New owner of a '14 V8V Roadster and new member as well. Glad to meet you all.

2014 V8V Roadster black 6MT, I bought it used with only 1300 miles on it from an AM dealer in Florida and had it trucked to CA. I've put about 400 miles on it and have seen the car stall while coasting in neutral twice now. Most recently was really jarring and semi dangerous.

I have reviewed all the threads I can find on the issue and found one of three results, generally:
1. Fixed by replacing fuel tank or supply lines
2. Fixed by flashing ECU
3. Car returned under lemon law or sold back to dealer (giving up)


If you have had this issue, I'm sure we would all appreciate if you can let us know if your outcome was 1/2/3 and provide as much detail for the benefit of everyone following this issue.

Other questions:
A) How did you convince the dealer, who could not reproduce the problem consistently, to look deeply into it? I am getting a bit of the runaround.
B) Can you share the specific ways you got it to reproduce? e.g. Start car cold, accelerate to 30mph and coast in neutral to a stop etc.
C) If you had this issue and are comfortable, please share your VIN and the name of the dealer that got it resolved, so the rest of us can use your case to force our dealers to acknowledge that this problem does in fact exist.

Thanks all!
Josh

 

This was a common issue in the 300ZX (Z32) world for people who had installed aftermarket intakes improperly (not saying that's the direct cause here). What was happening was the air going into the intake was becoming more turbulent than normal, and confusing the Mass Airflow Sensor. The solution was using the intended splash shield that prevented a direct shot of air into one side of the filter.

That said, my personal stance is that you shouldn't be coasting at speed in neutral anyway (has anybody ever said this was a good thing to do? Probably why you're getting the runaround...). I wouldn't even say this is a defect, as a result. But if doing it is part of your driving habit and you're not willing to change it, perhaps look at the position of the intakes relative to direct airflow. (Yes, I'm suggesting that the fuel system changes were a placebo effect, and the ECU tuning was a band-aide fix.)

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond, mathman.

I understand where you're coming from on the advisability of coasting in neutral. In LA we're dealing with bumper to bumper almost all the time, and the coasting in neutral typically happens as you're approaching a changing light or a slowdown and unsure whether you'll be braking or accelerating.

It might be worth mentioning that I've had the issued happen as well while in gear but with clutch in all the way--this is the other scenario I often find myself in while trying to assess whether the upcoming traffic while require throttle or brakes. I get the sense it is less so related to the gearbox and more so related to what happens when the engine starts idling while the car is in operation. My car idles at 750rpm or even lower, which seems low to me but I don't know what is the norm for AMs.

As an side, someone has detailed the problem and fix quite nicely here - http://www.redpants.lol/blog/2015/12/1/the-infamous-v8-vantage-stalling-problem

Still looking forward to any insight anyone can offer.

 

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new car! Sorry about the issues, though...


The problem is extremely hard to reproduce, and I'm not sure of many people that have been able to do it for their dealership to see. Aston does know about the problem, though, which is why there's an updated tune at all. It's harder to diagnose electrical or software issues than it is something physical like the fuel vapor recirculation hose (it's either torn or it isn't), so I usually suggest people start there.


What has the dealership done aside from saying they can't reproduce it? Have they checked for software updates? Condition of the fuel vapor recirc hose? Coast-down procedure/misfire correction?

 

Well, in fairness to the dealer I've just dropped it off yesterday and they have already sent some details over to AM--so I'll have to give them some time to work on it, and will post updates as I have them. I started posting and getting educated because initially I felt a bit of the runaround and that was really frustrating.

I'm a bit of a wounded animal because I just lemon lawed a Jaguar F-Type to the same dealer after 5 service visits for 3 issues (the last one was 23 days in shop), and a different service advisor at the same dealership always discounted my concerns because I couldn't "reproduce" it, until I finally had the disabled car towed to him with cell phone videos to prove it. It is just the most frustrating thing when you have an intermittent issue that doesn't reproduce easily and the service advisor throws up his hands.

 

Sounds like you need to start working with a new dealership... the next closest I know of off the top of my head is in Walnut Creek. A bit of a haul, though.

 

coasting at speed? in neutral,what is your definition of speed?
Im wondering if possibly and Im no mechanic but I like to tinker (normally I damage things the first time) if your not getting a bit too much air into it and its running super lean and cutting out..just my thoughts

 

^^ the vehicle speed does not affect how much air goes through the throttle body. At idle, the TB is closed or almost closed. I would check the Idle Speed Control (ISC) to make sure is working properly. Especially when the A/C is on, if it's not able to maintain idle RPM, the engine will stall due to air bypass failure. See if it doesn't happen with the A/C off or at least it's not so frequently. The ECU controls the ISC but dirt will cause the ISC to malfunction regardless of ECU settings.

MGR