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2015 A8 Paddle Shifters

28K views 122 replies 26 participants last post by  sctm81 
#1 ·
Has anyone had trouble with the paddles on the wheel? Sometimes when tap the right one to up-shift it down-shifts. This is an issue because it sometimes will put the engine RPM almost to red line when I wanted it to go the other way. I haven't seen any issue with the down-shift paddle. I wonder if there is something wrong with the clock spring that is causing it to trigger the down-shift.

Has anyone else noticed this behavior?
 
#5 ·
Yes I'm having the same problem. I have not been able to determine how to make it occur repeatedly. I thought I had isolated the issue but it doesn't always misbehave. Once it repeatedly downshifted from 4th to 3rd when I hit the upshift paddle, under light to moderate acceleration. I also noticed inbetween malfunctions the gear indicator on the dash would go from 4 to 3 for a split second then up to 5. The sensation was a normal 4 to 5 shift. But then yesterday it malfunctioned between 3 to 4.

The only pattern I've been able to establish is it happening under light to moderate acceleration.

It can happen within 5 minutes of cold start or after hours of driving.

Always happens when center console shifter is in Manual mode.

I don't recall if I was in Sport mode or not. (When I don't want to shift I like to keep it in Sport mode so I don't have to listen to that awful MDS exhaust note, plus I like the delayed shift behavior so I can hear that glorious engine note).

Took it back to the dealer and they said there were no error codes but they didn't have too much time to spend on it (was late Friday afternoon). Asked me to bring it back when I could leave it. I don't want to do that until I can determine a pattern. Otherwise its difficult for them to troubleshoot.

Please share any notes and experiences in trying to troubleshoot. I will do the same.

Thanks!
 
#9 ·
My odd behavior is that it sometimes hangs at high RPM in a low gear if the cruise is active. Disable the cruise control and it operates normally.

Here's a video I shot earlier today:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/13932220/Challenger_A8_upshift_error.mp4

I had the center console shifter in Manual and was shifting using the paddle shifters.
Cruise control was not active nor in standby.
How long are you holding the paddle? Are you tapping it and releasing it quickly? I know there's a feature where if you hold the paddle for a second, it tries to downshift to the lowest gear acceptable for the current speed. Maybe you're holding it too long... or the paddle is "sticking" and not releasing fast enough?

Mike
 
#10 · (Edited)
Tapping quickly but firmly.

I thought the holding down for a speed appropriate downshift only applied to the downshift paddle. Why would it trigger from holding down the upshift? If anything, holding the up shift should dump it into the highest speed appropriate gear.

I also noticed it only occurs between 2400-2800 rpm (before shifting).

Greg
 
#12 ·
You'd think. But who knows. I don't see much utility in quickly finding the highest gear possible (without going through the others) so I figured they might have programmed it so either paddle does the downshift. It'd actually be handy: hold the upshift and it finds the lowest gear and then your finger is already on that paddle to upshift quickly at redline. I just tested it on a short drive though: holding the upshift does nothing. I also tried (for about 15 miles) to reproduce an errant upshift and couldn't. I tried all manner of throttles and RPM and it always upshifted one gear each time. Only time it doesn't is if you are too slow to be in the next gear and then it says "shift not allowed".

I can't make it happen here. Maybe there's a common issue like a solenoid/valve-body problem that is afflicting some cars?

Mike
 
#13 ·
I have a 2015 with the STP and paddle shifter. I love sport mode but the paddle shifters are useless except to show off. Its too many gears for shifting manual. I mean I had a charger with 6 gears and the paddles and it worked but with 8 it just throws me off. Of course I am not as well coordinated as most I suppose. I can not stop hitting the phone key with my left hand every time I touch the steering wheel to turn..Good news I figured out hit it a second time and it cancels.. ( faster then hitting the cancel or end button). Could you perhaps because you have I assume your other hand on the other paddle be making it jar or pressing it at the same time without realizing it thus why it doesn't do it everytime? Just a thought from a total klutzzz.
 
#14 ·
Yes I can be a complete klutz as well but it's not caused by my left hand. That video I shot holding my iPhone with my left hand (empty country back road). I also started placing my left hand out of reach of the left paddle when not shifting.

Now that I have video proof I'll go back to the dealer service department and give them some time to poke around.

Stay tuned...
 
#16 ·
Mine has done this too a few times, thankfully it was only when I wasn't driving the car too hard...but yeah an unexpected jump to 5k rpms gets the heart ticking all the sudden!
 
