RA-07-0022 – Loss of Drive from Incorrect Clutch Software – 2011-2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage

June 21, 2017 NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 17V389000

Loss of Drive from Incorrect Clutch Software

If the transmission shifts into neutral or does not operate as intended, there is an increased the risk of a crash.

 

NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V389

Manufacturer Aston Martin Lagonda of North America

Components ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN

Potential Number of Units Affected 315

 

Summary

Aston Martin The Americas (Aston Martin) is recalling certain 2011-2012 V8 Vantage vehicles. The affected vehicles received updated transmission and engine control software which may conflict with the pre-existing clutch settings and may cause the transmission to shift to neutral, or enable clutch protection mode which give abrupt gear shifts.

 

Remedy

Aston Martin will notify owners, and dealers will reinstall clutch system software, free of charge. The recall began August 18, 2017. Owners may contact Aston Martin customer service at 1-949-379-3100. Aston Martin’s number for this recall is RA-07-0022.

 

Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

 

Check if your Aston Martin has a Recall

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SAFETY RECALL ACTION

Reference number:	RA-07-0022	Issued: 6 July, 2017
Subject:	Transmission Software Update for the V8 Vantage with 7-Speed Sportshift II Transmission
Model(s):	V8 Vantage and V8 Vantage S.
VIN range:	Refer to the separately published list of VINs
Applicable to:	All USA Dealers
Distribute to:	After Sales Manager Executive Manager Service Manager Sales Manager	Warranty Staff Technician(s) Parts Staff

 

Attached Documents:

1. Appendix A – Table that Shows the Quantities of Affected Vehicles.
2. Copy of the Owner Notification letter for vehicles in RA-07-0022.
3. Copy of the Change of Keeper or Address form.

 

Reason for this Recall Action (NHTSA Ref. 17V-389)

Aston Martin has determined that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists on a range of vehicles that were manufactured from July 2010 thru August 2012.

Service Action SA-07-0209 was issued to update the transmission software on a quantity of Aston Martin V8 Vantage vehicles with SportShift II transmission. The Service Action did not give instructions to delete the stored clutch adaptions and wear-index data and in some conditions, the stored clutch settings are not compatible with the software update. This can cause:

• At some throttle positions, the transmission miss a gearchange without control from the driver. In some cases, this can result in the vehicle selecting neutral. If this happens, the driver can still use the gear select paddles to select a gear.
• The clutch can slip and overheat. If this happens, the transmission will go into a “clutch protection” mode. The engine Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL) will come on and gearchanges will be abrupt until the temperature of the clutch falls. Normal gear change will then return. This function protects the clutch from damage.

 

Affected Models

This Safety Recall Action is applicable to the vehicles in the USA that follow:

• V8 Vantage with 7-speed SportShift II (November 2011 – August 2012)
• V8 Vantage S with 7-speed SportShift II (November 2010 – August 2012)

 

To correct the problem

To correct this problem, you must:

• Examine the history of the vehicle to find out if there have been signs of SportShift driveability problems.
• If necessary, update the software for the Transmission Control Module (TCM).
• If necessary, update the software for the engine management system.
• Complete the process to make sure that the clutch is correctly adjusted.

The full list of VINs for the affected vehicles is on the DCS portal as an attachment to this Recall Action document.

PLEASE DO A CHECK OF ALL VEHICLES THAT ARE IN THE AFFECTED VIN LIST

 

Legal Requirements

The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, as amended, provides that each vehicle which is subject to a recall campaign of this type must be adequately repaired within a reasonable time after the owner has tendered it for repair. Failure to repair within sixty (60) days after tender of a vehicle is prima facie evidence of failure to repair within a reasonable time.

If the condition is not adequately repaired within a reasonable time, the owner may be entitled to an identical or reasonable equivalent vehicle at no charge, or to a refund of the purchase price less a reasonable allowance for depreciation.

To avoid having to provide these difficult solutions, every effort must be made to promptly schedule an appointment with each owner and to repair their vehicle as soon as possible. As you will see in reading the attached copies of the letters that are being sent to Owners, the Owners are being instructed to contact Aston Martin Customer Service if their Dealer does not correct the condition within three (3) days of the mutually agreed upon service date. If the condition is not corrected within a reasonable time, they are instructed on how to contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

IMPORTANT: We remind you that it can be a violation of Section 30120(i) of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act required under this notice if a Dealer sells or leases a vehicle that is covered by this notice without first completing the repair.

 

Communications

We will write to every owner directly to tell them about this Safety Recall Action. A copy of the letter is attached at the end of this Recall Action for your information. There is also a copy of the “Change of Keeper’s Address or Ownership” form.

