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      08-28-2016, 05:17 PM   #1
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Got this message during a track session "Drivetrain Malfunction. Drive moderately. Maximum drivetrain output not available".
I pulled into the pits, shut down, and restarted and the message cleared. What caused this?
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      08-28-2016, 06:31 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rich8566
Got this message during a track session "Drivetrain Malfunction. Drive moderately. Maximum drivetrain output not available".
I pulled into the pits, shut down, and restarted and the message cleared. What caused this?
Impossible to tell without reading the fault code via obd. Since it cleared itself after restart I wouldn't worry about it, if it happens again I would suggest reading the code and having it checked out.
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      09-05-2016, 03:46 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rich8566 View Post
Got this message during a track session "Drivetrain Malfunction. Drive moderately. Maximum drivetrain output not available".
I pulled into the pits, shut down, and restarted and the message cleared. What caused this?
Wow, I just noticed this thread! Same thing happend to me. Were you almost out of gas? I did a search and read it could be bad gas. I wonder since the tank was so low, that the system got some contamination from from the bottom of the tank. My instructor didn't know either. After sitting for a few minutes, my message cleared also. I didn't go back on the track after that, and got some gas. I haven't seen the message since.
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      09-05-2016, 04:50 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by qnet
Quote:
Originally Posted by rich8566 View Post
Got this message during a track session "Drivetrain Malfunction. Drive moderately. Maximum drivetrain output not available".
I pulled into the pits, shut down, and restarted and the message cleared. What caused this?
Wow, I just noticed this thread! Same thing happend to me. Were you almost out of gas? I did a search and read it could be bad gas. I wonder since the tank was so low, that the system got some contamination from from the bottom of the tank. My instructor didn't know either. After sitting for a few minutes, my message cleared also. I didn't go back on the track after that, and got some gas. I haven't seen the message since.
I was not low on gas- just hammering out of the bowl at Lightning at around 100mph.
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      09-06-2016, 05:30 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rich8566 View Post
I was not low on gas- just hammering out of the bowl at Lightning at around 100mph.
Ok, That's interesting. My instructor did say that was probably my fastest run. I was going pretty fast before the turn that it happened on.

Last edited by qnet; 09-06-2016 at 10:54 PM..
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      10-16-2016, 02:33 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rich8566
Got this message during a track session "Drivetrain Malfunction. Drive moderately. Maximum drivetrain output not available".
I pulled into the pits, shut down, and restarted and the message cleared. What caused this?
I was reading your post and I wanted to share my experience.. On three separate occasions my "drivetrain malfunction" light came on and got me really nervous because I had just installed the MP LSD, however, every single time, my vehicle was really low on gas and I was driving in spirited manner, so I know for a fact that malfunction indicator was related to a low fluid problem and not an actual defect in the drivetrain. After I restated the car and topped of the fluid, the light would never come back on. This has been over a year and my vehicle performs immaculate; so IMHO this is just your BMW's computer way of saying full some gas before pushing it or maybe it's just a brief gas starvation issue from really high performance driving.
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      10-16-2016, 11:26 AM   #7
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Got this same thing on my last session of my first track day 3 weeks ago. Really freaked me out, so I took a cool down lap and pit out. I have a jb4 so I was thinking that was probably the issue. I can't remember how much gas I had left but it was probably low since it was my last run. Also, I tried to scan for a code with a cheap little OBD2 reader but didn't find anything, not sure if I need a better/different reader. Hopefully its nothing serious.
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      10-16-2016, 07:17 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sunil_linus
Quote:
Originally Posted by rich8566
Got this message during a track session "Drivetrain Malfunction. Drive moderately. Maximum drivetrain output not available".
I pulled into the pits, shut down, and restarted and the message cleared. What caused this?
I was reading your post and I wanted to share my experience.. On three separate occasions my "drivetrain malfunction" light came on and got me really nervous because I had just installed the MP LSD, however, every single time, my vehicle was really low on gas and I was driving in spirited manner, so I know for a fact that malfunction indicator was related to a low fluid problem and not an actual defect in the drivetrain. After I restated the car and topped of the fluid, the light would never come back on. This has been over a year and my vehicle performs immaculate; so IMHO this is just your BMW's computer way of saying full some gas before pushing it or maybe it's just a brief gas starvation issue from really high performance driving.
Makes sense.
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      10-17-2016, 02:47 PM   #9
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Are you on jb4 or another tune?

I like Lightning much better than Thunderbolt.
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      10-19-2016, 09:42 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bryan_f22
Are you on jb4 or another tune?

I like Lightning much better than Thunderbolt.
Running stock except for a square tire and wheel setup with R-S3s.
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      10-23-2016, 01:48 AM   #11
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Happens to me all the time during sessions. I have to disconnect my battery and it resets. Good thing I'm trying to have someone take over my lease but...
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      10-23-2016, 02:00 PM   #12
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happened to me once when pushing it really hard on track, and another time when i was doing donuts.

Probably thought you were going to flip, safety issue.

