Aston Martin V8 Vantage Unable to select Gears R,2,4,6
Discussion
Having benefitted from other people's experiences through this forum I feel the need to share the recent issue my V8V suffered. Having set off on a weekend away in my 2011 V8 Vantage S Roadster (upgraded to twin plate clutch earlier this year) it decided to stall whilst slowing down for a roundabout. Restarted without issue but did this another two times whilst heading out. Then on arrival I found I could not select Reverse at all. Tried everything but ended up pushing the car out of the space I was in. To cut a long story short throughout the weekend I could not select Reverse at all and gears 2, 4 and 6 became intermittent and then failed. I got home by avoiding the need to reverse and double tapping the up shift to use 1,3,5 and 7 and fortunately I was still able to shift to neutral.
My Foxwell diagnostics said unable to achieve selected gear mechanical reason. I knew the clutch was working since I could shift from 1-3-5-7 OK similarly fluid and pressure must be present since this shifting was possible. This left the problem area as likely to be the sportshift unit itself. Aston Martin quote £3000+ for this unit. I have a copy of the workshop manual and did not fancy the job at all so doubtless would be £5k by the time it was done.
This was when I found WWW.SEQUPARTS.COM who provide spares for semi automatic gearboxes including sportshift. I obtained 2 new shift valves and a selection valve as I suspected one of them to be at fault but knew I could not narrow it down. The job was daunting. I raised the car on two concrete blocks (4 inches) which gave enough access to see the job. I declined to remove the accumulator which would possibly cause further issues. This meant the selection valve was largely hidden behind the accumulator but the job WAS possible without needing to do anything drastic to the transaxle. It was necessary to bleed the clutch after the job but that was also possible in the driveway.
The car now works as it should
If your car should do this then this job IS possible in your driveway. Total cost was about £600 and I took a day over it.
My Foxwell diagnostics said unable to achieve selected gear mechanical reason. I knew the clutch was working since I could shift from 1-3-5-7 OK similarly fluid and pressure must be present since this shifting was possible. This left the problem area as likely to be the sportshift unit itself. Aston Martin quote £3000+ for this unit. I have a copy of the workshop manual and did not fancy the job at all so doubtless would be £5k by the time it was done.
This was when I found WWW.SEQUPARTS.COM who provide spares for semi automatic gearboxes including sportshift. I obtained 2 new shift valves and a selection valve as I suspected one of them to be at fault but knew I could not narrow it down. The job was daunting. I raised the car on two concrete blocks (4 inches) which gave enough access to see the job. I declined to remove the accumulator which would possibly cause further issues. This meant the selection valve was largely hidden behind the accumulator but the job WAS possible without needing to do anything drastic to the transaxle. It was necessary to bleed the clutch after the job but that was also possible in the driveway.
The car now works as it should
If your car should do this then this job IS possible in your driveway. Total cost was about £600 and I took a day over it.
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