When the Owner calls to make an appointment, briefly describe the repair which will be done to the Owner’s vehicle and fully explain the reason for this work. Tell the owner that the repair will be done at no cost to them.

 

Service Reception Desk – Checks you must do before you book the vehicle in.

When you make a reservation for a Customer that you confirm the name and contact details are correct in Aston Martin’s records.

To do this, please do the steps that follow:

1. Enter the vehicle’s 6-digit chassis number into DCS (amdealers.com) and click “Validate” (refer to Figure 1).

Figure 1

 

2. Make sure that the vehicle details are correct. If the current owner is correct, no action is necessary.
3. Make sure that the Customer name is correct. If the data is correct, then no action is necessary.
4. To update the Customer details, use the search feature to find the customer in your Synergy database (refer to Figure 2).

Figure 2

 

Note: The Customer record and updated details must have been entered into Synergy before you try to transfer the ownership in DCS.

5. If the correct Customer shows, click “confirm”.
6. If the correct Customer details do not show, click “add new”.

 

Before you start work

Log on to the Online Dealer Warranty (ODW) system. Do the steps that follow:

1. Select the Warranty Live screen (Outstanding Campaigns Status).
2. Download the attached VIN list from the DCS Portal and do a check of the VINs in your control.
3. Find out if there are other open Service Actions (SAs) or Recall Actions (RAs) for the vehicles in the list.
4. List the SAs and RAs and plan the work so that the Owner only needs to come to your Dealership once.

Note: The ODW system operates in real-time. Thus, the online condition shows only the newest Dealer Warranty Claim submissions.

 

Workshop Procedure

This Workshop Procedure has three parts:

• Part A – Examine the vehicle history data
• Part B – Update the software for the transmission and if necessary, the engine
• Part C – Do the SportShift clutch adjustment process

 

Part A – Examine the vehicle history data

1. Do a check of the service history of the vehicle. Find out if:
   • Service Action SA-07-0209 was completed.
   • The vehicle returned to a workshop and had the clutch adaptions deleted, and learned again.
   • If a clutch was replaced after SA-07-0209 was done.
   • There are records that show that the owner has experience of problems with gear changes and clutch operation.
2. Speak to the owner and ask if they are happy with the way that the transmission and clutch operates.
3. If in Steps 1 and 2 above there are indications that the transmission does not operate as expected, continue from Part B.

 

Part B – Update the software for the transmission and if necessary, the engine

4. Make sure that your AMDS software is at the newest Version.
5. Connect the AMDS to the vehicle.
6. Update the software for the ASM control module with the latest version (refer to Figure 3).

Figure 3

 

7. Update the software for the Engine Control Module (ECM) with the latest version (refer to Figure 4).

Note: It is possible that the ECM software will not need to be updated. If this happens, the AMDS will display a message.

Figure 4

 

Note: When the software for the ASM control module is updated, the module will be set back to initial factory settings. You must do Part C after the software update to adjust the clutch correctly.

 

Part C – Do the SportShift clutch adjustment process

8. Refer to the newest version of Service Bulletin SB-07-0315 and do all of the procedure from Part B.
9. If you have completed all applicable parts of SB-07-0315 and the vehicle still does not drive satisfactorily, submit a TSR in the usual way.

 

Warranty Data

Make sure that you submit your claim in less than 24 hours after the work is completed. The records of your claims are used in the reporting process for the Recall Action that Aston Martin need to submit to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

 

Procedure and Labor Time

Description	Labor Time
Examine the vehicle history data.	0.20 hours
Sportshift gearchange system adjustment	0.65 hours

 

Part Data

Not Applicable.

Please Note:

When you have completed this Recall Action, make sure that you make an entry in Section A of the Vehicle Owner’s Guide to show that the procedure is completed.

 

Appendix A – Table that Shows the Quantities of Affected Vehicles in the US Market

Note: Please refer to the list on DCS for the vehicles in your region.

Model	Registered & AMLNA Fleet (RA-07-0022)	Build Range (MM/YY)
V8 Vantage Coupe and Roadster	78	11/2011 – 08/2012
V8 Vantage S Coupe and Roadster	237	11/2010 – 08/2012
TOTAL	315

 

If you have any questions related to this Recall Action, please contact: Aston Martin Technical Services on: +44 (0) 1926 644720, email: [email protected], or contact your After Sales Manager.

The English version of this Recall Action is written in Simplified Technical English to ASD-STE100™.

