I have seen an error the last couple of days that displays "N Button not available. Shift Paddles Only"

The cars runs fine, it shifts into reverse and will drive normally with the paddles. As stated in the message, the Neutral button will not work and the auto shift function is not available. This has happened the last 3 mornings (exceptionally cold weather here in Dallas 20-30F) but the messages goes aways after I get a few miles into my trip. I have let the car engine warm up and I have visually confirmed that the 'clutch learn' sequence completes.

I dropped by the dealer to schedule an appointment (also wondering if I should quit driving it). They didn't seem to think it was a big deal. The tech plugged into the cars OBDII and the ecu reads that the clutch is only about ½ used. At 26k miles, that's pretty good from what I've read, unless the computer is measuring it wrong.

I figured I'd ask here and see if anyone else has run into this issue before?

 

I have seen this before but on older cars. We had a lot of the grounds at the firewall in the engine bay with insulation behind them cause a lot of issues. This would be one of them. If you want look in the engine bay on the passenger side of car near the fusebox, On the firewall behind the fuse box look at the grounds. You will need a light. See if any black insulation is behind any of the nuts.

 

Tremendous advise... chasing ground issues is a pain in the butt. I didn't really see a problem with the insulation but I double checked the bolts. They were all well fitted and I gave them a quick twist for good measure. The error hasn't reoccurred in several days. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

Well, damn the luck... Yesterday we had a relatively chilly morning here in Dallas and I recieved the message again. It stats out as 'N Button Not Available' followed shortly by 'Paddle Shift Only'. There arnt any other problems and the car works fine with the exception of the neutral button and the auto-drive button won't function for about ten minutes into the drive.

Steperately, it seems to miss a command to shift every once in while (pretty random). I am thinking this is just a linkage adjustment problem. The car is a 2012 and almost at 30k miles.

Any constructive input would be appreciated. Thanks for your last suggestion AMFixer.

 

There is not really any linkage to adjust. I think at this point you may need to take to a dealer and have them read the codes. May even come down to a simple reflash, but at this point it is hard to tell.