Unable to select a drive 'gear'

[meveringham]

Got into the car this morning, quite nippy at about -2C, and for 10 minutes could not for the life of me select a 'gear' - drive, reverse, etc. Drive select button rim would not illuminate, LCD was showing 'ready', everything else as normal.

Spent that 10 minutes turning power totally off via the LCD, nothing, turning off all heating, etc, nothing, unlocking and locking car, nothing. Eventually (but I don't know for sure this is what worked or it just decided to work at the same time), we all got out of the car, I locked it again, waiting 10 seconds then unlocked it, got back in, turned off the heater that came on, and then eventually the drive select button illuminated and we were good to go.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is it a known fault, a known 'feature' or am I doing something wrong? Had the car 1.5 years now and this has never happened before.

 

[fnegroni]

Might be a sign the 12v battery is dying. The cold weather might have exacerbated its symptoms What’s the 12v battery voltage show when you check it remotely via the app?

 

[Ekips]

Did you have your seatbelt fastened? It won't switch from park without the drivers seatbelt.

 

[meveringham]

Might be a sign the 12v battery is dying. The cold weather might have exacerbated its symptoms What’s the 12v battery voltage show when you check it remotely via the app?

showing 12.1V

Did you have your seatbelt fastened? It won't switch from park without the drivers seatbelt.

Didn't get that far. My point was, the drive selector wasn't even illuminated so wasn't even in Park, or showing it was in park. It just wasn't functioning at all. I've been driving it for 18 months, I know how it works.

 

[emmrecs]

I have the pre-facelift MG5 rather than a 4 but I'm pretty certain my 12v battery level has never displayed lower than about 12.5v

 

[meveringham]

I have the pre-facelift MG5 rather than a 4 but I'm pretty certain my 12v battery level has never displayed lower than about 12.5v

hmmm, thank you, I'm booking it into a diagnostics check anyway

 

[YaR]

This happened to me the other day. I got out and got back in and it worked. I think maybe the sensor in the seat hadn't triggered so the car thought there was no driver in it.

 

[Tigger]

Did you have your seatbelt fastened? It won't switch from park without the drivers seatbelt.

My Trophy does the switch happily, and drives, without the seatbelt fastened. However, foot has to be on brake to select Drive or Reverse. (However, this is not the OP's problem.)

 

[fnegroni]

showing 12.1V

12.1v?

Your 12v battery is dying.

You might just about recover it in one of two ways:
A 1amp trickle charger - which you will need to leave plugged in for well over 24 hrs to ensure a full 100% sustained charge.

Leave the car switched on for several hours - will do the same thing as the trickle charger. Bit of a safety issue as you will need to leave the car unlocked.

Failing the above, I suggest replacing the battery, but beware: if you replace the battery with a brand new one, you must trickle charge it first to ensure it’s absolutely 100% full before fitting it otherwise the new battery will likely die soon too as your usage pattern may indicate you don’t give the 12v battery enough time to fully charge with each use, but it might be that you had a daft battery from day 1.

 

[Matt x power]

If you remote heat the hv battery it will charge the 12V battery too

 

[PeteC]

12.1v?

Your 12v battery is dying.

You might just about recover it in one of two ways:
A 1amp trickle charger - which you will need to leave plugged in for well over 24 hrs to ensure a full 100% sustained charge.

Leave the car switched on for several hours - will do the same thing as the trickle charger. Bit of a safety issue as you will need to leave the car unlocked.

Failing the above, I suggest replacing the battery, but beware: if you replace the battery with a brand new one, you must trickle charge it first to ensure it’s absolutely 100% full before fitting it otherwise the new battery will likely die soon too as your usage pattern may indicate you don’t give the 12v battery enough time to fully charge with each use, but it might be that you had a daft battery from day 1.

Mine has frequently shown as low as 12.1V since I got the car in October 2022. It picks up to around 14V when I'm charging. I don't often look at the battery voltage when driving, perhaps I should.

 

[Tig170]

had it once in 17 months - in traffic - resolved by opening the driver door, lifting bum, and then re-booting / starting.. about 30 secs, but felt like a life time.


..... hitting the brake pedal also does some sort of wake-up / reboot (as when you have instigated remote auto heating via the app)

 

[DBedford]

12.1v?

Your 12v battery is dying.

It’s not dying, just low on charge, typical Winter terminal voltage.
Agree with the rest of your post, charge it!

 

[fnegroni]

It’s not dying, just low on charge, typical Winter terminal voltage.
Agree with the rest of your post, charge it!

I hear you. Maybe it’s not dying. But it’s pretty low even with these temps. The car is supposed to keep the 12V charged regularly. Unless the HV battery is low.
Maybe this is a wiring glitch of some kind. Maybe worth checking the positive terminal maybe it’s a bit loose?

 

[dsimpkins]

I remember people on here mentioning that some cars had loose battery terminals post import into UK as batteries disconnected for shipping from China. It's meant to be checked by the dealer, but clearly was missed by some.

 

[kiwi]

Foot of the brake for a couple of seconds and then back on fixes that when it happens to me.

 

[wattmatters]

Did you have your seatbelt fastened? It won't switch from park without the drivers seatbelt.

I can drive without putting a seatbelt on.

 

[fnegroni]

Foot of the brake for a couple of seconds and then back on fixes that when it happens to me.

So the exact same problem happens to you? The gear selector is not even illuminated?

 

[tsedge]

Mine has frequently shown as low as 12.1V since I got the car in October 2022. It picks up to around 14V when I'm charging. I don't often look at the battery voltage when driving, perhaps I should.

Mine too - it has consistently gone down to 12.1V since I bought it nearly a year ago and we've had no problems. This is at the low end, but doesn't mean in itself that your battery is failing.

 

[Burgo]

12v lead acid state of charge / voltage guide: