[Texzen]

I took delivery of the car last night. Bought it used from a dealer, 2012 model 16K miles, really clean car. Drove it around a bit last night, really sleepy in the dark, ran perfect no problems. Taking the kid to school this am driving pretty normal. I take off from center lane and accelerate moderate to semi-swift and it seems to rev higher than normal in Automatic Sport Mode. It went up about about 7K rpm in first which seemed a little high for the moderate acceleration it was under and then it shifts pretty hard to second and then pulls up lame running rough like a car not on all cylinders and "Engine System Fault' illuminates and stays lit. A simple ignition cycle and 5 minute cool-down and its still there running very rough and in some sort of limp mode it seems like. I read about the turbo hoses popping off but the large ones on the intake are still on and tight. Is there anything I can check or do before sending it on a 500 mile round trip to the dealer on day one of ownership. Its out of warranty I'm sure.

 

[Kinetic]

I would thoroughly check all hoses again. No fluids on the floor I assume? Exhaust gas have any color? White or black?

 

[eMcL]

I took delivery of the car last night. Bought it used from a dealer, 2012 model 16K miles, really clean car. Drove it around a bit last night, really sleepy in the dark, ran perfect no problems. Taking the kid to school this am driving pretty normal. I take off from center lane and accelerate moderate to semi-swift and it seems to rev higher than normal in Automatic Sport Mode. It went up about about 7K rpm in first which seemed a little high for the moderate acceleration it was under and then it shifts pretty hard to second and then pulls up lame running rough like a car not on all cylinders and "Engine System Fault' illuminates and stays lit. A simple ignition cycle and 5 minute cool-down and its still there running very rough and in some sort of limp mode it seems like. I read about the turbo hoses popping off but the large ones on the intake are still on and tight. Is there anything I can check or do before sending it on a 500 mile round trip to the dealer on day one of ownership. Its out of warranty I'm sure.

Sorry that you are having such a bad experience. Do you have an OBD2 reader? What fault codes does it show? There are several possible problems.

 

[BigHead]

Ouch. Sorry to hear! Is this the very well equipped graphite grey one from West Coast Exotic Cars? I know the owner, and I'm sure he'll take care of you if need be.

From your username, I'm assuming you're in Texas; if you're near Tomball, and if it's the car I'm thinking of, it was originally for sale at a couple of shops in Tomball (Tomball Dodge Chrysler Jeep and BJ Motors) before going to Murietta. May be worth calling them to see if this happened to them?

HTH,

--Dennis

 

[Texzen]

I'm am in Austin , this is a Pearl White one from Atlanta. Its a 2012 with about every carbon option you can think of, electric seats, the black red insert interior, and it has Sport Cats fitted, All Updates except IRIS which I san Updated IRIS 1. No fluids or smoke, I have an ODBII reader. Im bring to find the plug under there and pull codes and I'm removing the engine bay covers to see what else I can see. It was very recently at the Mclaren Dealer and got all checkups and free updates. The only flaws I could find were Passenger Climate control display out, Driver appears to be the TFT type and came with only one key.

 

[Texzen]

My ODBII doesnt want to establish a link. Works on my Range Rover.

 

[Texzen]

None of the Larger Air Side Hoses on the Turbo are loose. Still having fits getting my ODBII to link. Any hints?

 

[Texzen]

Any idea's why I can't establish a link to read codes....

 

[ziggityzen]

Isn't the owner of the dealer here on the forums? When I inquired about this car over the phone, he referenced this site multiple times. Maybe he can chime in.

 

[eMcL]

My ODBII doesnt want to establish a link. Works on my Range Rover.

Can you check power is supplied to your OBD reader?

 

[Texzen]

It appears to be....It lights up and begins link connection before powering up which is what the instructions say (but I also tried powering it up first). It completes the link scan of protocols and says unable to establish a link. Tried with car off, ignition on, and engine running) Nothing...

It still starts, but is running noticeable rough and immediately reports "Engine System Fault". Strange that it happened instantly at a shift point. It was running great the next traffic light when I took off something just didn't go right with the shift point. Its like it rev'd to high (more than normal) and shifted real hard with an event kind of like traction control kick in and then fault light on and running very rough. No smoke, water or mechanical noises other than running very rough and an obvious electronic limitation of power output.

