Auto Box Reset VXR8

Auto Box Reset VXR8

Author
Discussion

StefanVXR8

Original Poster:

3,603 posts

198 months

Monday 28th April 2014
quotequote all
Guys,

Not sure if this has been mentioned before but you can 'reset' the adaptive mode of the auto box by removing the fuse F9 - 15 Amp under the bonnet labelled as TCM.

I took the fuse out for 30 seconds last week and this morning was the first chance I had to test it, albeit in very heavy London bound traffic on the M3.

Some of you may recall I mentioned about very lumpy changes both before and after I had the Wortec gearbox map looked at? This morning it was beautifully smooth, very quick on the downchanges by one or two gears, no hesitation and sudden launch.

I'd be interested if some of you with auto boxes gave it a try and let me know the outcome?

This used to be a regular task on my old Chrysler 300C SRT8, it simply reset the adaptive mode and made the gearbox nice and fresh again.

Stef

Edited by StefanVXR8 on Tuesday 29th April 20:22

extra330

177 posts

175 months

Monday 28th April 2014
quotequote all
Hi Stefan.

Mine is auto too and i had the walkinshaw re calibration done about 10 mths ago.
although it is better than original it is still a long way from perfect / or even acceptable.

By taking the fuse out will it or does it affect the re cal???

how i reset mine is / because im only doing 8 mile a day commuting, until the weekend when i have a play. is

Auto mode, traction off, sports mode.
Find a clear bit of road, floor it through the gears for 15 seconds......foot hard to floor. then jump on brakes, hard enough for abs to just come in.
This works for mine and gives a better gear change afterwards, but still a long way off
I read this issue somewhere on the forum
cheers
Tony

StefanVXR8

Original Poster:

3,603 posts

198 months

Monday 28th April 2014
quotequote all
It should just reset the adaptive mode it won't make any difference to the map at all.

Mine is definitely smoother now.

Stef

extra330

177 posts

175 months

Monday 28th April 2014
quotequote all
Ill def give it a go. when you get chance can you find which fuse it is please.
when taking fuse out do you have ignition on / engine running / engine off
cheers
Tony

StefanVXR8

Original Poster:

3,603 posts

198 months

Monday 28th April 2014
quotequote all
I just took it out, ignition was off. Left it out for 30 seconds. The fuse is F9 - 15 Amp.

Stef

S800VXR

5,876 posts

200 months

Monday 28th April 2014
quotequote all
I've not driven my auto hard in auto mode after MF (Wortec) remapped it after all the engine work but it seems fine to me and I will always use tippy mode for fast driving.... Are some recaps that bad then?

CheesyM

57 posts

165 months

Monday 28th April 2014
quotequote all
StefanVXR8 said:
Some of you may recall I mentioned about very lumpy changes...
Have you any more details? I tried to find the relevant thread in the forum, but couldn't find anything obvious. The 2nd to 3rd gear change in my car can sometimes be a bit violent, whereas other times it seems very slick. I was wondering if this might be related to what you describe.

Cheers
Stephen

StefanVXR8

Original Poster:

3,603 posts

198 months

Monday 28th April 2014
quotequote all
Not sure mate, mine was pretty bad at down changing, it was very harsh and when cold would hold on to a lower gear, since wipping that fuse out it's been totally different.

Most modern autos seem to have an adaptive mode that needs a periodic reset to get the best out of it again.

Stef

Tallguy100

41 posts

141 months

Monday 28th April 2014
quotequote all
On the Tiptronic Boxster S I used to own, it was possible to completely re-programme the gearbox which made a huge difference to the way it drove. With my VXR8 being a 6 speed manual obviously I don't have to worry about such things now.....

stigmundfreud

22,454 posts

210 months

Monday 28th April 2014
quotequote all
StefanVXR8 said:
Not sure mate, mine was pretty bad at down changing, it was very harsh and when cold would hold on to a lower gear, since wipping that fuse out it's been totally different.

Most modern autos seem to have an adaptive mode that needs a periodic reset to get the best out of it again.

Stef
yes but the box remap would have overriten/reset anything and we've seen other mapped boxes explode

davegreg

1,099 posts

189 months

Tuesday 29th April 2014
quotequote all
My main bugbear with the auto box is when you slow right down to go round a 90 degree bend or something, and it goes into 1st gear - does my head in! Once the car is rolling it shouldn't go into 1st surely, unless you 'kick down'.

StefanVXR8

Original Poster:

3,603 posts

198 months

Tuesday 29th April 2014
quotequote all
stigmundfreud said:
StefanVXR8 said:
Not sure mate, mine was pretty bad at down changing, it was very harsh and when cold would hold on to a lower gear, since whipping that fuse out it's been totally different.

Most modern autos seem to have an adaptive mode that needs a periodic reset to get the best out of it again.

Stef
yes but the box remap would have overwritten/reset anything and we've seen other mapped boxes explode
Yep, but adaptive modes are completely independent to the main gearbox map and get reset by fuse removal and sometimes by battery removal so a reflash of the map may or may not wipe the adaptive part, plus my map was put in back in September.

