Egear Stuck.. Flashy R but static N at the same time

I have been pretty busy and have not had the time to drive the car in 2 months. It was on a battery charger. Its an 07 G with original battery in it. Today when I started the car it started fine and everything seemed fine. I let it warm up for 5 minutes and towards the end I thought I heard the Egear pump priming sound. I turned the car off (car was still parked at the same spot and I have not moved it yet), few minutes later when I got back to the car and upon opening the door I noticed that the primer was taking too long about 15 seconds... I started the car as normal once the primer shut off but now the car is not changing gears. It shows N in solid red but the R is blinking. I tried turning on and off few times, It starts just fine but not shifting gears and stuck at the same spot. Egear primer is still taking 15 second... way longer than it normally does. When I turn off the car the N appears for few seconds before the screen completely goes blank off but the R does not appear or blink at the time.

 

Any suggestions and advice? Could it be because of the old battery? Egear pump? Not enough pressure?

 

Thanks

Could be a relay issue, could be a faulty pump motor (the motors on these transmissions is prone to go bad before the pump itself), a battery issue, and with the flashing e-gear symbol it could even be a faulty trunk sensor, (which would show your car being in a gear but might leave you in neutral). You'll need to get the codes read from a LARA system.

When the egear flashes as you say the system is low on pressure. You said you can hear pump run so it must be low on fluid check under it to see if any fluid has leaked may be burst egear hose.

The battery is approaching 9 years old. That can't help.

The battery is approaching 9 years old. That can't help.

 

 

The old battery does not help. Do you hear the pump activating when you open the drivers door?. If so it might only be low pressure and fluid needs to be topped up. If no sound of pump priming the relay/fuse and pump probably had it. I have posted cheap resolutions for this on the site for a number of years.

 

Best of luck mate!.

With the old battery, I would always replace that first. The voltage is going to be low and that can cause all manner of ills. Over the years I have seen lots of problems crop up in the months before a battery goes out only for everything to work fine once it is replaced.

I just went through this same issue. Red flashing on the egear 123456 area = is low pressure.

 

This can be caused by a variety of issues

Low battery should be checked first

Low egear fluid- causes, leaky pipes(not good), lose fittings, etc.

Failing egear pump

Failing accumulator

Failing actuator (not good)

 

I'm sure there are others but I can't think of anymore currently

 

The egear system is the weakest point of the gallardo, IMHO

The issue is the factory relay. It does not shut the pump down when it should. It then causes the pump to burn out and then the fuse will fail. Assbackwards. (This is the case when battery and fluid is in good shape). Trust me, I now run a Ferrari based relay, fuse and pump in mine.

 

The system is based on a Alfa Romeo selespeed system so search the web and ebay on this. You will learn a lot.

I have been out going out of town alot and have been so busy last couple weeks that I have not had a chance to try anything yet. I am going to replace the battery first to see what happens. Does it needs to be "programmed" like the new bmw/Mercedes etc. Or simple plug and play? It can't be the bursted lines as I had all of those replaced with stronger and updated LamboNB lines year and a half ago. Last time the car was stuck in 2nd and fluids every where, this time no leaked fluid on the floor or engine bay as it was sitting there for a while. I am gonna check the fluid levels to see if its just a matter of topping off the fluids. I hope its not the pump or the actuator. I have never liked e gear, always a problem in gen 1 Gallardo.

Ah, the dreaded E-gear malfunction. :-/

 

Your battery is easy to verify or rule out. Get a battery tender that

will not only charge it, but also give you an indication of its health.

My daily driven 08 SL is still on its original battery... and it is doing

just fine. If you can start your car several times in a row, then it is

not a total disaster. And swapping a battery is easy.

 

Now, the solid N suggests that pressure is building, while a blinking

R suggests that pressure isn't reaching the required level.

 

Priming for 15 seconds is a bit on the long side, but not unheard of.

Mine consistently primes for 11 seconds, unless it was parked for a

period of less than an hour or two. And yes, it's been doing 11 secs

for nearly 6 years. (I have two habits. I either listen to it prime while

I count, or I simultaneously open the car and the garage door while

comparing the required runtimes.)

 

Your starting point should be a quick glance down at the top of the

gear box, where the actuator resides. Check for fluid leaks there.

 

You could now remove the plastic cover in the engine bay, to take a

look at the E-gear components in the right rear wheel well area. Do

take a look at the fluid level in the upper non-pressurized reservoir.

For me that means "remove bolt that holds it in place, slightly bend

the reservoir towards the engine, to be able to open the lid".

 

Also, you could lift the right rear, take off the wheel, remove a few

screws to take out the plastic wheel house cover, and get a better

look at the E-gear components from that angle. Look for fluid leaks,

which would tend to be obvious. They might not be large enough to

result in a dropped fluid level, let alone fluid on the ground, but it is

possible to have a tiny leak, preventing pressure build-up.

 

I had one of these a while ago: the lower, pressurized reservoir was

covered in a film of fluid, with plenty of dirt sticking to it, but hardly

a drop in fluid level, and hardly any fluid on the ground. In my case

tightening one of the hose clamps fixed it. (Disclaimer: be careful if

you operate on the system -- relieve it of pressure first [there is an

actual point on the valve group you can push on with a screwdriver,

to depressurize], and ensure that it won't start the pump on you [it

can start even without the key in the ignition, as is evident from the

short pump runs you might encounter just as you stop your engine

and remove the key from the ignition -- so... disconnect the battery

to be 100% sure].)

 

Now, beyond the aforementioned steps you would probably need to

connect to a diagnostic laptop, to read out the E-gear error codes --

I have had one of those as well: the car was driving just fine, but it

still gave me the dreaded E-gear warning light. The error code then

suggested a faulty relay... but it had "cured" itself already after that

one drive. In short, just an electrical glitch.

 

Last but not least, there are two more DIY steps that you can try --

the E-gear calibration reset, and a series of "dry" shifts.

 

For the reset, pull both paddles for several seconds, until you see a

warning and hear a beep; then engage 1st to clear the dash. This is

doing a reset of what the system has learned from your driving style

and it causes it to re-learn during the next drive(s). (If your style is

shitty, this will lead to what feels like an improvement. If your style

is good, then you won't feel any improvement.)

 

For the "dry" shifts, turn the key but don't start the engine. Then go

and pull the up-shift paddle in rapid succession, and see how many

gears you can go up before the pump kicks in. Some people will get

all the way to 6th; others only make it to 4th or even 3rd. This just

gives you a rough idea of your specific pressure drop. (A snapshot is

of course going to give you better detail, i.e. bar numbers.)

 

Neither the reset nor the "dry" shifts might work in your case though,

i.e. your current problem may prevent them.

 

Alright, good luck with the diagnosis, and hopefully the fix won't be

too painful. And hey, it's a car -- things break, you get them fixed,

and then you enjoy driving it again!