Shifter SQ 1.5 problem

R.R. Rijk

Hi all, Sorry to say this but after sending my McLaren wheel back because of shifting problems with the flippers, it is now my new Shifter which has shifting problems. I calibrated it several times but nothing solve the problem. When I shift to the 4th gear ( from 3rd to 4th or from 5th back to 4th) it often sees the 4th as a 2nd gear. Result, blowing the engine. The shifter is really great and the sequential shifter works great an flawless but only the 4th gear is often seen as 2nd gear. I hope there is a solution for this. I don want to send back my shifter at the same rate as the McLaren wheel Regards, Bull Shark..

R.R. Rijk

Nobody an idea?

Joseph Gossen

Have you updated your firmware recently ? I would say it needs gear calibration.

R.R. Rijk

As you can read in my first post I did all of that already. Shifter goes back. Thanks for the reply...

Joseph Gossen

Did you check it in the driver window to see if it registers each gear correctly?

R.R. Rijk

It does not register them correctly. I made a video for support which shows the incorrect behaviour of the shifter in the driver panel. It is mostly the 4th gear which sees it incorrectly. Often it sees the 4th as the 2nd gear. And 5th as the reverse. But the Shifter is send back I got a RMA from Fanatec support.

Jeffrey Steindorf

I have had the same problem with my shifter.  I have not found a solution and I am current with my updates.  On some forums, members have had success with opening up the shifter and blowing off the hall sensor with compressed air then tightening slightly the board that the hall sensor sits on.  I have not tried this so I can't endorse the method.  I have also read that just merely tightening the shifter tension helps resolve the problem.  I will try this.

Jeffrey Steindorf

Here's another Fanatec ClubSport Shifter SQ 1.5 owner with a self help solution in this forum.  I hope Fanatec is listening.  My Shifter is out of warranty but I would like a solution myself.  The product looks and feels great.  It's just not reliable enough to use in serious sim racing.  Let's get an answer.  Here's the other member's quote.

Jeffrey Steindorf

Here's an electrical tape fix.....I may try this one.

R.R. Rijk

I have received a new one. I won't open a new piece of hardware when still in warranty

Jeffrey Steindorf

R.R........I understand your concern.  I would want Fanatec take care of the issue for me as well if I was still under warranty.  I just want to report that I watched the video again that I posted earlier today from youtube.  I decided to try the fix with the electrical tape.  After completing the fix, I calibrated, and ran the Lotus 49 in iRacing.  The shifter seems to be working fine now.  Basically one of the  boards that covers the hall effects sensor has electrical tape on the back from the factory and the other board doesn't.  So I taped the other board and it seems to be working now.  I'll update in a few weeks.

Aidan Richardson

I've just done this fix, my shifter being out of warranty (and already been back to Fanatec once for this issue).

The fix works a treat. When I inspected the back of the board, it's obvious that the bar inset into the shaft (shown in the splash for the above video) is physically rubbing against the back of the PCB each time you shift, and it reaches the point where it rubs through the insulation baked into the board during manufacturing and causes a short. So the tape fixes it, but I'd be surprised if this isn't a once-a-year fix.

Only took 15 minutes though, being careful and methodical, and making sure not to get the axle grease from the insides on my clothes/bench/furniture/cat. Also on mine (maybe because it has already been repaired once) the 2-wire cable from the base to the mainboard wasn't glued into the connector, and life is far easier if you're able to gently disconnect that cable when you start. IMO the risk of snapping the cable or worse is very high if you don't.

I think the reason why Fanatec won't or can't admit there's an issue - which there clearly is - is that EU consumer laws are super-tight in favour of the consumer, who has rights for years on end beyond the standard 1 year warranty. To admit a problem would likely be to wipe out every cent Fanatec had ever made on this product. There'll be a lawyer and an accountant telling the top guy not to do it.

It's a real shame too, because otherwise, the SQ shifter is a beautifully engineered piece of kit that should last many years.

Michael Lark

I have just come upon this problem myself. The first time I tried to downshift into 3rd and the car got thrown into reverse, I assumed it must have been user error. But then it happened again, and then all of the gears started missing and I was stuck with either reverse or 2nd. Not fun!

I've seen a couple of different "fixes" on YouTube, including the tape fix, but none of them seem to be actual solutions - more of a "Well, I guess I'll try this" and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. No one seems to know what the real problem is, or has any idea how to fix it.

So, I'm not going to attempt to take this apart and fix it myself. For $250 I expect Fanatec to provide a shifter that works for more than 6 months (Heck, it should work for 6 years for that price), and they should fix it for me if it stops working. I have to admit, I am REALLY disappointed that this thing is such poor quality that something like this would happen.

I will try to remember to post a follow-up here once I hear back from them, but they said it could take a week. In the meantime, I guess I am back to using paddles, unless someone in the last couple of months has found the actual cause of the problem and how to fix it.