Fanatec McLaren GT3 rim problems...

[anton_Chez]

Hey guys,

Anyone having problems with their newly released McLaren GT3 rim? I am having the clutch paddles drop out on me after a random amount of time. Upon plugging the rim into the base (I use an OSW with the Fanatec wheel base side conversion kit with the newly flashed firmware to operate the GT3 rim) everything is recognized, map-able and works fine. After a while driving, the clutch paddles just drop out and become unusable. I've had the gear paddles drop out once or twice but it's the clutch paddles that do it pretty much every session. Sometimes after 20 minutes, sometimes after a couple of minutes. I've contacted both Fanatec and Simracingmachines.com where I got the conversion kit from in a hope to get to the bottom of it. Just wondering if anyone else is having drama with it.

When you first plug it in, everything is recognized so their shouldn't be a problem with compatibility. Just a reliability thing now.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Major surgery! This is a price point wheel, but I think I'll try mine out for a little while and see how it works stock.

 

[F1Aussie]

youre just missing a wind sim now bud, i can highly recomend mike at simgadgets.com for an affordable option

I can highly recommend my son, he is a wind machine.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I can highly recommend my son, he is a wind machine.

 

[F1Aussie]

Oldie but a goodie!

 

[Ahlmael]

Hello, bought the CSL elite GT3 mclaren Rim. Got it on my rig thuesday, it never work good. Miss shift, double shift, Pit button not working, A (xbox) not working. But more fun, If I change the mod with the 4 position switch, Pit button work, A (xbox) work, BUT the Dpad don't work, as the Y button. And the affected button varies from the position of the 4 position switch, and, the combinaison change over time.

I'm on the 30 fw for the weel (330 beta driver from fanatec forum, was on 328 on thuesday), waiting for the tech to help me, but look like a hardware failure to me, too bad it's on unboxing day.

 

[Chrhun]

I've done some more driving with the McLaren GT3 wheel, and It feels fine - maybe I've gotten used to it. It's a great wheel though, I seem to be a bit more accurate due to the exact grip it has.

 

[Fil140]

@anton_Chez thanks man, its a nice fit, ouyya everyones way.
@RasmusP its really quite simple and it is 100% plug n play.
i posted the how to earlier in this very thread.
@RCHeliguy your lil copters need mental help man!

https://www.simracingmachines.com/w...aded/Fanatec McLaren Shifter Instructions.pdf

 

[Chrhun]

I was too happy and now the reality has hit home. I'm getting double shifts and misshifts. Lets see how the things move on from here.

 

[Jonathan Young]

Don’t think I’ve had any double shifts but I think I’m having missed shifts - although it could be that I’m trying to downshift too quickly in ACC. Not sure. Should try another sim really, but I’m pretty dedicated to ACC these days. If the shifters have gone, I might get it modded with magnetic shifters as I love the wheel otherwise.

 

[EsxPaul]

Don’t think I’ve had any double shifts but I think I’m having missed shifts - although it could be that I’m trying to downshift too quickly in ACC. Not sure. Should try another sim really, but I’m pretty dedicated to ACC these days. If the shifters have gone, I might get it modded with magnetic shifters as I love the wheel otherwise.

You'll probably find that they haven't "gone" as in permanently damaged. Most likely thing you'll find is that the metallic shifter domes have moved off of centre.

I found this to be the case purely by chance when I opened mine up to do a usb conversion.

If you look at this picture I took, you can see that the dome has started to rotate anticlockwise and isn't held in a perfectly centred spot. They are only held down by very thin sticky tape which can get warm and start to lift away.

What I did was to peel that tape back slightly, recentre the dome and stick the tape back down again.

A more permanent fix is to remove the tape altogether, lightly scuff the circuit board trace that the dome sits on and then solder the dome back down on a couple of the corners.

Obviously, don't do any of the above if you are still in the warranty period and would prefer to do an RMA!

 

[Chrhun]

I think they are quite busy with DD launch at Fanatec, I've not heard anything from them. I feel a bit stupid for having gone for the McLaren wheel despite knowing of all the issues. I just like the wheel size so much more than the Formula wheels, very unfortunate that there is no CSW -level modern GT wheel.

 

[EsxPaul]

I think they are quite busy with DD launch at Fanatec, I've not heard anything from them. I feel a bit stupid for having gone for the McLaren wheel despite knowing of all the issues. I just like the wheel size so much more than the Formula wheels, very unfortunate that there is no CSW -level modern GT wheel.

I'm sure they will get it sorted for you. The only problem is that it will most likely happen again and again over time as the material they use to keep the domes in place isn't up to the job.

I'm expecting to have to do this little fix periodically, solder the domes permanently or go for the SRM shifter upgrade. I'm not worried about cutting and drilling the rim as I have no warranty anyway. If I did have the warranty like yourself, I might think differently

 

[Jonathan Young]

I'm still not sure if I have a problem or not. If I try to do very rapid downshifts in ACC then there appears to be a mis-shift. But maybe that's sim, i.e. downshift protection or whatever it's called, that's meant to protect the gearbox?

Not sure.. will live with it for now and see what happens. Magnetic shifter upgrade is a possibility because whatever the truth of the matter is, the shifters are the weakpoint of an otherwise brilliant wheel.

 

[Chrhun]

I got a reply from Fanatec, they will either refund or repair the wheel. I decided to go with the repair, I think they know what the issue is and as it's still under warranty for a long period I will try this out.

 

[OZ67]

Having this shifting issue now.

 

[OZ67]

What’s the point.

 

[hugo lima]

Had the same problem, after opening the wheel , anything was wrong, so i saw i don’t no where, that removing the shifter levers might solve, and it really did, it is perferct now. No misshift or double shifts. Just remove the metal pin with a pliers. Its just held by pressure, then just move the buttons a litthe bit and mount it again. You don’t have to open the wheel.

 

[EsxPaul]

Had the same problem, after opening the wheel , anything was wrong, so i saw i don’t no where, that removing the shifter levers might solve, and it really did, it is perferct now. No misshift or double shifts. Just remove the metal pin with a pliers. Its just held by pressure, then just move the buttons a litthe bit and mount it again. You don’t have to open the wheel.

Hugo, you can remove the shifter paddles as you have described but each time you do it that way you will slightly wear away the plastic securing clamp that holds that pin in place.

You'll probably be ok if it's only done a few times but eventually the pin will become loose and you may end up having to open the wheel up in order to fix a worn clamp.

 

[Gilberto Filho]

Hi Fil40, the shifting issue is more complex than what you are describing here. The assessment that it is caused by snap dome movement on the tape is certainly not the whole story. Following a thorough investigation, we know there are actually three separate factors involved, and therefore this fix of soldering the snap domes is not going to solve all cases of miss-shifting. As such, we recommend that anyone with shifting issues contacts our support team to initiate a full repair.

I have the same problem anda tried every possible solution around software anda hardware. I'm based on Brazil and ordered trough a traveller who buyed it from Fanatec US. Is there any possibility Fanatec will refund the posting services?

 

[RCHeliguy]

So how many of you finally broke down and installed magnetic shifters completely replacing the problem area?