California T won’t go into 1st unless you push the PS button! | FerrariChat

California T won’t go into 1st unless you push the PS button!

Discussion in 'California/Portofino/Roma' started by DrWex, Jul 4, 2021.

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  1. DrWex

    DrWex Rookie

    Aug 23, 2019
    6
    Saint Louis, Missouri
    Full Name:
    Stephen Wexler
    My 2015 Cali T won’t go into first with the paddle shifter. Stays in either reverse or neutral. The dash says “Depress brake pedal and press PS in order to engage gear.” So when I press PS it goes into first and appears to drive normally after that until I put it into reverse or neutral. Then same thing.
    Any ideas?


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  2. SVCalifornia

    SVCalifornia F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Mar 28, 2011
    2,556
    Silicon Valley
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    Keith
    What mannetino mode are you in?

    Try changing the mode and trying again.

    SV
     
  3. vjd3

    vjd3 F1 Rookie
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    Jun 3, 2005
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    Vic
  4. DrWex

    DrWex Rookie

    Aug 23, 2019
    6
    Saint Louis, Missouri
    Full Name:
    Stephen Wexler
    I usually drive in sport and tried changing it once with no help. I’ll try again !



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  5. DrWex

    DrWex Rookie

    Aug 23, 2019
    6
    Saint Louis, Missouri
    Full Name:
    Stephen Wexler
  6. vjd3

    vjd3 F1 Rookie
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    Jun 3, 2005
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    What doesn't make sense to me -- assuming it is a bad microswitch -- is why the paddle would then operate correctly once the car is in gear. That's assuming there is just a single microswitch that clicks when the paddle is pulled. Presumably the PS (launch) switch sends the same signal to the gearbox to go into first as the paddle does when the car is in park/reverse so there must be some redundancy there.

    If it's a problem with the ECU seems like that might be covered under the New Power warranty as the transmission ECU is mentioned as being covered.

    From the service manual:

    "In the event of malfunction of the “UP” and “DOWN” shift paddles, the message “Depress brake pedal and press LAUNCH to engage gear” is shown on the left hand TFT display. The gear may then be engaged by pressing LAUNCH (A) on the centre console while depressing the brake pedal. In this case, the “Launch Control” function is not available. If the gear selected previously was R, the LAUNCH button (C) must be pressed twice to engage 1st gear."
     
  7. DrWex

    DrWex Rookie

    Aug 23, 2019
    6
    Saint Louis, Missouri
    Full Name:
    Stephen Wexler
    OK...I just went around the block a few times and tried all 3 mannetino positions without help. The car drives normally in both automatic mode and manual once I am going. Both up and down paddle shifters work perfectly and I can almost hear a little click on each as they engage. So hard to understand how it could be the paddle microswitch. Yet when I stop and either put it in park or neutral, I cannot shift into first and I get the dreaded message on the left TFT display.
    I've had the car 10 weeks! I do not have a dealer here in St. Louis (yet) so guess I'll call Chicago (Continental) tomorrow. Wonder how long I can drive it and just use the PS button routinely.
     
  8. SVCalifornia

    SVCalifornia F1 Rookie
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    Mar 28, 2011
    2,556
    Silicon Valley
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    Keith
    Pressing harder on the brake pedal doesn’t help?? If not is your third brake light working correctly? I ask as if it is not it would point to the brake sensor going south rather than the paddles.

    Good luck!

    SV
     
  9. DrWex

    DrWex Rookie

    Aug 23, 2019
    6
    Saint Louis, Missouri
    Full Name:
    Stephen Wexler
    Stepping harder didn’t work. I’ll check the brake light when I can. Thank you !


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  10. nello107

    nello107 Rookie

    Jul 8, 2012
    27
    same problem on my 488 Pista, i switch the battery off and will try it later. While driving on auto mode the cars shifts up and down but when i try to get it into manual mode i got the message 'manual method not avaible' Alll very odd to me, i can hear the microswitches but i cannot shift into NEUTRAL by pulling both padles towards me
     
  11. bb2thdr

    bb2thdr Formula Junior

    Dec 23, 2021
    327
    Full Name:
    Scott Bialik
    The paddles feed their data into the steering wheel can bus box. When you press a paddle, it sends a digital signal to that box which then sends codes to the transmission. If the can bus box is bad, it won't send the codes so your transmission never gets the message. The buttons in the center console, use a different box. So you may have a problem with the paddles, or the can bus box, or the connecting wires between the paddles and the box. Either way, you need to go to the dealer.
     