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Copy of the Owner Notification Letter

[Date DD Month, YYYY]

 

[Customer Name]
[Customer Address 1]
[Customer Address 2]
[Customer City/County]
[Customer Country]

 

IMPORTANT SAFETY RECALL NOTICE NHTSA Recall 17V-389

 

This notice applies to your vehicle: [INSERT VIN]

 

Dear [Customer]

Safety Recall Action RA-07-0022 – Transmission Software Update for the V8 Vantage with Sportshift Transmission

This notice is sent to you in accordance with the requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

Aston Martin has determined that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists on a range of vehicles that were manufactured from July 2010 through August 2012 with SportShift II ASM transmission.

As part of a 2012 software update, the stored adjustment settings for the clutch were not deleted and re-taught. These stored settings are incompatible with the updated software and can result in incorrect operation in certain circumstances.

In the vehicles affected by the incorrect transmission software update, the clutch can become incorrectly adjusted which may cause the transmission to go into neutral without warning to the driver, resulting in a loss of drive. In this case, the driver will be unable to maintain or increase speed unless they select a gear manually.

The steering and brakes remain fully functional at all times but there is an increased risk of a crash.

It is also possible that your vehicle does not show any of the signs above and it drives as you would expect. In this case, it is likely that there is no fault with your vehicle, but we would still ask that you have it checked at your Dealership for peace of mind.

The models affected are:

• V8 Vantage with 7-speed SportShift II (November 2011 – August 2012).
• V8 Vantage S with 7-speed SportShift II (November 2010 – August 2012).

 

WHAT WE WILL DO

When you speak to your Dealership, they will ask you questions about the way that your car drives. If the Dealer thinks that it is necessary, they will update the transmission software and do the clutch self-learn process. If necessary, the vehicle clutch system will be repaired or replaced, at no cost to you. When you have booked the vehicle in with your Dealer, wherever possible they will endeavour to complete the modification while you wait, to minimize the impact on your time.

 

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

Please contact your Aston Martin dealer as soon as possible to arrange a date for the repair. They will be able to fully explain why this Recall Action is necessary. Instructions for making this correction have been sent to your dealer. The labor time necessary to complete this service correction is a maximum of one hour. Please ask your dealer if you wish to know how much additional time will be needed to schedule and process your vehicle.

Your Aston Martin dealer is best equipped to obtain parts and provide the service to make sure that your vehicle is corrected as promptly as possible. If, however you take your vehicle to your dealer on the agreed service date and they do not remedy this condition on that date, or within three days, we recommend that you contact Aston Martin Customer Service by calling 1-888923-9988.

If after contacting your dealer and Aston Martin Customer Services, you are still not able to have the safety defect remedied without charge and within a reasonable time, you may wish to write to the Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590 or call 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 1-800-424-9153) or go to http://www.safercar.gov.

If you have already had your vehicle repaired due to this problem before receipt of this notice, you may be entitled to reimbursement for any out of pocket costs. For further information, please contact Aston Martin Customer Service by calling 1-888-923-9988.

 

IF YOU NO LONGER OWN THE VEHICLE

If you have sold or traded your vehicle, please tell us by completing the enclosed Change of Keeper form and returning it to us.

Federal regulations require that any lessor receiving this recall notice must forward a copy of this notice to the lessee within ten days.

We are sorry to cause inconvenience with this Recall Action. However, this action has been taken in the interest of your safety and continued satisfaction with our products. Yours sincerely

 

Phil Eaglesfield

Director, Client Services
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited

 

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2 Affected Products

Vehicle

MAKE	MODEL	YEAR
ASTON MARTIN	V8 VANTAGE	2011-2012

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12 Associated Documents

Owner Notification Letter(Part 577)

RCONL-17V389-3644.pdf 296.273KB

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Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)/TSB

RCMN-17V389-1374.pdf 397.201KB

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Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)

RCMN-17V389-3950.pdf 410.47KB

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Recall Acknowledgement

RCAK-17V389-1702.PDF 369.751KB

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Recall Quarterly Report #2, 2017-4

RCLQRT-17V389-8488.PDF 214.62KB

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Recall Quarterly Report #1, 2017-3

RCLQRT-17V389-7546.PDF 214.515KB

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Recall Acknowledgement

RCAK-17V389-1702.pdf 244.323KB

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Defect Notice 573 Report

RCLRPT-17V389-7445.PDF 218.105KB

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Recall Quarterly Report #3, 2018-1

RCLQRT-17V389-0242.PDF 214.723KB

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Recall Quarterly Report #5, 2018-3

RCLQRT-17V389-7213.PDF 214.922KB

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Recall Quarterly Report #4, 2018-2

RCLQRT-17V389-3334.pdf 214.812KB

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Recall Quarterly Report #6, 2018-4

RCLQRT-17V389-7788.PDF 211.638KB

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Latest Recalls Documents

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/documentList.xhtml?docId=17V389&docType=RCL

 

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Last update on 2021-01-23 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API