e-gear problem in 1st gear when the engine is cold

[blaise]

I love every aspect of my Gallardo. Guys, this is a really an awesome car and I owned quite a few exotics to compare.

The only issue I have is that the e-gear goes weird when the engine is a little cold. The problem is a bit erratic but Symbolic confirmed they have the same problem on other cars too. I usually always wait a few minutes before I drive a car after I start it.

The e-gear seems to need more time to warm up because as soon as I accelerate in first gear the engine dies, goes, dies and goes again. The problem disapears after a few minutes or as soon as the car is launched in a higher gear.

I also feel the normal e-gear mode very slow compared to the same on a Ferrari. I only drive my G car in sport mode, and the accelerations are symply fantastic.

I'd love to hear what other owners have to say about these.

[wings700]

why can't Lambo get it right? They had plenty of time to develop the car! Seems that first year cars are always somewhat problematic. Let us know if you find the answer.

[TexasF355F1]

That sucks man. Definately not something you'd want to go wrong. Do you have any pics of your car?

[MurcieGallardoTako]

I think that's what F1 system is.... Always troublesome!! I also had many problems with my Modena with F1 system but they did very good upgrade in their software in 2002. I think Lambo does the same thing in near future. I get my eGear one next week. I will try if it does the same thing as yours!

[EM 25]

does the e-gear problem still occurs?
is this because of the first year production cars?

TIA,
EM

[mhh1]

I also own an e-gear and it seems fine on cold start. The software will temporarily disengage the drive on if you blip to higher revs when cold - which is just as well, as you would be down your driveway at high speed without this feature - but this is a necessary thing. I'm not sure if you are describing the same thing - when you say the engine "dies", do you mean it nearly stalls, or do you mean it revs high, then back to normal idle?

Whether I drive off cold or stay and warm up seems to make no difference - it works just fine. Also Reverse picks up as soon as I select the dash button whether hot or cold.

I'm happy with cold start and with e-gear generally.

BTW, this forum has a problem with a lack of owners! Is there a busier site with more owners?

On another topic, I drove the car down my favourite switchback today for the first time with no traffic - not a single car going my way for ages - being midweek helps, I guess. The car is incredible - suddenly comes alive with the most amazing chassis, gearbox and engine all coming together. I just wanted to turn around and do it again. It is autumn (Fall) in Australia and the weather is perfect for motoring. Oh happy days!

mhh

[MurcieGallardoTako]

you will freak out if you do cold start and climb slope up....... just try it.....

[dougrogers]

I don't think it's just a cold start issue, here's my story -

I took delivery of a 2004 Gallardo with e-gear last week. I live in the Hollywood Hills and was driving from the dealership (Platinum - Lamborghini Beverly Hills) to my home. As soon as I started up Mt. Olympus the car started jerking forward badly - this was in Automatic!! I then changed to 1st gear and the same jerkiness continued. This also happened going down the other side of the hill. However the real problems started when I took the Gallardo up my steep driveway - it barely made it up and by the time I reached the top the e-gear had given up completely!! This was less than an hour after picking up the car!! I have seen similar problems reported about e-gear on this forum. Is there a thread somewhere where I can read more information about this problem and what Lamborghini is doing about it? Btw, I had driven the Lambo on the flat for 10 miles before reaching the hills, so the car was definitely not "cold".

At the moment the dealer is attempting to fix the e-gear system but told me Lamborghini knows about these problems which have been reported by other drivers!

For $200K+ (fully loaded) I expect this 500hp "sports" car to be able to do what my Honda van, BMW, Lexus 430 and Lotus Espirit can do easily.

Any info, including a thread link, would be most appreciated.

Btw, I was in love with this car until this happened.

Doug Rogers

[MurcieGallardoTako]

Did you have enough gas more than half of the tank?? It seems their balancer causes some problems when you have less gas than the half.

[dougrogers]

Originally Posted by MurcieGallardoTako

Did you have enough gas more than half of the tank?? It seems their balancer causes some problems when you have less gas than the half.

Yes, it was over half-full.

- Doug

[MurcieGallardoTako]

That happened to my both Gallardos several times when I was going up slope at some parking lot. I haven't experienced that recently though. Mmmm.

[dougrogers]

Originally Posted by MurcieGallardoTako

That happened to my both Gallardos several times when I was going up slope at some parking lot. I haven't experienced that recently though. Mmmm.

It happened to your stick as well???

- Doug

[MurcieGallardoTako]

yeap.

[EM 25]

this is the same phenomena that happened during my test drive an e-gear gallardo with the salesperson beside me. I was going very slow and on an angle going up the slope; back to the dealer. It was in 1st gear, going up really slowly, like Im just barely tapping the gas pedal, then the car stalled (died) and I had to turn off and on the ignition again to get the car running and on the control monitor in the dash, has a little picture of transmision thing... (if i could remember it) and also the gas was 1/4 left...

is this what we're talking about?

[dougrogers]

Originally Posted by EM 25

this is the same phenomena that happened during my test drive an e-gear gallardo with the salesperson beside me. I was going very slow and on an angle going up the slope; back to the dealer. It was in 1st gear, going up really slowly, like Im just barely tapping the gas pedal, then the car stalled (died) and I had to turn off and on the ignition again to get the car running and on the control monitor in the dash, has a little picture of transmision thing... (if i could remember it) and also the gas was 1/4 left...

is this what we're talking about?

Yes, but it has nothing to do with the engine being cold - the vehicle had been driven from the dealer 10 miles away before we conducted these tests (which took out the e-gear system last week).

The dealer and I took it up and down my driveway three times in different configurations. It jerked up in 1st gear (stalled a couple of times), wouldn't make it up in Auto!! The most success we had was taking it up with the "slip" control on - trouble is, the engine nearly caught on fire!!

You might find it amusing that while we were doing these tests, FEDEX drove up my drive with their big truck, dropped off a package and went down again - no problem at all. In the 10 years I've owned my home, I've never seen any car have a problem getting up and down the driveway.

One of the owners suggested the high 1st gear was the problem, and the same would happen with the manual version. I think he's right - it needs a low gear for steep slopes.

Btw, don't think I'm happy about this - I have no idea what to buy now. I love the look of the Gallardo and it felt really good before we got to the hills. It just isn't built for steep hills - who would have thought it??