My 08 Vantage does not want to come out of paddle shift mode. It will automatically shift from first to second but then must be paddle shifted thru the rest of the gears. It will downshift on its own though. I have hit the drive button to return to "regular" sportshift as the manual states, but with no results. Any suggestions?

 

Sorry to hear...you may need to check the hydraulic fuild under the car...it uses pentosin fuild...it can be bought at redpants or local auto supply.
There is a fuild box....on this forum you are warned not to drain the clutch line on an asm but on Piston heads a tech discussed with Rich at redpants it can be done and gave details...
I would not drain clutch line without further research...
This may be a starting point...good luck

 

IIRC you need an AMDS to change/fill the clutch fluid on ASM cars!!!
But I have the feeling it is more an electronic problem, do you hear/feel the gearbox trying to shift? If that is the case it might be fluid, if not electrical gremlin.
Good luck and keep he shiny side up

 

I'm not hearing any noises that would indicate it wants to shift. Car was purchased late last year and not driven until April. I had literally never tried the paddle shifters in the 250 miles or so that I had put on the Vantage. I then inadvertently hit he paddle shifter a couple weeks ago after starting the car and have been unsuccessful in shutting off the paddle mode. In a couple days the car will have the on-board computer scanned for possible error codes. That may tell me something. The car has 13k miles and doesn't get driven much. My intent is to start driving it more but I would like to have the OPTION of using the paddle shifters.

 

Hi...first you can add fuild to the clutch line..the box is under the car to check the level...as I stated different techs claim you can drain clutch line others stated better to let dealer do it...research and decide for yourself...

​​​​Once you touch the paddle shift handles it overrides the D...try starting your car...wait around 10 seconds...you will hear a click...it is the clutch check...turn off do it again...

Put in D...no paddles and drive it to see if you go through all the gears...first gear can be different and strange till you adjust...

If the car does not go into the other gears in D but works in paddle mode then I would think module next...

Also...use reverse as little as possible...these cars were designed to ride the clutch in this gear and the crawl mode...

Personally I never use D except when in heavy traffic...

Being Asm transmission...the dealer can read how much clutch life is left and tell you when you go in... I have over 30000 miles on original clutch so far..

Safe driving


​​​

 

Very strange, normally you can leave the paddle shift mode by depressing the D-button, so my bet is on a electrical/electronics problem. Anyhow I belong to the group of Aston drivers who think the D stands for do not touch and not for drive I'd love to replace the D-button with an eject one.
My approach would be to disconnect any ASM related electrical connector and reconnect, maybe use some contact cleaner as well.

 

Yes...it could be his d button is bad. Good point and it is simple fix...
Oh...the C or comfort button actually means crap drive as the car shifts horrible and makes you wonder if broke...
Is the C light on when you are using? If so turn off and try driving....
On ASM...you can go anytime from paddle...to D and back as you want.... Most of us just use the paddles shifters as more fun and better driving experience...

I would read the sticky area on ASM checking clutch and review the threads here on your model year for the past problems others have had...caused by them or actual car problems..

I hope nothing serious and just OE problem..operater error...lol

 

I replaced all buttons with glass buttons, no comfort any more it says Sport now

 

NICE...I bet looks great! Few other things I want to do before I change out the buttons...but on my list.
Post pic...I bet this guy will like and not know about...
Safe driving...

 

Pic as requested

 

Wow
Really dresses up the car column...thanks for posting ...I am putting in my pic files. Now I may need to bump up higher on my list...lol
Just nosy ...no rush as I have same dash style but what glass button did you use on the glove box?
Jealous of glass key...saving for one as my car did not come with it...just plastic type.
Thanks again...

 

I bought the glass buttons as set from astonmartinbits, for the glove box and seat tilt it includes unlabeled switches. Only minor quirk is that the red led in the sport button is lit in comfort mode and not in sport mode but I am in the process of developing a solution to get it right, as there is nothing available. Or you treat the lit led as reminder to press the switch

 

Odd Fix - Happy Ending

What I had failed to mention turned out to be the solution to the Sportshift problem. Shortly after I first experienced the shifting problem I noticed the brake lights would not come off (sometimes they would and sometimes they wouldn't, mostly they were on). At the garage this morning my guy asked if I had tried lifting up on the brake peddle to see if the lights would come off. Well, duh, they came off. The peddle was sticking a bit and would not release fully. He then ran the scanning tool and no codes came up. The thinking now is that if the brake lights come on the computer does not want the transmission to upshift on its own, probably thinks a down shift is in order. Problem fixed and I now have a fuller appreciation for the benefits of the paddle shifters. I will be using them much more. Thank you South Jersey and Austria for getting involved.

 

An additional discovery

With the brake lights stuck on I figured if I press the battery disconnect button in the trunk then the lights would come off. Well, they didn't. I ended up disconnecting one of the battery cables. Apparently the brake lights are "hard wired" and do not come off when the disconnect button is pressed. I wish I had just lifted up on the brake peddle.

 

Or you could just buy a 6-spd manual and not have any of these problems