570s - "transmission fault - call mclaren"

[vantager]

Anyone had this problem - its happened twice in a couple of days.

First time - reversed into the garage and tried to select N - "transmission fault - call mclaren" appeared on the screen
Second time - car was on the drive (got it out of the garage 10 mins before that morning) - started it up and tried to select "D" - "transmission fault - call mclaren" appeared on the screen.

Mclaren Assist came out and could not find anything apart from numerous unrelated uncleared faults (which they cleared).

[davek_964]

By coincidence, my 650 showed that once last week. I'd started the car, edged forward very briefly and then stopped and it came up with that fault. Switched off / on and it hasn't come back - I think mine was just a sensor glitch.

I searched after mine did it, and found posts from people which ranged from : "Mine did it once / twice and never again" to "I needed a new gearbox".

If it's the latter, I hope you have a warranty!

[vantager]

Thanks davek, and yes, I do have a warranty (just bought the car actually).
Bit of a shame as the car is brilliant but I did the 'lock it up and come back later' thing.
My concern is, this may happen when its NOT on my drive and I could be 'stuck' waiting for it to clear itself!

FYI - Mclaren assist came out and found nothing except unrelated error codes logged, which they cleared. They said MAYBE the car had been left out with the roof down in a shower, and rain had got under the D/N/R switches.

Edited by vantager on Wednesday 28th April 12:51

[davek_964]

I was really surprised when mine cleared after stopping / starting the engine - I thought I'd at least have to lock and wait half an hour.

Mine actually said it went into limp mode - I didn't try and move, but from what I found online that would mean I would have found only half my gears worked depending on which of the dual clutches had the issue.

I guess the 570 is slightly different - or maybe your fault was more serious - but it sounds like it probably is persistent if it happened twice so close together. Guess it will need a proper investigation at McLaren.

Edited by davek_964 on Wednesday 28th April 12:49

[vantager]

To clarify, when I get 'transmission fault' I cant get ANY gears - so a bit limiting.

[Smoothound]

My 540 once flagged this fault up and went into limp mode while I was sitting waiting to pull out of a T junction. I drove it home in limp mode as I was only a mile away, locked it, waited 20 mins, restarted it and it was fine and it's never done it again

[vantager]

Thas interesting - did it take long to go from the fault to limp home mode? My car has only done 3000 miles in 3years - so maybe new car gremlins not all discovered?!

[justin220]

I've also had this happen on my 540C.

McLaren assist came out, couldn't find anything so it went back to McGlasgow. Not sure if this was the cause but they found 3 loose earth cable connections. Hasn't happened since

[thatdude]

vantager said:

Anyone had this problem - its happened twice in a couple of days.

First time - reversed into the garage and tried to select N - "transmission fault - call mclaren" appeared on the screen
Second time - car was on the drive (got it out of the garage 10 mins before that morning) - started it up and tried to select "D" - "transmission fault - call mclaren" appeared on the screen.

Mclaren Assist came out and could not find anything apart from numerous unrelated uncleared faults (which they cleared).

I wonder if it's one of those intermittent faults that needs to be captured live with the fault-finding software?

Its worth investigating a bit further, maybe a dodgy earth as suggested or some other connection fault. Does it do it under particular conditions (e.g car (transmission) warm / car (transmission) cold)?

Edited by thatdude on Thursday 29th April 13:39

[vantager]

Always seems to be when just started and trying to select a gear for the first time OR just reversed into the garage (form start) and going from R to N.
Either way, its just done it again, so thats 3 times in 5 days of ownership (one of which I didnt drive it) so should be fixable by Mclaren (my next port of call).
Still a lovely car though - just bad luck.

[thatdude]

vantager said:

Always seems to be when just started and trying to select a gear for the first time OR just reversed into the garage (form start) and going from R to N.
Either way, its just done it again, so thats 3 times in 5 days of ownership (one of which I didnt drive it) so should be fixable by Mclaren (my next port of call).
Still a lovely car though - just bad luck.

With any luck it's a simple electrical fault, some solenoid or something. The car knows you want to select between neutral and a gear, but it seems to have trouble completing that communication. I expect the switch / selector in the cabin is fine and it's something further along. Might be worth checking the battery health, just in case that's an issue (i;m thinking of how BMW's are notorious for having odd faults when the battery is on it's last legs)

Like you say, bad luck. You could have the same sort of gremlin with any car. Good luck with getting a fix, let us know how it goes.

[stormblack]

Was the car purchased from a Mclaren dealer?

I have read somewhere that if you cycle through the lock, unlock about 10 times of the car it should clear the problem.

[vantager]

Did not try that specifically, but it would have been through quite a few cycles in normal driving on some days. It was always ok if you left it for half an hour!

Anyway, its back with Mclaren now. Have to say they were very good when I reported this.
Within 90 minutes of calling Mclaren Assist the car was on the back of a truck on its way to Mclaren and I had a hire car.
I will let you all know how this goes.

[R8Reece]

vantager said:

Did not try that specifically, but it would have been through quite a few cycles in normal driving on some days. It was always ok if you left it for half an hour!

Anyway, its back with Mclaren now. Have to say they were very good when I reported this.
Within 90 minutes of calling Mclaren Assist the car was on the back of a truck on its way to Mclaren and I had a hire car.
I will let you all know how this goes.

Good luck.

What hire car did you get?

[Bispal]

McLaren's have very sensitive sensors. Turning off and on again solves most issues. However i have read that when selecting a gear, usually reverse, if you wait momentarily, the gearbox goes back into neutral itself as it thinks you have changed your mind, even though it doesnt show this. When you then press the accelerator it goes back into gear itself and if you go very slow, lack backing into a garage, it throws the fault. Very odd but have heard a few people with this. If it doesnt happen when moving at normal speed this may be the issue and nothing to worry about.

[thatdude]

Bispal said:

McLaren's have very sensitive sensors. Turning off and on again solves most issues. However i have read that when selecting a gear, usually reverse, if you wait momentarily, the gearbox goes back into neutral itself as it thinks you have changed your mind, even though it doesnt show this. When you then press the accelerator it goes back into gear itself and if you go very slow, lack backing into a garage, it throws the fault. Very odd but have heard a few people with this. If it doesnt happen when moving at normal speed this may be the issue and nothing to worry about.

So, the possible fix is to put it in reverse...and boot it

Cameras at the ready, there's £250 in it for the first person to get this into You've Been Framed!

[mk1coopers]

Already been tried on the earlier models

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8aAXkkE-rY

[sparta6]

thatdude said:

Like you say, bad luck. You could have the same sort of gremlin with any car.

Even one with 3 pedals and a stick ?

Annoying stuff. Hope this is soon resolved for the OP

[vantager]

To an earlier question - 'what hire car did you get' - it was a very well smoked in Mercedes A class from Enterprise.
So bad I couldnt sit in it without feeling a little sick - called them today and said 'take it back'.
I will give this feedback to Mclaren Assist - to be fair I knew I wouldnt get a Mclaren, but expected a bit better than a Mercedes A.

[sparta6]

vantager said:

To an earlier question - 'what hire car did you get' - it was a very well smoked in Mercedes A class from Enterprise.
So bad I couldnt sit in it without feeling a little sick - called them today and said 'take it back'.
I will give this feedback to Mclaren Assist - to be fair I knew I wouldnt get a Mclaren, but expected a bit better than a Mercedes A.

Blimey.

Not even a hanging Fir Tree air freshner ?