  12. vjd3

    vjd3 F1 Rookie
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    Jun 3, 2005
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    My 2015 Cali T has the same problem with the downshift paddle. There is a small plastic piece that rocks forward and taps the two microswitches when you pull the paddle. It is tensioned by a small spring and rotates around a small pin, and the plastic circle that fits around the pin has a tendency to break, at which point the paddle will not actuate the microswitches anymore. The dealer solution is to replace the entire paddle assembly -- runs about $4k. You can take it apart and reglue the piece -- unless the broken piece is missing -- or you can take the identical piece from the other side and try to 3D scan and print it, etc., but the tiny piece is not available separately. Dealing with this right now.

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  13. DavidPutty

    DavidPutty Karting

    Jan 19, 2020
    120
    Del Boca Vista
    I had the same problem. Bad paddles. Eventually it will stop going into to gear via the ps button.

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  14. DavidPutty

    DavidPutty Karting

    Jan 19, 2020
    120
    Del Boca Vista
  15. vjd3

    vjd3 F1 Rookie
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    Sooooo ... I had the paddle problem and found the little broken plastic piece above. Car worked normally until the downshift paddle stopped working. Got the repaired plastic piece back in place today, buttoned it up ... now both paddles work, upshifts, downshifts, goes into neutral ... but now I am getting the PS warning on startup or after reversing and having to hit that button to get into first, otherwise it drives normally. ;)

    Brake switch doesn't make sense to me as you still have to step on the brake to actuate the PS button but very little about these cars make sense to me ...
     
  16. vjd3

    vjd3 F1 Rookie
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    Jun 3, 2005
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    After diving into this further, an update ...

    Behind each paddle itself there is a small piece of plastic that depresses two microswitches to indicate to the car whether or not it is being shifted (or taken out of park or neutral and into first gear). The plastic piece is prone to breaking, which will no longer depress the microswitches, thus the car will not go into gear or upshift/downshift depending on the paddle in question. (See photo two posts above).

    Pressing the brake pedal and then hitting the PS button will first put the car into neutral, and then into first gear -- this is a fail safe should the paddle assembly break and render the car undriveable.

    When my car was kindly hooked up to the scanner by Tony Ferrari at Autohaus of Boston (an FChat sponsor), the right (upshift) paddle was reading "pressed" even when it was not being touched. I disassembled it and put it back together and that cleared the error and the car is now shifting normally and going into gear without needing to use the PS workaround. I'm guessing that when it went back together the first time one of the microswitches (they have rubber orange tips) was pinched out of position and reinstalling it got it right.

    If one of your paddles is no longer working, it's highly probable that the small plastic piece has fractured. It is easy enough to remove -- move the steering wheel to its highest and furthest position, shut the car off, remove the lower steering wheel shroud (one 8 mm nut and two Philips screws), disconnect the connector for the switch that adjusts the wheel and let the shroud dangle down out of the way. On the bottom side of the wheel there is a small metal plate stamped Valeo -- this is removed by taking off three Philips screws. Underneath that, you will see the two plastic pieces that contact the orange-tipped microswitches. They are held in (loosely) by two small metal pins and tensioned by a short spring. You can pull the pin and remove the plastic piece ... it is likely to be broken. If you have the broken piece you can try to super glue it back together and at least get the car working again.

    Here is a photo taken by another Fchatter (Mike8Wang) looking at the wheel from the bottom. The piece on the left is intact with its pin and spring, the broken one was removed on the other side.

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    The caveat -- as usual -- is Ferrari does not make the small fragile plastic piece available. The only way the dealer is going to repair this is by replacing the entire paddle assembly, which includes the ignition cylinder, the housing, two new paddles, etc. This part lists around $4000 -- even more if you have carbon paddles. It's pretty crazy to buy a $4000 part to replace a tiny piece of broken plastic.

    In light of that, I am having one of the small plastic pieces cast and remade out of a more durable nylon material, and will post an update when that is done and available. Frankly, I would replace them proactively, as it is easy to do and as plastic ages it gets more brittle and prone to breaking. There have been a few other examples of this occurring with peoples' cars and it's not a difficult fix -- if you have the part. But I'm sure a fair amount of people have just taken the car to the dealer and received a $4k-plus repair bill over it. An independent would be more likely to dig in and figure out how to repair that small piece. That little piece may be common to other Ferraris with a paddle shifter as it's a Valeo part.
     
    Carbon Bits, rsahay, Willl and 3 others like this.
  17. Pablo avellaneda

    Oct 27, 2020
    1
    Full Name:
    Pablo avellaneda
    hi how are you guys...thanks for the inside....can you guys share the part number Baleo so i can try to buy that? tks
     

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