What dos it mean if the sport button light doesn't come on and the selector lights on the gearbox position blinks. The J-gate doesn't work either when this happens. I checked all the fuses I could think of and they all look good, if I leave the car overnight it goes away and works again. Is this Valet mode or something I accidentally turned on?

 

It seems to me that something is up with the OEBD bus.. Do the simple things first, check for eventually existing faultcodes with a OEBD reader and that plugs are clean and fitted correctly.

And as always, batterystatus? new/old?

/E

 

Battery is maybe 3 years old, no codes on the OBDII reader just the p1000 code but I've always had that.

 

What reader are you using? You'll probably need SSD etc to get the gearbox codes to see what the car thinks is wrong.

 

Just an iCarsoft.

Which connectors should I check, might just see if any are loose. The thing is it seems to fix itself after a few hours.

 

As posted elsewhere this has happened to me at times, along with other bogus messages that are not there the next time I start the car. I've attributed this to the almost 8-year old battery.

 

In case it has the ZF 6HP26, maybe it's a problem with the shift cable bolts (under car, trans side, 2 hex head 8mm, can be loose/missing)

 

... while you are on the gearbox, make sure to have a look at its electrical connector... mine was soaked in oil witch caused a number of headaces.. Next time you are having gearbox oil/filter replaced, make sure to replace the plastic receptacle since there are new ones with new type of seals to prevent gearbox oil to enter the connector.

/E

 

I will probably do another oil change this year for the transmission so I will get the connector done at the same time. It's a zf6hp26 by the way. Already did the oil change at 60k miles or so and now it's just shy of 100k miles. Might just be the battery to be honest as it seems to struggle sometimes.

 

These cars need a great battery.

If buying one I've had good service from www.tayna.co.uk

 

Mine is a Varta, no idea if that was good or not but it was a good price at the time.

 

I had a Varta that lasted well.

 

A HUGE appeal to all players . . .

Concepts like "my fairly new battery . . . " or "but it's a brand new battery!" are totally meaningless. Worse still, they can lead us into a false and frustrating rabbit hole. Often, even brand new batteries are shipped without being fully charged. There are only two (2) measures that count unless you want the myriad of warning lights and messages of doom . . .

1. using digital voltmeter (0-20V), measure actual B+ voltage at battery terminals after car has stood all night, with no charger attached;
2. take the car to a reputable battery tester for a comprehensive, but quick, CCA analysis.

Anything less than 12.7V standing voltage in the first test is a worry and should lead to the second CCA test.

Quick, easy, inexpensive and, above all . . . unambiguous.

Cheers and best wishes,