Urgent help re: engine light (gearbox and urgent message)

[judetheconfused]

Hey there,

I'm hoping that someone here might be able to help. I recently purchased a 2014 Rapide S from an authorised dealership. It's a very clean car and comes with the Timeless Warranty. However, over the past moth the engine light has come on twice when starting her up. The first time, it said that there was a gear box failure. But then the light and the warning went away and the car drove normally. The second time, the engine juddered and sounded like a diesel on start up. The whole engine shook. The engine light came on again with the message URGENT. I took the ECU out and started her up again and she started fine. No engine light came on and she drove normally.

She had been standing for a couple of weeks so I'm aware that this might cause issues with start up because of the battery but it doesn't explain the engine judder?

My question is, would you take her in to have a diagnostic check? I'm asking as the dealership is very far away and it's expensive for them to run such a check. Or do you think it's ok as the lights haven't come back on since?

Any advice would be warmly welcome.

Thank you!

J

[Caslad]

This situation is what the warranty is for. I would recommend you contact the dealer.

[judetheconfused]

I have. They've said that they'll run the diagnostics to check but are stumped as she's running fine. However the cost to have the diagnostics run is a lot, and, as I say, they are very far away. I don't think a diagnostics check is covered under a warranty? Or am I wrong?

[300bhp/ton]

Should be OBDII like all other cars I'd have thought. Just buy a cheap code reader and see if you can see a fault code if you want. Else yes, use the warranty.

[judetheconfused]

I'd never have thought of getting my own scanner. Are there any that you would recommend?

[ian448]

This happened to my early db9 some time ago after it was stood for several weeks ( the rough running engine ) cleaned both throttle bodies which showed some oil resedue , cured the issue. I now give them a good clean every 18 months as a preventative measure

[judetheconfused]

Amazing, Thank you all. So, it seems unlikely that I need to take her in - I should get a diagnostic tool just to be sure. I'd have no idea how to clean the throttle bodies though. But am assuming that as she's running fine this should be ok until she's serviced in November?

[LunarOne]

judetheconfused said:

I'd never have thought of getting my own scanner. Are there any that you would recommend?

Pick one of the scanners on the Torque WIKI and then use in conjunction with an app on your phone. I recommend both Torque and OBD Fusion apps.

https://wiki.torque-bhp.com/view/Bluetooth_Adapter...


For Android devices, get a Bluetooth adapter. iOS devices will need a Wifi adapter (because they can't connect to serial ports over bluetooth). If there'a an OBD adaptor that can do both bluetooth and wifi, that would be the most flexible.

[Nigel_O]

OP - where in the country are you? I have a Foxwell i50 Pro which should be fine reading codes from your car.

I’m in Staffordshire, just south of Stafford - you’re welcome to drop in sometime

[judetheconfused]

Nigel_O said:

OP - where in the country are you? I have a Foxwell i50 Pro which should be fine reading codes from your car.

I’m in Staffordshire, just south of Stafford - you’re welcome to drop in sometime

That is SO kind of you. Thank you. Unfortunately, I'm in south east London!

I just took a video of the engine running after starting her up. But I can't seem to share it to this forum - only photos? I think it sounds ok but I'm a total novice when it comes to cars!

[Jordie Barretts sock]

Mate, a ten quid reader from ebay will tell you what you want to know.

Sounds like (and mean this sincerely) you're not driving her often enough! Sounds like a bit of gunk somewhere.

Any local garage should have a code reader that can see any stored codes, doesn't need to be AM.

[paulrog1]

Some of the info on OBD readers in this thread is not correct, a cheap generic OBD reader will not give you all the codes.

A cheap reader will only give you the engine codes for the primary bank, not the secondary bank on the V12, so I would purchase a Foxwell 530 reader and download and install the Aston Martin program into the reader, you will then get all the fault codes from the reader.

Plus you can also get live data like misfire info, short and long term fuelling trims, temps and loads more.

There are lots of info you can google, plus look at Aston1936.com.

On your problem, I would replace the battery, and keep it on a battery conditioner at all times, plus get the tracker disconnected, the tracker when it starts to get old will drain the battery in no time.

Edited by paulrog1 on Tuesday 7th February 21:00

[pschlute]

judetheconfused said:

I'm in south east London!

Then you are very close to Aston Martin Sevenoaks. Take it there to be looked at under your warranty.

[judetheconfused]

I thought I had to go back to the dealer I bought the car from?

[Jordie Barretts sock]

Fair enough I'm not familiar with AM. But the rest of my post is correct, drive it more and keep it on a battery conditioner.

As others say, any AM dealer should be able to sort an AM warranty.

[TeddS]

I'm in the US, so not certain what the UK warranty is like, but my Timeless Warranty is valid at any AM Dealer. It might be worth a call to the closest dealer.

[pschlute]

judetheconfused said:

I thought I had to go back to the dealer I bought the car from?

No. If the car is covered by a timeless warranty you can take it to any main dealer

[reddiesel]

HWM at Walton on Thames provide a Mobile Service which covers your Area

[pschlute]

reddiesel said:

HWM at Walton on Thames provide a Mobile Service which covers your Area

Plus they are probably the best AM main dealer in the country (as well as the oldest)

[LesXRN]

Not my Aston Martin, but, when the battery suddenly started to die on my Jag XFR, it sounded as though it was only running on 4 cylinders.
A new battery cured the problem.
As for my Aston, it's on a Ctek charger if I'm not using it for a week or more.