[teenytinytaxi]

Hiya all, could use a little guidance.

Was driving this morning and coming to a stop when the engine started racing and the car went into neutral and won't come out of it. Having it towed home where I can begin working on it.

There are no lights on indicating a problem, it just can't seem to sense when it's in reverse or drive. Passing the gearshift over them just leaves sort of a blank space where the "d" or "r" should be.

Also won't change gears through the paddle shifters or shifting to the left.

Car previously had a problem sometimes not going into reverse without going into drive first.

So, where should I start?

 

[teenytinytaxi]

First thing I'm probably going to do is disconnect the battery and hope for a miracle reset.

 

[Laughing Crow]

Always a good first step. Bonne chance.

 

[teenytinytaxi]

It's in the garage and I've got the battery disconnected, going to give it a good hour before I connect it. When I was pushing the car off the road I ran over my foot. No damage whatsoever! And I was wearing flip-flops.

 

[teenytinytaxi]

Whoops, put this in the wrong forum. Could a moderator please switch this over to smart operation and maintenance? Thanks!

 

[teenytinytaxi]

OK, disconnected the battery and it didn't help at all. I'm going to remove the clutch actuator this afternoon and see if I can figure out what's going on. Replacements actually look pretty cheap on Ebay so I'm slightly enthusiastic. Watched a couple of videos and I think I have the process down. Mark where the 3 bolts are, remove the bolts, pull off clutch actuator, put on new clutch actuator in the exact spot it was in previously, then hope it works.

Wish me luck, I'm going in!

 

[vadsoom]

I would venture to guess your shift actuator has failed. When mine went out, it did the same thing - from
60mph, the car jerked for a few seconds, the shift display went blank, the car died, and I coasted to the shoulder of the expressway and a call to AAA. During the wait, I tried several times to do a relearn with no joy. 20 minutes after standing without doing anything, I turned the key, “P” appeared into he display, put it in drive and off we went, except to the call to AAA to cancel the service.

 

[teenytinytaxi]

I would venture to guess your shift actuator has failed. When mine went out, it did the same thing - from
60mph, the car jerked for a few seconds, the shift display went blank, the car died, and I coasted to the shoulder of the expressway and a call to AAA. During the wait, I tried several times to do a relearn with no joy. 20 minutes after standing without doing anything, I turned the key, “P” appeared into he display, put it in drive and off we went, except to the call to AAA to cancel the service.

Shift actuator? Are we talking about the same part? How many actuators can a car have?

 

[Dazzaman1969]

Hi, same thing just called slightly different. When you remove the clutch actuator as you described! There is a plug to unclipped as we'll. I suspect that you will find the worm gear has snapped. This happens due to lack of grease inside. If you get a new or second hand one I would remove the black plastic cover and put something like white lithium grease around the moving parts.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Darren.

 

[teenytinytaxi]

Hi, same thing just called slightly different. When you remove the clutch actuator as you described! There is a plug to unclipped as we'll. I suspect that you will find the worm gear has snapped. This happens due to lack of grease inside. If you get a new or second hand one I would remove the black plastic cover and put something like white lithium grease around the moving parts.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Darren.

Thanks, I have some idea going about the replacement so hopefully it all works out in the end. I'm trying to track down a used part as the new ones seem to be knockoffs or too much money. There's a pull and save that I always wanted to try and now I've got the chance.

 

[SAM101]

Hiya all, could use a little guidance.

Was driving this morning and coming to a stop when the engine started racing and the car went into neutral and won't come out of it. Having it towed home where I can begin working on it.

There are no lights on indicating a problem, it just can't seem to sense when it's in reverse or drive. Passing the gearshift over them just leaves sort of a blank space where the "d" or "r" should be.

Also won't change gears through the paddle shifters or shifting to the left.

Car previously had a problem sometimes not going into reverse without going into drive first.

So, where should I start?

Please, state your car Year it would help.