DBS - Touchtronic 2 gearbox fault

[Scottsanders]

Hi,

I've got a 2009 DBS with the Touchtronic 2 gearbox. Yesterday, whilst driving on the motorway, it dropped into neutral, and displayed 'Gearbox Fault Service Required' on the dash. I stopped the car, locked it, stared it again, and I was able to select drive and continue my journey.

Later on that day it happened again, but this time I was only able to use the paddles to select gears, as drive or reverse would not engage when pressing the buttons on the centre console. It's worth noting that when the gears were selected by using the paddles, they operated perfectly, so the mechanics appear to be OK.

I have checked the OBD2 scanner to see if there are any fault codes, but nothing is listed, even though the warning message is still displayed on the dash.

In the past, I've had issues with the buttons not always engaging when pressed too quickly, or not firmly enough, that have resulted in the same message being displayed on the dash; restarting the car has always resolved this though.

I have read that the wiring for the gear selection buttons is sometimes an issue on this model, so my question is, has anybody else seen similar issues, and if so, what did you have done to resolve it? I'll get it into Aston Martin when they're open tomorrow, but it would be good to go there with an idea of what the potential problem could be.

Thanks in advance.

Scott.

Edited by Scottsanders on Friday 30th January 06:58

[SELON]

Not experienced this. But hopefully just some faulty wiring or sensors related cold/snow/weather related.

I know I get fun and games with ADS warnings when there is heavy rain - I assume it's the sensors and nothing else and it's fine after things get moving out and a restart.

[vinnie83]

Scottsanders said:

Hi,

I've got a 2009 DBS with the Touchtronic 2 gearbox. Yesterday, whilst driving on the motorway, it dropped into neutral, and displayed 'Gearbox Fault Service Required' on the dash. I stopped the car, locked it, stared it again, and I was able to select drive and continue my journey.

Later on that day it happened again, but this time I was only able to use the paddles to select gears, as drive or reverse would not engage when pressing the buttons on the centre console. It's worth noting that when the gears were selected by using the paddles, they operated perfectly, so the mechanics appear to be OK.

I have checked the OBD2 scanner to see if there are any fault codes, but nothing is listed, even though the warning message is still displayed on the dash.

In the past, I've had issues with the buttons not always engaging when pressed too quickly, or not firmly enough, that have resulted in the same message being displayed on the dash; restarting the car has always resolved this though.

I have read that the wiring for the gear selection buttons is sometimes an issue on this model, so my question is, has anybody else seen similar issues, and if so, what did you have done to resolve it? I'll get it into Aston Martin when they're open tomorrow, but it would be good to go there with an idea of what the potential problem could be.

Thanks in advance.

Scott.

Edited by Scottsanders on Friday 30th January 06:58

Hi Scott,

Did you get this resolved in the end, and if so what was it?

My 2009 DBS is suffering the same issue. It's under warranty and due to go back after NY but would be interested to know how serious it may be!

[dkatwa]

I had a similar issue with my db9 2009...I think it was the battery which was on its way out...new battery sorted the problem...dunno if it will solve your problem though...

[vinnie83]

dkatwa said:

I had a similar issue with my db9 2009...I think it was the battery which was on its way out...new battery sorted the problem...dunno if it will solve your problem though...

My car sits on a trickle charger and the battery was replaced about 5 months ago! It's going back to the dealer tomorrow, lets hope it gets sorted. Car is not even driveable at the moment for fear of getting stuck somewhere with no gears.

[Scottsanders]

Hi Folks,

Sorry for the late reply!

It turned out to be a wiring issue with the loom behind the ski slope dash - cost about £400 to get resolved, but has fixed the issue and hasn't happened since. Somebody did say that this was a known issue on the DBS, but try getting Aston Martin to admit that

Scott.

[vinnie83]

Scottsanders said:

Hi Folks,

Sorry for the late reply!

It turned out to be a wiring issue with the loom behind the ski slope dash - cost about £400 to get resolved, but has fixed the issue and hasn't happened since. Somebody did say that this was a known issue on the DBS, but try getting Aston Martin to admit that

Scott.

Hi Scott,

That's handy to know, so if they cannot sort it I can suggest checking this too. Car is under warranty so not concerned so much about cost as I won't be paying, but just time taken to resolve the bloody issue as I can't drive the car and risk being stuck somewhere with no gears!

[Scottsanders]

If it's under warranty, definitely suggest that they check the wiring looms behind the dash to ensure that nothing is shorting the circuit... it's a couple of hours labour for them, so surprised they haven't looked at this already!

[vinnie83]

Scottsanders said:

If it's under warranty, definitely suggest that they check the wiring looms behind the dash to ensure that nothing is shorting the circuit... it's a couple of hours labour for them, so surprised they haven't looked at this already!

Thanks, I have just emailed them asking them to do just that. They only got the car back on Saturday (they sent a trailer to drop off the courtesy car and take mine back from London to Belfast!). Hopefully they get it sorted quickly.

[Jon39]

Scottsanders said:

I've got a 2009 DBS with the Touchtronic 2 gearbox. Yesterday, whilst driving on the motorway, it dropped into neutral, and displayed 'Gearbox Fault Service Required' on the dash. I stopped the car, locked it, stared it again, and I was able to select drive and continue my journey.

Later on that day it happened again, but this time I was only able to use the paddles to select gears, as drive or reverse would not engage when pressing the buttons on the centre console. It's worth noting that when the gears were selected by using the paddles, they operated perfectly, so the mechanics appear to be OK.

Similar gearbox and simliar symptoms, not with my Aston (manual), but a torqueshift transmission on a Mercedes. They call it Tiptronic (fully auto, but with manual control available).

Must have been quite a worrying moment for you, in neutral on a motorway. I wanted to do a mortorway journey, but did not, because it would have involved one of those so called 'Smart' motorways. No hard shoulder, but if your car goes into neutral, the official advice is to continue driving (in neutral presumably) to the next breakdown refuge location. Idiots.

In my case, an oil leak was diagnosed, where wires go through the gearbox casing. The transmission oil level had dropped, and that was causing the erratic gearchanges.

[vinnie83]

Update of sorts:

Received this reply from the dealer today:

"Just a quick update we have found that there is no communication going to the gearbox control module.
We have reported these issues to Aston Martin for their feedback as this is a strange fault"

Sounds like something they've not come across before, will update when I have any more info.