Josh @ ECS - great service / saved my ass (again!)

The week before last I *finally* got to take my e-gear Murci Roadster out of winter storage. Gave her some time to warm up, checked all the bits that needed checking, drove her around slowly to get the fluids up to temperature, etc, then headed off for a drive to Home Depot (needed some rubber stoppers to plug the stupid cold start air valve on a 308).

Anyway, pull up to light at a busy intersection, and she drops out of gear into N. Hmm, weird... Light changes -- and she refuses to go into gear. Line of cars behind me, I put on hazards, cycle power on and off a few times, no luck. Most cars have gone around me by now, but I'm stopped in a dangerous position (around a bend), so I cal the local sheriff's office to request a patrol car to come block the lane / add visibility. Then I called Josh at Exotic Car Specialties to see if he can recommend a reputable tow company. He finds out where I am, then calls Road Runner for me.

A few more tries, and suddenly gears work again, so I head over to Home Depot (after canceling sheriff call, asking Josh to cancel tow truck, etc). Place transmission in N, turn off car. Working fine with I come out of Hoem Depot, so I drive across the parking lot to pick up some groceries -- left car in 1st, turned it off...

After leaving Giant with groceries I hop in car (with the requisite crowd of gawkers) and... nothing. Lights on the dashboard, but won't crank. Doh, it's in 1st. Pull both paddles, turn on, turn off, curse, etc. No love.

Anyway, try turning master power off, on, doing a little dance, shouting. Nothing.
So, I call Josh again -- he drives over from his shop with a Leonardo, we poke at it. The e-gear pump is not doing the normal prime when the door opens, but there are no error lights on dash, nothing logged, etc. Play with the computer a bit more -- can force the pump on, but still cannot get out of gear. Use the computer to tell it to exercise the actuator, nothing.

Big problem is that it is in gear (and AWD) so no real way to get it onto a flatbed. So, we call Road Runner Towing again and Josh gets one of his employees to drive over with some GoJacks.
We raise all 4 wheels off the ground with the GoJacks just as Jon from RR arrives, and we winch it up onto the flatbed. Of course, the small casters on the GoJacks don't want to go over the lip on the flatbed, the car is really wide, and the GoJacks add another few inches, the nose won't raise and is really close to scraping, the parking lot slopes, etc. After a (really scary!) two hours we finally have it on the flatbed (with a *huge* crowd watching), and it gets driven (slowly!) over to his shop. We reverse the procedure getting it unloaded, and I leave her with him.

Josh can tell I'm freaked out at this point -- picturing a new clutch, new e-gear actuator, new everything -- so he stays late working on it. At around 1AM I get email saying all is fixed...
I head over the next morning, expecting some serious damage to my wallet.
Turns out it was simply a bad immobilizer connection. While fixing / diagnosing this Josh also adjusted the PIS, checked the clutch wear, did the recalibration, topped up the e-gear fluid, etc.
Damage was minimal (not much more than a dinner at a nice restaurant), shifting is *so* much smoother, she was safely back home in less than 24 hours, etc.

During this whole event Josh (and his crew) kept me calm, were friendly and helpful, answered all my silly questions, listened to my crazier suggestions ("Perhaps if the pull the paddles *really hard* it will listen?!", etc.) -- sure, I'd prefer if I'd never had the problem, but this was about as painless as it could possibly be...

W
I have no affiliation with Josh / ECS (other than being a really happy customer), but if folk in the Northern VA / DC area need work done on a Ferrari / Lambo, give him a call.

Exotic Car Specialties
201 Davis Dr, Unit L
Sterling, VA 20164
703.421.5356
[email protected]