When I picked up my car last year the gear change was pretty extreme at times, you'd put your foot down, there would be a pause and then suddenly it would launch itself down the road with some pretty severe noises from the drive train. Wortec looked at it after I mentioned it and they put a new map in, it apparently had the wrong map in anyway, this improved things a lot but it still had a tendency to hang on to maybe 4th as you accelerated when the car was relatively cold and would stick there for a while until it eventually decided to change itself or I manually changed the gear. It also still had a tendency to pause before down changing but not as bad as before.

Since removing the fuse for 30 seconds it no longer hangs around in 4th, the changes both up and down are very smooth and also incredibly quick compared to before.

It was quite a common thing to do on the 300C SRT8 even with the gear box remap from the Diablo Predator, you had to periodically remove the TCM fuse to reset the adaptive mode, especially if you had done a bit of town driving or driving on the motorway in heavy traffic etc.

The general consensus was that you take out the fuse, pop it back in and then 'drive it like you stole it' and this would teach the adaptive ECU the fact that you liked quicker changes up and down etc.

Even my 13 year old Rover 75 has an adaptive mode on the gear box!

Second day in the car today since resetting that fuse and it's a massive improvement, changes are really quick and smooth, no hesitation yet or sticky gears.

Stef

monkfish1

11,053 posts

224 months

Tuesday 29th April 2014
quotequote all
davegreg said:
My main bugbear with the auto box is when you slow right down to go round a 90 degree bend or something, and it goes into 1st gear - does my head in! Once the car is rolling it shouldn't go into 1st surely, unless you 'kick down'.
That can be changed by mapping.

StefanVXR8

Original Poster:

3,603 posts

198 months

Tuesday 29th April 2014
quotequote all
Roger, can you confirm our autoboxes do have an adaptive mode and it's not just my imagination that it's better after taking that fuse out?

Stef

monkfish1

11,053 posts

224 months

Tuesday 29th April 2014
quotequote all
StefanVXR8 said:
Roger, can you confirm our autoboxes do have an adaptive mode and it's not just my imagination that it's better after taking that fuse out?

Stef
Yes, they do have an adaptive feature.

StefanVXR8

Original Poster:

3,603 posts

198 months

Tuesday 29th April 2014
quotequote all
monkfish1 said:
Yes, they do have an adaptive feature.
Cool, thanks, and by removing the TCM fuse would reset it and not the map? I don't want to give anyone duff advice! wink

Stef

monkfish1

11,053 posts

224 months

Tuesday 29th April 2014
quotequote all
StefanVXR8 said:
Cool, thanks, and by removing the TCM fuse would reset it and not the map? I don't want to give anyone duff advice! wink

Stef
You cannot do any harm to the tune/calibration by pulling the fuse out or disconnecting the battery.

StefanVXR8

Original Poster:

3,603 posts

198 months

Tuesday 29th April 2014
quotequote all
monkfish1 said:
You cannot do any harm to the tune/calibration by pulling the fuse out or disconnecting the battery.
Great, thanks for the info Roger, you're a star as always.

Stef

extra330

177 posts

175 months

Tuesday 29th April 2014
quotequote all
Hi Stefan,
Had bonnet up 4.30 am just before setting off to work, took fuse out, gave it 40 seconds to be sure.

In auto mode mine is very smooth up and down the box, no change there. ( again has been remapped )

Tip mode, downshifts are as before and virtually instantanious, up shifts are a different story, before fuse came out in tip mode it seemed to take approx 2 seconds to change up, now approx 1 second, so yes it has improved and thanks for the advice.
Would still like it to change faster though.

As for the other comment re changing down into 1st at slow speed.... mines never done that. only changes into 1st in tip mode at virtually stationary....2mph.
I can get to 43mph,shift to gear 6, then come down to 30mph before it changes to 5th.. if that makes sense.
When i initially bought the car 12 mths ago the auto changes were truly appalling, in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear. at low speed it would change from 1st to 2nd, then 3rd, back to 1st etc, couldnt make its mind up which gear to drive in.
map fully cured that.
cheers
Tony

StefanVXR8

Original Poster:

3,603 posts

198 months

Tuesday 29th April 2014
quotequote all
extra330 said:
Hi Stefan,
Had bonnet up 4.30 am just before setting off to work, took fuse out, gave it 40 seconds to be sure.

In auto mode mine is very smooth up and down the box, no change there. ( again has been remapped )

Tip mode, downshifts are as before and virtually instantanious, up shifts are a different story, before fuse came out in tip mode it seemed to take approx 2 seconds to change up, now approx 1 second, so yes it has improved and thanks for the advice.
Would still like it to change faster though.

As for the other comment re changing down into 1st at slow speed.... mines never done that. only changes into 1st in tip mode at virtually stationary....2mph.
I can get to 43mph,shift to gear 6, then come down to 30mph before it changes to 5th.. if that makes sense.
When i initially bought the car 12 mths ago the auto changes were truly appalling, in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear. at low speed it would change from 1st to 2nd, then 3rd, back to 1st etc, couldnt make its mind up which gear to drive in.
map fully cured that.
cheers
Tony
Cool, thanks for the feedback Tony. Mine has made a massive difference compared to what it was, not once has it hesitated and launched itself nor stuck in gear. Had more of a chance to test the down changes today as the traffic was quieter and it was dry. For me it's like someone has dropped a new gear box in!

Stef