#17 ·
Gregaber thanks for the update and the video. I haven't had much more time behind the wheel due to all the snow we have been having. It is going to be really nice out this week so I might be able to try and reproduce it with the conditions you mentioned.
 
#18 ·
Mike,

No I have not tried using the center console shifter to see if it does the same thing. That would either isolate it to the paddle shifters (if it doesn't repeat with center console shifter) or software (if it does repeat).

After reading through the owner's manual, it says holding down the downshift paddle will drop into the lowest possible gear without over revving the engine (car computer figures that out). I wonder if I'm holding down the upshift paddle longer than I think I am and it's a software bug? If I hold down the left paddle it does work as stated.

If you watch that video closely you'll see the gear numbers change quickly from 3 to 4 to 3 to 2 in rapid succession.

BTW, are you getting audio when you watch the video?

Greg
 
#19 ·
That prompted me to check the video again. If you go frame by frame, you'll see that it actually shifts down first. The sequence that shows frame by frame is:

3,2,3,4,3,2

So it looks almost as if the downshift paddle is triggered first. After that, I don't know. This still "feels" like an electrical fault. It's almost as if the downshift paddle gets errantly triggered, stays pressed, and that's what causes the quick 4,3,2 downshift at the end. There's no chance a finger or anything hit the left paddle is there?

P.S. Yes, your video has sound for me.

Mike
 
#21 ·
Then I think there's a high chance that there's a crossed electrical signal somewhere. Since the transmission is electronically controlled, I doubt it's a transmission problem. Somehow, somewhere, through an electrical fault or a bug, it looks like it intermittently thinks the downshift paddle is being pressed (and potentially held down) when you press the upshift paddle.

Edit: I'd definitely suggest trying to upshift with the shift lever to see if you have the same problem.

Mike
 
#23 ·
So I had it happen to me twice on my way home from work today. I was in sport mode with the shifter in manual mode. It was under light to light-moderate throttle (It may of happened with no throttle [wasn't paying 100% attention]). I believe it was 4th to 3rd when I wanted 4th to 5th.

I haven't experienced it yet using the stick, only the paddles.
 
#26 · (Edited)
So my car behaved perfectly today during 120 miles of mixed driving conditions until I got to the stop sign 100 yards from the house. Then it finally did an unplanned downshift (a new one; instead of going from 2 to 3 it went to 1). I continued driving and alternated between using the paddles and the shifter. The paddles caused it to malfunction 3 out of 6 shifts but the center console shifter never malfunctioned. I'm convinced it's the paddle shifters that are the problem. I was unable to shoot video because I was in our neighborhood with kids, etc.

I'll be scheduling a visit to my Dodge service tomorrow.....
 
#27 · (Edited)
Certainly sounds like the wires are crossed (figuratively speaking) on that right paddle. Hopefully it's easily reproducible for the dealer. There may be some rotating contacts in the steering column that are off a bit. Pay attention to whether or not it only does it after you make a hard right, hard left, or turn the steering wheel in a particular way: that might be why it didn't act up until you got close to home. Might have been the turns into your neighborhood if you had been driving mostly highway or something before that.

Mike
 
#28 ·
Any updates?
 
#30 ·
It's crap like this that makes me leery of buying the A8. I made a trip to dealer Friday afternoon to look at a Redline red HC they got in on Thursday afternoon. Since I was one of the unfortunate ones to experience the timing chain failure on my 2010 I am somewhat cautious about being an owner of Hellcat with so much power and being the first generation on the street with SO MANY new features (A8 being just one).
 
#31 ·
This is the only thread where I've seen any hint of a real problem/bug on the A8. There are a few others but mostly they are about getting used to the way it shifts. There are actually more threads on problems with the M6, clutch, etc. in comparison. I wouldn't worry about the A8 as it's the biggest upgrade for the 2015 if you're going automatic.

Mike
 
#33 · (Edited)
I've been using the center console shifter for several days now and no hiccups. I switched over to the paddle shifters and started having intermittent issues again.

Here's another video with three shifts; the first two are using the paddle shifter and the third shift is with the center console shifter (no issue).

First shift: from 4-3-4-5 (paddle)
Second shift: from 4-3-5 (paddle)
Third shift: from 4-5 (center console)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/13932220/Challenger_A8_upshift_error2.mov
 
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