The infamous Fanatec shifter mis-shift
stewart rodgers
Member
Hi.
I have Fanatec DD pro, Fanatec V2 pedals and a Fanatec SQ1.5 shifter (the shifter is out of warranty) for when I want to use H pattern shifting. The shifter feels very nice but it suffers from the infamous mis-shift occasionally. Not terribly often but I no longer use it because of its occasional occurrence. It can be a real pain in the butt when it happens during an online race.
So I've been sticking with sequential paddle shifts for the time being.
Of course I've looked at the supposed "fixes" for this online and tried them. Most suggest the insulation tape mod an an internal pcb of the shifter. It doesn't work. Nope. None I've tried work.
Unless someone here can advise me on a definite fix for this... I'm after an alternative shifter.
So I'm after suggestions for an alternative, a different manufacturer, good quality, reliable H shifter I can use with my Fanatec rig on my PC. The Thrustmaster TH8 is ok but not quite up to the feel of the Fanatec. Any suggestions please?
Comments
The VNM Shifter is worth having a look at...
Which firmware you have on your base?
Driver pack 450 says "Fixed CSS miss-shifts in H-pattern mode."
I had Fanatec shifter and yes it gave lot of miss shifts.
Everytime when I opened it, put tape, cleaned or whatever it worked some time but problem started again.
I removed all grease from shifter and cleaned it with isopropanol spray.
Put silicon based grease for electrical devices instead of original.
It worked several months until I sold it, so I can´t say fix was permanental.
Now I have budget SHH shiter and zero miss shifts, it feels pretty much like Fanatec and it have also H / seq option.
Thank you Gagaryn
Just had a quick google on that one after you mentioned it. Looks interesting. Might be tempted. I'm goinf to try the firmware version Make73 mentions in the thread here first. But you've got me salivating over that VNM now :)
Thank you Make 73.
So driver pack 450 actually states that as a fix? Nice to see Fanatec are dealing with this mis-shift issue.
Just checked my firmware for the base station . It says it is fully up to date but does say it is version 439.
I'll have a google and try to find out how to get version 450.
It'd be great if it does fix it. Having said that, once I've installed V450, if the bug shows itself soon after I've updated I'll feedback here if it does. If it does indeed fix it then due to its intermittent nature it'll probably be quite a while before I can declare it bug free and feedback here. That and the fact so many cars in Iracing (which I usually stick to these days) use sequential paddle shifting anyway.
I won't be opening it up to do the de-greasing and silicon spray you tried. Too risky. I might break something :).
Just go to https://www.fanatec.com/driver and download latest official driver 451.
Thank you Maurice.
Downloaded and installed that V451. I see it is beta version. Hopefully all good. I'll have a play with it and feedback here.
Many thanks all for the replies
451 is NOT Beta. Otherwise it would not be on the official driver release website but only available (as beta) here in the forums ;)
It's the most recent OFFICIAL driver release.
https://forum.fanatec.com/categories/drivers
Thank you
https://forum.fanatec.com/discussion/15020/to-all-shifter-v1-5-owners#latest
My Topic maybe also insightful. Specially my last reply.
Thank you Rinus,
I had a read through that thread you linked to.
Interesting. I'm not sure I am willing to go to the extremes you have opted for. I may break it :).
It'll also be interesting to see if tour efforts are a long lasting fix or if it is succesful for a period of time untill it needs any of these things re-doing/re-applying after a while.
Look forward to your feedback on there in another few months time.
Much appreciated.
I haven't had a chance to test mine since the firmware upate to v4.51 but I'll post back here with outcome. (Bearing in mind it's an intermittent issue, only time can reveal all) :)
Stewart.
This topic was very helpful for me. I had Shifter and Handbrake in my cart, ready to pull the trigger, when this one was posted. I'm already using a huge amount of tape to get CSL DD to work, I won't be using it for shifters either.
Good that it's not needed with driver 450+ anymore :)
Mine was fixed completely by adding a cheap ferrite choke on each end of the RJ-11 cable connecting the shifter to the base. You can get a cheap box with a bunch of sizes of them from amazon. I've had zero issues in the 2 years since adding those.
The tape thing did not work.
Thanks Steven.
Interesting solution. Anyone else tried this with the ferrite chokes?
I can't feedback yet on the latest V4.51 driver update to mine. Haven't been sim racing in ages. I do keep an eye on this thread though and hoping it is of use to others who are looking to cure the mis-shift issue.
It'd be mighty nice if anyone from Fanatec tech could add some input here too.
Ferrite clips may not work at all, but if they work, are an easy and cheap fix. You can line up a lot of them if they don't work right away. Some cables have them as standard, but they can be added, indeed, they must be added.
Why might they not work? Because they only eliminate high-frequency noise, and your system could generate frequency noise that the ferrite cannot eliminate. If you buy clips of different sizes, you can wrap the wire into a loop inside the clip, and this halves the frequency of effectiveness of the ferrite. It could make a difference.
If that doesn't work, ground your gearbox. This will definitely work.