Is this the only time it did that?
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      11-01-2016, 10:25 AM   #13
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FWIW I got this once, and it went away w/o incident. Totally unrelated to tracking or hard driving - it was just after cold start, and not long after I was off break-in, so little really hard running ever. Scared the hell out of me, but never returned. At the dealership they had warned me that sometimes things just sort of crop up as a glitch, and to trust the system to know if something was really wrong - it will disable full power and keep ringing to stop you from really messing things up.
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      11-16-2016, 05:10 AM   #14
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interesting. I got the same message a few days ago heading to work in -5C with 1/4th of a tank. I was pretty much coasting, no agressive driving at all.
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      01-09-2017, 09:55 PM   #15
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This happened to me today after filling up. I had a quarter tank so I decided to fill up. When I was on the freeway, the drivetrain malfunction came on. The car drives but with less power.
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      01-10-2017, 08:52 AM   #16
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you can get this on track with low fuel, the tank has 2 sections that are small, one can run low. Dinan has a kit for it. I have been meaning to get around to it, but not big on dropping the tank. maybe in 18!
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      01-11-2017, 12:42 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bryan_f22 View Post
happened to me once when pushing it really hard on track, and another time when i was doing donuts.

Probably thought you were going to flip, safety issue.

Is this the only time it did that?
I got it on my last track day when I was below 1/4 tank of gas coming out of a right hander. I think it's because of fuel starvation during high G cornering. I've had this issue on my last 3 cars. The Evo X was the worst. Had to keep it above 3/4 tank on left hand sweepers. One of the reasons I sold the car.

My nismo 370z had the same issue. Ended up running two fuel pumps to fix it. One on each side of the tank.

Fuel-it just released a solution with a bigger fuel filter that reaches to the corners of the fuel tank. Not for N55 Fseries yet though. No reason to drop the tank for any of the pump work. http://www.fuel-it.biz/e-series-135i...-lpfp-upgrade/
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      01-14-2017, 10:27 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony235 View Post
I got it on my last track day when I was below 1/4 tank of gas coming out of a right hander. I think it's because of fuel starvation during high G cornering. I've had this issue on my last 3 cars. The Evo X was the worst. Had to keep it above 3/4 tank on left hand sweepers. One of the reasons I sold the car.

My nismo 370z had the same issue. Ended up running two fuel pumps to fix it. One on each side of the tank.

Fuel-it just released a solution with a bigger fuel filter that reaches to the corners of the fuel tank. Not for N55 Fseries yet though. No reason to drop the tank for any of the pump work. http://www.fuel-it.biz/e-series-135i...-lpfp-upgrade/
Your right about the tank, no need to drop. We use similar fuel pickups in endurance race cars in chump, they work pretty well, an extra gallons of fuel gos a long way in 24 hour race for less pits. Starvation at 3/4 a tank, you would need to bring 30 gallons to a track day and fill up every 15 minutes!
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      01-15-2017, 02:49 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pparana View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony235 View Post
I got it on my last track day when I was below 1/4 tank of gas coming out of a right hander. I think it's because of fuel starvation during high G cornering. I've had this issue on my last 3 cars. The Evo X was the worst. Had to keep it above 3/4 tank on left hand sweepers. One of the reasons I sold the car.

My nismo 370z had the same issue. Ended up running two fuel pumps to fix it. One on each side of the tank.

Fuel-it just released a solution with a bigger fuel filter that reaches to the corners of the fuel tank. Not for N55 Fseries yet though. No reason to drop the tank for any of the pump work. http://www.fuel-it.biz/e-series-135i...-lpfp-upgrade/
Your right about the tank, no need to drop. We use similar fuel pickups in endurance race cars in chump, they work pretty well, an extra gallons of fuel gos a long way in 24 hour race for less pits. Starvation at 3/4 a tank, you would need to bring 30 gallons to a track day and fill up every 15 minutes!
Yup, basically had to fill up after each half session on CCW road courses. Everyone thought it was a tuning issue at first.

You can see it here starting at lap four coming onto the front straight.

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      01-15-2017, 09:18 PM   #20
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That is unpleasant, 2 laps in traffic and two laps later fuel starve. Car works the infield 90 turns well, looks like a fun car otherwise, actually looks more fun than the 2r for short course.

Rovels crack me up, the road course is always such an afterthought. Everyone here gets soo excited over Daytona, it is the most boring thing to drive or race, I know more than one driver who have crashed out at Daytona on the banks at night in endurance racing because they were starting to fall asleep.
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      01-20-2017, 01:47 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by Pparana View Post
That is unpleasant, 2 laps in traffic and two laps later fuel starve. Car works the infield 90 turns well, looks like a fun car otherwise, actually looks more fun than the 2r for short course.

Rovels crack me up, the road course is always such an afterthought. Everyone here gets soo excited over Daytona, it is the most boring thing to drive or race, I know more than one driver who have crashed out at Daytona on the banks at night in endurance racing because they were starting to fall asleep.
It's actually one of my favorite tracks, but only because it's close and very well maintained. Unlike all the other tracks in SoCal.

Streets of Willow is very technical and used to be my "home" track. But it beats up on wheels and cars too much.
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      02-02-2017, 01:40 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by qnet View Post
Ok, That's interesting. My instructor did say that was probably my fastest run. I was going pretty fast before the turn that it happened on.
I got same problem

Very low gas
JB4 Map4(Log Only)
Heavy drift

Then i got drive train malfunction

Restart then all good, scan obd after restart no thing happen
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