If your DB9 has developed a Lumpy Idle (see my in depth post on this) you’ll be faced with either taking it to the Dealership (and a $1,800+ labor bill plus parts) or undertaking the task yourself over a weekend. There is a considerable level of skill and determination required to accomplish this feat. Easily the most complicated service event I’ve done yet on my 9. If you have the gumption, tools and the time it can be a rewarding and cost saving experience. I think anyone can do it if you properly prepare. Continue reading “How to Change the Coil Packs and Spark Plugs in an Aston Martin DB9”→
If you are about to embark on changing the coil packs, spark plugs and perhaps the PCV valves on your DB9, it’s always comforting to know you have all the tools to do the job BEFORE you start. It’s really frustrating to be halfway into a task and find out you are stuck since you don’t have the right do-dad. The DB9 isn’t quite as simple as changing the plugs and coil on an old Chevy small block V8, and you’ll be twisting the spanners for hours just to get near the plugs and coils. Continue reading “Tools Required to Change the Coil Packs and Spark Plugs on an Aston Martin DB9”→
If you have a lumpy idle with your DB9 (like mine was as detailed in this blog post) or are just doing a scheduled service that requires changing the plugs, it will be helpful to know all the parts you’ll need. Of course, you’re sitting there going ‘Duh – I need spark plugs to change spark plugs you idiot’. Yes, that’s true, but you also need a small assortment of other bits and bobs to put it all back together Properly. Continue reading “Parts Needed to Change the Coil Packs and Spark Plugs in an Aston Martin DB9”→
When I purchased my DB9 a few years ago occasionally if I just sat still in the car while it was idling I could hear – no – feel in the seat of my pants – the slightest ‘lump’ in the idle. Rarely, faintly, distantly, so infrequently that I never really worried about it that much. At the time the car was 8 years old and had about 15K miles on it.
Turn the clock ahead about 2 years to spring 2016 (and about 25K miles total now) and the faint lump rather quickly progressed to a routine ‘lump’ at idle anytime in gear when stopped at a light or sitting in the garage. The lump was only at idle, and seemed to be gone (or at least was not perceivable) at speeds above 900 RPM. I started to learn more about lumpy idles (or misfires at idle) on the forums. Continue reading “Lumpy Idle / Misfire on an Aston Martin DB9”→
While servicing your DB9 you might run into a situation where your dash display or OBDII reader shows you an error message in the form of a cryptic P code like P1488, setting the stage for an ominous visit to your local dealer and the commensurate drain on your bank account. Without any reference, your tendency might be to stick your head in the sand and just drive on risking damage to the car. In this post I wanted to publish a list of all the P codes I could find so that it might help steer you in the right direction to taking care of the issue yourself.
Some P codes are innocuous. For example, P1488 [Exhaust (muffler) Bypass Control Circuit] is logged if you pull the famous Fuse 22 to uncork your exhaust. The car knows Fuse 22 is pulled, makes a note of it, but doesn’t set off the idiot light (Malfunction Indicator Lamp or MIL). If you find this code and you have pulled your fuse, you can just ignore it.
Aston Martin Diagnostic Manual
Download the Aston Martin OBDII Diagnostic Manual – Preliminary Issue
I have gathered the list below from a preliminary publication of the Aston Martin Factory “OBD II Diagnostic Manual” published in April 2004. The publication is a great resource, and has a tremendous amount of detail about each P Code, and other theory about the cars operation and diagnostics. 356 pages of technical details and some very helpful diagrams. Being that it was a preliminary publication it’s a good starting point for the early cars (MY 04/05/06), but I am certain that as the DB9 was developed more codes were added and this list is incomplete. The official place to get the P codes explained is on the Aston Martin Technical Information Website (which I have covered in another blog post). What I dislike about the format on the website is that the codes aren’t in a single document anymore, but rather each has its own web page section. This makes a lot of sense for Aston Martin (alleviates the need to keep a large complicated document up to date), but for us DIY repair guys without an expensive $2,600 annual subscription to the website it’s a handicap. So, I would recommend that if you find the P code you are experiencing in the list below just check out the PDF. If the P code you have isn’t listed, perhaps spend the $100 for a one day subscription to the website and look up the code you have (and maybe send me the details or your code and a PDF print of what was on the website about it). Or succumb, and take your car into the dealership. Continue reading “OBDII P Codes on an Aston Martin DB9”→
If you are doing your own 2 year/20,000 mile service on your DB9, one of the required service items is to change your cabin pollen filters. Like anything on a DB9 this isn’t particularly simple, but can be done by just about anyone. The process will take about 5 minutes once you see how.
Parts Needed
New Set of Cabin Air Filters
You will need a pair of replacement filter elements. You can either purchase new filters from Aston Martin, or consider upgrading to aftermarket ATP Activated Carbon Air Filters that will add the benefit of odor removal as well as being better at pollen and dust removal. I have another blog post on just this topic, and it have all the details on both the factory and aftermarket parts, so check it out. Continue reading “Changing the Cabin Air Filters on an Aston Martin DB9”→
There may be a few reasons that you need to remove the Glove Box and surrounding dash panels on your DB9, but the most likely is that you are trying to change the Cabin Air Filters as part of a 2 year / 20,000 mile service and this step is necessary to access the filters.
On a lark I thought “Since Aston Martin was owned by Ford when the DB9 was initially designed and built, maybe the PCM’s are really programmed with Ford codes”. There was some clue to this as well on the Aston Martin Technical Information website – in the early years of the DB9 the Dealers used the WDS system to access the PCMs (the predecessor to the current AMDS), which I discovered is Fords Worldwide Dealer System. If the WDS is designed to talk to all the Ford models of the world would work for it, maybe this would work for me too. Continue reading “Getting more from your Aston Martin DB9 when using an OBDII Code Reader”→
Using an OBDII code reader you can retrieve a substantial amount of data from your DB9’s Powertrain Control Modules (PCMs). 
On a lark I thought “Since Aston Martin was owned by Ford when the DB9 was initially designed and built, maybe the PCM’s are really programmed with Ford codes”. There was some clue to this as well on the 
Aston 1936 