A system includes a friction element having a driving mechanism and a driven mechanism. At least one of the driving mechanism and the driven mechanism is configured to rotate. A drive unit is configured to provide a torque to at least one of the driving mechanism and the driven mechanism. A control processor is configured to diagnose a friction element failure based on a slip speed, which is the difference between rotational speeds of the driving mechanism and the driven mechanism. The control processor is further configured to induce a slip condition as part of a shift process and diagnose the friction element failure if the derived slip speed is substantially zero after inducing the slip condition.