3.1     Do-It-Yourself Checklist

3.1.1     Shifting

1.    It doesn’t shift.

a.    The shift lever makes a normal movement and the transmission shift lever moves also but the gear doesn’t change: Go to step 4.

b.    The shift lever does make a small movement and the shift cable gets tensioned (pull movement) or pressured (push movement), but the transmission shift lever doesn’t move: Go to step 3.

c.    The Sequential Shifter shift lever doesn’t move at all: Go to step 2 .

2.    The shift lever of the Sequential Shifter doesn’t move at all.

a.    Is ignition on? If not, switch ignition on.

b.    Does the board receive ignition power on connector J1, between pin 3 (positive) and pin 1 (negative)? If not, check the board fuse (at least 1 A) and the board power and ground wiring.

c.    Does the board receive motor power on connector J1, between pins 6 and 7 (positive) and pins 8 and 15 (negative)? If not, check the motor fuse (40 A) and the motor power and ground wiring.

d.   If the transmission is a Mendeola and is in neutral and you are attempting a downshift, try an upshift. Downshifts are not allowed in neutral gear for Mendeola transmissions.

e.    If the transmission is in 4^th gear and you have a 5-speed transmission (or you are in 5^th gear and you have a 6-speed transmission) and it won’t shift into 5^th gear (or 6^th gear if it’s a 6-speed), check the configuration of the number of gears (see section 3.5 Transmission Tab of the installation manual for more info).

f.     If the transmission is in 4^th gear (4-speed transmissions), 5^th gear (5-speed transmissions) or 6^th gear (6-speed transmission), the number of gears is correctly configured (see number of gears, section 3.5 Transmission Tab of the installation manual for more info) and you are attempting an upshift, try a downshift. Upshifts are not allowed in the highest gear.

g.    Try disabling all safety features (see section 3.7 Shift Safety Tab of the installation manual for more info). If it works now, verify how the safety feature(s) that you just disabled are supposed to work. Verify the switches associated to the safety features. Maybe a switch is stuck or not properly wired?

h.    If you have changed out the ¼-28 stud on the MasterShift shift lever, verify that the treads of the new stud do not go through the lever and touch the plate below the lever. If they do, cut the threads of the new stud down so that only ¼” of threads are exposed.

3.    The shift lever of the Sequential Shifter makes a small movement and the shift cable gets tensioned (pull movement) or pressured (push movement), but the transmission shift lever doesn’t move, or moves very little.

a.    If you hear the motor vibrate…

                                            i.         It may have been that the dog ears didn’t line up. If the vehicle is standing still, rock it back and forth some. Try shifting again.

                                          ii.         It could be that the shift direction is incorrect. Verify the shift direction, and if you need to, change the setting as outlined in section 3.6 of the installation manual for more info.

                                        iii.         Check to make sure that the cable is properly adjusted. It may be that the cable has more throw in one direction over the other. You can verify this by watching the cable on the MasterShift end for pushes and the cable on the transmission shift lever for pulls. If you see the cable bottom out (or nearly bottom out) adjust the cable accordingly.

                                        iv.         If you have a manual shift lever as a backup, verify that the transmission shift lever can freely move and is not binding on the manual shifters cable.

                                          v.         Verify the angle between the shift cable and the transmission shift lever. The shift cable needs to be pulling and pushing at a near 90° angle to the transmission shift lever (perpendicular to the transmission shift lever). If the cable comes in at too extreme of an angle it will be unable to pull/push the transmission shift lever far enough to engage the next gear.

b.    If the motor does not vibrate…

                                            i.         Verify that the gear positions are calibrated correctly. If the gear positions are miscalibrated, the shifter may be making a short movement and return to center, due to the fact that it thinks it has reached the target gear based on a miscalibrated value for that gear position. See section 3.5 Transmission Tab of the installation manual for instructions how to calibrate the gear positions.

4.    The shift lever of the Sequential Shifter makes a normal movement and the transmission shift lever moves but the gear doesn’t change.

a.    Verify that the shift cable is hooked up. If you installed the MasterShift with the option of a manual shift lever as a backup, it could be possible that you have the manual shift lever hooked up and not the MasterShift.

b.    Make sure that the gear didn’t change. If it did change but the gear display did not change, go to step 5.

c.    Verify the adjustment of the shift cable (see section 4.2 Shifter Case of the installation manual for more info).

d.   Verify that the gear positions are calibrated correctly. If the gear positions are miscalibrated, the shifter may be making almost a full shift movement but returns to center early, due to the fact that it thinks it reached the target gear based on a miscalibrated value for that gear position. See section 3.5 Transmission Tab of the installation manual for instructions how to calibrate the gear positions.

5.    The transmission changes gears but the gear display is not functioning correctly.

a.    Verify that the three wires that come from the position sensor on the transmission are connected to the correct wires of the display unit.

6.    You have a transmission with a special neutral sequence (Albins) and are unable to go into neutral gear.

a.    Verify that you have the special neutral sequence selected (see section 3.5 Transmission Tab of the installation manual for more info).

b.    Verify that you have either or both the neutral shift switch installed and configured and/or the neutral shift timeout enabled (see section 3.7 Shift Safety Tab of the installation manual for more info).

c.    Make sure that you are pressing and holding the upshift paddle/button (when in first gear) or pressing and holding the downshift button/paddle (when in second gear). Hold until the shifter makes a half movement into neutral.

d.   If the shifter attempts to make a half shift but goes into 2^nd gear instead, then please see section 3.6 Shift Setup Tab of the installation manual and decrease the Half Shift Lever Positions End value by 5. Try to shift into neutral again. Decrease the value a little less if the MasterShift is still “over shifting” neutral.

e.    If the shifter attempts to make a half shift but goes back to the original gear you were shifting from, then please see section 3.6 Shift Setup Tab of the installation manual and increase the Half Shift Lever Positions End value by 5. Try to shift into neutral again. Increase the value a little more if the MasterShift is still “under shifting” neutral. Do not increase this value above 75. If you are still unable to get neutral when you have a value of 75 then please contact American Supercars at 1-888-658-2727.

3.1.2     Configuration

1.    I opened the MasterShift™ Sequential Shifter Configuration software but I can’t configure the device.

a.    The first tab page shows “Not Connected” in red: Go to step 2.

b.    The first tab page shows “Connected” in black: Go to step 3.

2.    I can only access the first tab page of the MasterShift™ Sequential Shifter Configuration software and it shows “Not Connected” in red.

a.    Make sure that you selected the correct COM port.

b.    Make sure that no other program (like a terminal program, an Internet dialer, a fax program) accesses the COM port.

c.    Try to reconnect: click on the small arrow to the right of the drop-down list box with the COM ports, then click on the correct COM port in the list that opens.

3.    I can access all tab pages of the MasterShift™ Sequential Shifter Configuration software and the first page shows “Connected” in black, but I can’t configure anything.

a.    Make sure you use the correct cable (the one that came with the Sequential Shifter) and that the Sequential Shifter is powered (both motor and board power; see section 4.5.1 Power Wiring of the installation manual).

b.    Try to reconnect: close the application and re-open it.

3.2     Support Contact

If you have any further support issues please contact American Supercars & Prototypes at 1-888-658-ASAP (2727).