Parking brake service message & wont start - how many others with this issue

[PJS]

What I was told today is that they looked at 2 cars & 1 was fixed (yours) & the other still has issues. Also the fix was to revert to previous software rather than a true fix. so, if this is true then it sounds like they don’t have a proper solution. I am expecting a call tomorrow from a Lotus tech so hopefully I will get more insight then.

Hmm , my sos message hasn’t been back and the wipers are fast so who knows . Just glad it’s back to normal .

 

[Andrew P]

I got the software update reversed and this has fully resolved my starting issues. Lotus is aware that the most recent update has caused issues with quite a few cars but they don’t know what the issue is. So they are working on a fix but I certainly won’t be 1st in line to try it once it’s available

 

[Usually serious]

I assumed he meant Evora's

Yes I (she) did mean 2 previous Evoras! Sorry!

 

[Magicman]

Last update cured the parking break service I've had since new in March but has left me with SOS fault constantly, regularly failing to start without waiting 5min and now a constant yellow engine warning light. Thier incompetence is now more impressive than the car

I belive lotus have instructed dealers to no longer do the updat. I was supposed to he getting a call to update me on the situation Monday bit that didn't happen. 7mths in and when it goes back next time it will be for the 11th time. At what point, new car or not, does this become unacceptable?

 

[Cutting42]

Yes I (she) did mean 2 previous Evoras! Sorry!

Oops, sorry on misgendering you as well

 

[Porter]

Last update cured the parking break service I've had since new in March but has left me with SOS fault constantly, regularly failing to start without waiting 5min and now a constant yellow engine warning light. Thier incompetence is now more impressive than the car

I belive lotus have instructed dealers to no longer do the updat. I was supposed to he getting a call to update me on the situation Monday bit that didn't happen. 7mths in and when it goes back next time it will be for the 11th time. At what point, new car or not, does this become unacceptable?

Man, I'm glad they got this one figured out just in time to load bad software on the US builds.

 

[eriegz]

Man, I'm glad they got this one figured out just in time to load bad software on the US builds.

Don't worry, there'll still be a minimum of 3–4 months of the cars being "en route" during which time they can figure out a solution and apply a patch at the dealership pre-delivery? I hope?

 

[Porter]

Don't worry, there'll still be a minimum of 3–4 months of the cars being "en route" during which time they can figure out a solution and apply a patch at the dealership pre-delivery? I hope?

Do you think Lotus would be that proactive? I'm having trouble imagining it.

 

[eriegz]

Do you think Lotus would be that proactive? I'm having trouble imagining it.

I look at it more like: "HEY LOTUS, IF YOU'RE READING THIS RIGHT NOW, HINT HINT"

 

[freefall_junkie]

Last update cured the parking break service I've had since new in March but has left me with SOS fault constantly, regularly failing to start without waiting 5min and now a constant yellow engine warning light. Thier incompetence is now more impressive than the car

I belive lotus have instructed dealers to no longer do the updat. I was supposed to he getting a call to update me on the situation Monday bit that didn't happen. 7mths in and when it goes back next time it will be for the 11th time. At what point, new car or not, does this become unacceptable?

My car had the latest software updates when it was in for the recall work last week, my first dealer visit since I got the car in Feb. I was pretty wary about having this done, but the service manager assured me he had applied the updates to several cars without any issues. So far, touch wood, my car has been fine since the updates. This suggests there is more to it than just a bug in the latest update. I suspect it could be something to do with the order in which updates have been applied, or perhaps how many software version increments are being covered in one update. I'm a software engineer myself, and I have experienced all kinds of unexpected niggles with updating or patching code. Whatever the reason, it must be very frustrating, and it it is pretty inexcusable for Lotus to be introducing new faults like this.

 

[Andrew P]

My car had the latest software updates when it was in for the recall work last week, my first dealer visit since I got the car in Feb. I was pretty wary about having this done, but the service manager assured me he had applied the updates to several cars without any issues. So far, touch wood, my car has been fine since the updates. This suggests there is more to it than just a bug in the latest update. I suspect it could be something to do with the order in which updates have been applied, or perhaps how many software version increments are being covered in one update. I'm a software engineer myself, and I have experienced all kinds of unexpected niggles with updating or patching code. Whatever the reason, it must be very frustrating, and it it is pretty inexcusable for Lotus to be introducing new faults like this.

I’m interested to get your views on this in more detail.
I believe there were only 2 updates - 1 being a slow updates to sat nav maps etc and the other being a much smaller file to cover various driving related aspects So it wouldn’t seem that multiple updates / order of them is a factor.
On my car (Dec 22 delivery) no issues until this update was applied then got Parking brake / non starting issue. (Battery disconnect then means car will start).
They then rolled it back to the previous version and it is working fine again.

