GT2 shift-by-wire problem?

[thefultonhow]

Car has around 1000 miles on it. Went to shift into Drive to leave work and it kept dropping back into Neutral. Tried 5 or 6 times with same result, including putting it back into Park before trying to shift to Drive again. And yes, I was pushing in the button on the side of the shifter before I started shifting and releasing it after shifting. Finally got it to stay in Drive by holding it there and accelerating out of the parking spot. Pulled over and shifted to Park but was unable to reproduce the problem. Anyone else have a similar problem?

 

[Danny_O]

Car has around 1000 miles on it. Went to shift into Drive to leave work and it kept dropping back into Neutral. Tried 5 or 6 times with same result, including putting it back into Park before trying to shift to Drive again. And yes, I was pushing in the button on the side of the shifter before I started shifting and releasing it after shifting. Finally got it to stay in Drive by holding it there and accelerating out of the parking spot. Pulled over and shifted to Park but was unable to reproduce the problem. Anyone else have a similar problem?

Nothing like that yet. Take a video with your phone the next time that happens so you can document it.

 

[mldavis2]

The shift by wire uses a solenoid to control signals to the transmission. I've found that the car must be essentially motionless when changing directions or it won't accept the input. I back out of my driveway rolling backwards downhill and unless I stop the car completely, it won't accept the "D" input. That is good for the transmission, but it makes it a bit tougher if you have to rock out of a mud hole or deep snow. I wonder if that restriction is intended to preserve the combined mass of both the transmission and the AWD mechanism on AWD cars.

 

[thefultonhow]

The shift by wire uses a solenoid to control signals to the transmission. I've found that the car must be essentially motionless when changing directions or it won't accept the input. I back out of my driveway rolling backwards downhill and unless I stop the car completely, it won't accept the "D" input. That is good for the transmission, but it makes it a bit tougher if you have to rock out of a mud hole or deep snow. I wonder if that restriction is intended to preserve the combined mass of both the transmission and the AWD mechanism on AWD cars.

I was stopped with my foot firmly on the brake pedal while trying to shift to D. I was driving forward out of a parallel parking spot and had tried to shift directly from P to D.

 

[mldavis2]

Sounds like a bad solenoid or connection.

 

[Kazz]

Agree about the car needing to be full stop. REALLY not used to that as a manual trans driver. But to your issue, if it recurs, make sure you're holding it back in drive when you release that button, then release the shifter. I've been sloppy with that but am better now. If that doesn't do it, definitely get it to a dealer ASAP - like before it won't go into Drive at all! Good luck!

 

[thefultonhow]

Agree about the car needing to be full stop. REALLY not used to that as a manual trans driver. But to your issue, if it recurs, make sure you're holding it back in drive when you release that button, then release the shifter.

Yep, made sure to do both of those. And yes, this is my first auto car. It finally got too hard to find a high performance sedan with a manual.

It happened again today, and I found that if I hold it all the way back for a couple seconds, it goes into D. I will update if it gets worse.

BTW, I also discovered today that if you are in D or R and turn off the car, it automatically goes into P. Kinda cool.

 

[Kazz]

With a silly alarm sound, but yes. LOL Good luck!

 

[thefultonhow]

Just a quick update. It's been getting worse. I went to make a U-turn to get a parallel parking spot the other day, had to back up a bit to clear the curb, and then was sitting in the middle of the road for 30 seconds while I tried to get it into drive. Finally I just held it in the bottom position towards the back of the car to get out of the middle of the road and pull up to back into the spot, and when I let go of the shifter to put it in reverse, it snapped into neutral. It also happened today after work, on an overcast day.

So I took it to the local dealer today. I had visited them before and they said they wouldn't get a rental for me until the problem was diagnosed, so I called the Kia premium support line and they approved a rental up to $45 a night. So I'm tooling around in a Silverado crew cab (the rental place was low on cars and nobody wanted the Silverado) until the dealer can figure out what's going on. Luckily, the service writer had the shuttle guy move the car to the back of the shop, and he said he had to hold the shifter back to move it, so I'm guessing they'll be able to reproduce the problem soon.

I will keep everyone updated on the fix.

 

[mldavis2]

Sounds like just a simple solenoid adjustment or replacement. Should get your car back quickly. Biggest issue with Stinger repairs is parts availability.

 

[thefultonhow]

We figured it out. When you let go of the shifter in a certain way when all the way back or all the way forward, when it springs back, it overshoots the detent it's supposed to go into and flips to the next detent. I was able to reproduce the issue both shifting to drive and shifting to reverse. The fix, of course, is to move it back to the correct detent with your foot still on the brake, but without pulling it all the way forward or back. The factory service tech was actually at the dealer when we figured it out, and was able to reproduce the problem on a random GT2 sitting on the lot. My guess is this is going to end up as a TSB, either to let owners know of this behavior or with a revised part. And for now, I know how to work around it!

 

[robz32]

Now I can see why this is happening. You are basically letting go completely off the shifter after selecting a gear. On these cars, the ones equipped with the shift by wire feature, you need to hold the shifter so that when it springs back it doesn't get out of the gear selected. By default these shifters return to the middle position, is not like your mechanical shifter on other cars, that stays in whatever position the gear is in.

 

[thefultonhow]

Now I can see why this is happening. You are basically letting go completely off the shifter after selecting a gear. On these cars, the ones equipped with the shift by wire feature, you need to hold the shifter so that when it springs back it doesn't get out of the gear selected. By default these shifters return to the middle position, is not like your mechanical shifter on other cars, that stays in whatever position the gear is in.

Yes, but if you don't push the shifter all the way forward or back and then let go, or if you let it spring back a bit before letting go, it doesn't skip to the next detent. This does seem like a design flaw -- it seems like you're supposed to be able to let it go and have it properly go into gear.

Either way, I know how to make sure it doesn't do it and I know how to correct the problem quickly if it does, and Kia is now aware that this may be a problem for some people.

 

[GT2InSeattle]

I've had this exact same problem.. it's more exacerbated in hot weather. I'm guessing it's as you said a design flaw... after it's been running for about a minute with the A/C on the problem disappears for me.

 

[torbach]

This problem is really annoying. It?s definitely a flaw in design. I?ve had a car with a similar shifter before. The bottom line is that car can be shifted into neutral without depressing the shifter button. I?ve accidentally bumped it into neutral mid drive. Not an acceptable situation and I?m going to take it into my dealer too so that they sort it out. Last time I took it they said it was ?by design.? Well it?s a dangerous design.


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[Shabib]

I have had this exact problem and took it in twice and the dealership wouldn't fix it. I had even videoed it on my iPhone three times and provided it to them and they refused to fix it. I opened a case with corporate and am not getting any help from them either. I don't think I have experienced poor service like this before. Kia keeps telling me this is a Premium car but I get treated like they don't care.

 

[robz32]

Can you upload the video?

 

[Shabib]

I would but the message board does not allow .mov files to be uploaded.

 

[KiaFan]

I would but the message board does not allow .mov files to be uploaded.

It does now

 

[Shabib]

Thanks!