codes this can cause indicate a fault where continuing to drive risks damage or is unsafe. Which one you have matters more than the cause does — read the code's own page before deciding.
Codes this can cause (21)
Codes where this is a likely explanation first, rather than merely a possible one.
- P076F Gear 7 Incorrect Ratio Likely for this code Moderate
- P079A Transmission Friction Element A Slip Detected Likely for this code High
- P079B Transmission Friction Element B Slip Detected Likely for this code High
- P2700 Transmission Friction Element A Apply Time Range/Performance Likely for this code High
- P2701 Transmission Friction Element B Apply Time Range/Performance Likely for this code High
- P2702 Transmission Friction Element C Apply Time Range/Performance Likely for this code High
- P2703 Transmission Friction Element D Apply Time Range/Performance Likely for this code High
- P2704 Transmission Friction Element E Apply Time Range/Performance Likely for this code High
- P2705 Transmission Friction Element F Apply Time Range/Performance Likely for this code High
- P270A Transmission Friction Element A Temperature Too High Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P270B Transmission Friction Element B Temperature Too High Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P270C Transmission Friction Element C Temperature Too High Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P270D Transmission Friction Element D Temperature Too High Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P270E Transmission Friction Element E Temperature Too High Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P270F Transmission Friction Element F Temperature Too High Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P2711 Unexpected Mechanical Gear Disengagement Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P273A Transmission Friction Element G Apply Time Range/Performance Likely for this code High
- P273B Transmission Friction Element H Apply Time Range/Performance Likely for this code High
- P273F Transmission Fluid Temperature Sensor B Over Temperature Condition Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P274F Transmission Fluid Temperature Sensor C Over Temperature Condition Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P275F Transmission Fluid Temperature Sensor D Over Temperature Condition Likely for this code Stop driving High
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
Others who found this
Be the first to write this up
Nothing posted about this yet. Whatever you found is worth writing down — even a dead end saves someone the same afternoon.
What makes one worth reading:
- The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
- What you measured, not only what you replaced.
- What actually fixed it — or that nothing did, which is worth knowing too.
Sign in or create an account to add what you found about Worn transmission friction element.