Lotus have acknowledged that the update has caused many people issues and many weeks later haven’t been able to understand/ solve it.
More broadly, people have experienced a wide range of issues, often quite different but ultimately all related to ECU / software. Car basically flagging non-existent faults or modules not waking up so car not starting, limp mode…
What is your view on the wider underlying cause as I wouldn‘t expect such inconsistencies

 

[freefall_junkie]

I’m interested to get your views on this in more detail.
I believe there were only 2 updates - 1 being a slow updates to sat nav maps etc and the other being a much smaller file to cover various driving related aspects So it wouldn’t seem that multiple updates / order of them is a factor.
On my car (Dec 22 delivery) no issues until this update was applied then got Parking brake / non starting issue. (Battery disconnect then means car will start).
They then rolled it back to the previous version and it is working fine again.

Lotus have acknowledged that the update has caused many people issues and many weeks later haven’t been able to understand/ solve it.
More broadly, people have experienced a wide range of issues, often quite different but ultimately all related to ECU / software. Car basically flagging non-existent faults or modules not waking up so car not starting, limp mode…
What is your view on the wider underlying cause as I wouldn‘t expect such inconsistencies

Yes, I was told there were only two updates, but each update will probably be a package containing multiple software changes for assorted different issues, and I believe there have been several releases of such updates over the last year. The inconsistencies between cars with the same updates are very difficult to explain though. Strictly speaking some of this stuff will be firmware rather than software - definitely not my area of expertise, so I'd be guessing about the underlying causes. Sometimes faults can crop up because the user has done something quite innocent that the developer hadn't anticipated, but which has a knock-on effect on part of the system apparently unrelated to the update. So, the inconsistency of the faults could conceivably be down to the different ways people interact with their cars.

Did you get the faults immediately after the update or did they take a while to appear? I am wondering if I have just been lucky so far as I haven't done a lot of miles since my car was done.

 

[Andrew P]

Yes, I was told there were only two updates, but each update will probably be a package containing multiple software changes for assorted different issues, and I believe there have been several releases of such updates over the last year. The inconsistencies between cars with the same updates are very difficult to explain though. Strictly speaking some of this stuff will be firmware rather than software - definitely not my area of expertise, so I'd be guessing about the underlying causes. Sometimes faults can crop up because the user has done something quite innocent that the developer hadn't anticipated, but which has a knock-on effect on part of the system apparently unrelated to the update. So, the inconsistency of the faults could conceivably be down to the different ways people interact with their cars.

Did you get the faults immediately after the update or did they take a while to appear? I am wondering if I have just been lucky so far as I haven't done a lot of miles since my car was done.

Fault was immediate. At the dealer it wouldn’t start 1st time & needed to be left a couple of minutes before then starting. Kept recurring thereafter un I got them to agree to roll it back. Since reverting to previous software has again worked 100% perfectly. So has to be some issue directly related to the update.

 

[freefall_junkie]

Fault was immediate. At the dealer it wouldn’t start 1st time & needed to be left a couple of minutes before then starting. Kept recurring thereafter un I got them to agree to roll it back. Since reverting to previous software has again worked 100% perfectly. So has to be some issue directly related to the update.

If it was immediate then it is even more baffling why not all cars are affected. Good that the roll back worked ok.

 

[Kimmax]

If it was immediate then it is even more baffling why not all cars are affected. Good that the roll back worked ok.

It's a complex system, any combination of facts might or might not trigger it. For me, it happened 3-4 times since the update and I had many starts. Couldn't figure out what triggers it yet.

 

[Jack Stone]

It's a complex system, any combination of facts might or might not trigger it. For me, it happened 3-4 times since the update and I had many starts. Couldn't figure out what triggers it yet.

My update was almost 2 months ago and I've so far had two start faults after many starts (but I still don't go anywhere without a 10mm spanner in the car!)

 

[Kimmax]

My update was almost 2 months ago and I've so far had two start faults after many starts (but I still don't go anywhere without a 10mm spanner in the car!)

Never leaving without a OBDII scanner and basic tools A Lotus never runs without fault, Emira or not haha

 

[Magicman]

Never leaving without a OBDII scanner and basic tools A Lotus never runs without fault, Emira or not haha

Which ain't gonna fly with the Porsche customers Lotus wants, me being one of them. Its an £80k (now £90k) car, absolutely not acceptable

 

[Scrutineer]

My non starting has only just begun to happen in the last two days. Same symptom, clutch down, press start, click, no starter motor.

The only thing that has changed is I did the press start for 5 seconds to bring up the ignition as I read on here that it runs the fuel pump and potentially avoids the cold start stall thing (which I have had only twice in 1200 miles)

Ever since starting the car differently (5 sec button press) I’ve had the failure to start without multiple lock, wait, unlock try again sequences.

 

[Andrew P]

My non starting has only just begun to happen in the last two days. Same symptom, clutch down, press start, click, no starter motor.

The only thing that has changed is I did the press start for 5 seconds to bring up the ignition as I read on here that it runs the fuel pump and potentially avoids the cold start stall thing (which I have had only twice in 1200 miles)

Ever since starting the car differently (5 sec button press) I’ve had the failure to start without multiple lock, wait, unlock try again sequences.

What message are you getting on the display when it won’t start