GregBrand

I got rid of the "AWD Malfunction" warning the same way. While sitting stationary in neutral turn steering wheel fully to left and then fully to right and then to center.

It worked for me just last week. I have mine scheduled for service but the Service Manager told me to try this. I will let you know what they find next week after service. Good luck.

v_therussian

Yes, actually, I am considering it as one of the possibilities - any honest vendors out there wanna hit me up with a trade quote?

I'd look into an Alpine white CPO 2007 550 STICK ONLY with sport pack.

Thanks, please keep me in the loop - I'll most likely be fixing this out of pocket, so I need as much info as I can get! Thanks!
Good luck with yours btw

v_therussian

UPDATE:

Ok, so Bay Diagnostic had the car at their shop overnight and here's what I had them do:
1. Read the fault code
2. Clear the fault code
3. Re-charge the battery overnight.

Picked up the car this morning (with an ugly license plate frame added - why do shops do this?!?!), here's the current state of affairs:

a. Above work was performed.
b. There were 27 fault codes, only one of which Bay Diagnostic bothered to write down (WTF??? But ok, hopefully, won't happen again).
c. The fault code that they did give me is:
5210 - transfer case module fault
d. Obviously, even though the "AWD malfunction" code was cleared and the battery recharged, the message came right back on as soon as I started driving the car. The code, BTW, when cleared, comes back THE INSTANT you put the car in gear (its a stick, so first or reverse).

Have not yet had a chance to research the transfer case module fault code, but I'm guessing I'll have to have it physically inspected for leaks and so forth. Now, I have three RFTs and one non-RFT Conti tire and have been driving like that for a month or so (dammit, why did I wait to get the new tires!), so I'm guessing the transfer case was affected by that. Still hoping for the best, but obviously I'm beginning to enter the "big game" territory with this repair.

Drove the car for about 40 minutes after I picked it up from Bay Diagnostic this morning and the AWD Malfunction message stays on. The car drives the same exact way it has always been driving - I am not noticing ANY thing different. At all. Perplexing? Ya bet! Stay tuned...

sdg1871

My fault Vlad for letting you drive my 550. The damn thing is addictive. Hence why I am on pace to drive more than 20K miles in it this year -- and all on the weekends.

Well, I am going to have to drive in the snow today so I am dying to see how the Dunlop WinterSport M3s perform on the 550. They were outstanding on the 540.

v_therussian

Yeah, its a sweet friggin' car, dude

Don't do anything crazy on the snow, stay safe and get to your destination in one piece, brother!

v_therussian

ANOTHER UPDATE:

Just doing some research on the transfer case issues and it looks like I may have possibly caused this issue myself - you see, I switched one of my tires from a Bridgestone RFT to a Conti and it was a "temporary" setup until I get the all-seasons. But I ended up driving like that for a month (maybe more - not even sure). Apparently, the slight variance in the overall rolling diameters of the Conti vs the RFTs could've caused the transfer case fault.

Now to remedy and/or exclude this issue, I know I'll need to check the transfer case for any leaks, but what else?

Obviously I'm ordering the new tires too.

sdg1871

Thanks on both counts Vlad and good luck solving your problem.

v_therussian

Thanks Scott! So frustrating trying to self-diagnose it - yet somehow strangely fascinating - I still don't know if the transfer case is gone. It was not leaking - I reguarly check for leaks on my parking spot, so I would've noticed. But I guess things can go wrong without spawning a leak - can they? Still searching...

I'll definitely report how this whole thing plays out.

PS if anyone can help me out with ANY information, I greatly appreciate it