Its a 250 mile tow to Houston on Day 1 of ownership. Hoping to find something simple to avoid that. Going to go buy a newer ODB2 meter and try that.

 

[Texzen]

Just off the phone with Mclaren Houston. He says try a 30 minute battery disconnect and look for obvious hoses off if that not it have it towed 250 miles one way.

He says a very limited number of devices will talk to the McLaren's ODB2 connection. Can anyone confirm this or know of one that works.

 

[AWH]

I live in Austin and have an OBD2 setup that works. I will PM you my contact info. I'm tied up this evening, but can get together tomorrow am, if you like. I am well versed in this car's electronics.

You can usually reset the faults with and OBD2 "clear all codes"...yes, it will clear most McLaren-specific faults. But you lose the recorded fault data, so additional diag at the dealership is then stunted.

FYI, McLaren Houston's lead tech is out for a baby birth right now. My 12C is over there.

 

[eMcL]

ScanTool
https://www.scantool.net/blog/how-do-i-know-whether-my-car-is-obd-ii-compliant/

 

[Texzen]

That would be over the top help.... Ive only had the car 24 hours and I'm stunted by a few things and having a tough time finding accurate information to investigate.. Do you by chance know how to get the engine "exhaust cover past the air-break mounts. Im still looking for obvious signs, hoses or wire off etc... I live right by mansfield dam. Even if does have to go to the dealer I'de like an idea of whats going on...... The engineer in me....

 

[Kinetic]

I live in Austin and have an OBD2 setup that works. I will PM you my contact info. I'm tied up this evening, but can get together tomorrow am, if you like. I am well versed in this car's electronics.

You can usually reset the faults with and OBD2 "clear all codes"...yes, it will clear most McLaren-specific faults. But you lose the recorded fault data, so additional diag at the dealership is then stunted.

FYI, McLaren Houston's lead tech is out for a baby birth right now. My 12C is over there.

What OBD2 device are you using?

 

[ziggityzen]

Is this the white one from luxury auto haus? If so, then the previous owner is "ima2nr" on here. Hopefully he can help you out.

This car is NOT a true example of the bottom of the market. This is MY CAR and I was in a situation where I was forced to sell it due to holding costs as inventory at my dealership. The car has been sold for 110k and the buyer STOLE IT, I assure you... I lost over 20k on this particular car.

DO NOT loose faith in the mighty 12c! I have owned six different 12c's and I know the true value of the car and the brand! There are thrashed versions out there and they will bring low dollars and those cars do not affect nice examples of the brand... I had to make tough decisions and let my last 12c go for a major loss to me... BUT that is only one example, and in reality most don't have to sell at a loss so the price I sold for is not the normal.

The 12c (and the other P11 evolution versions like the 650S) is the BEST VALUE in a SUPER CAR money can buy!!!! and all of you that are owners KNOW this car out performs comparably priced Ferrari and Lamborghini cars 2 x 1 for your money spent!!!!

 

[Texzen]

OB2 Device is INNOVA 3100. Was using successfully on my Range Rover and Jaguar F Type.

 

[Texzen]

This is that one... Ive been real busy working outside the country and lease was up on My Jag F Type was going to trade on another one of then ran across the car.... Bought it site unseen, did only a diligent study of many photos and car fax check. Dealer was pleasant to deal with. Had plans to tera into car today to just inspect everything and see what it might need, but all has been circumvented by this strange event. Have white a bit of CANbus and ECU experience but on high-end motorcycles. Ducati, Aprilia's etc.... Briefly stumped by not even being able to get into this one but mostly by the lack of information about what protocol they are using etc....

Ill write the previous owner but man I hate being the beneficiary of someones sad story.... I looked at probably 50 C12's over a couple months, this one was separated from all others deal wise by a large margin. I thought there must be something lurking I didn't know about but I couldn't find it, the west palm beach dealer said they know the car and didn't know of anything beyond ordinary with it... The Dealer that sold it assured me there wasn't and and I don't know I just have a feeling he was trustworthy. I think he may be ima2nr....

 

[eMcL]

Check CAN high and CAN low pins are different for Tesla & McLaren