"Drive stalk not working" error - anyone else had it, what had to be fixed

[LDJ]

Hi Everyone.

First, Thanks to everyone that posted something about this issue, it was relief to know that I was not the only owner having this error. I also wanted to share my experiences with the “Drive Stalk Not Working” error message.

I own a 2023 R1S, Quad motor vehicle. As many have stated, the error with the “Drive Stalk Not Working”, appeared out of nowhere. I was out running errands, luckily I was already parked. The error message popped up as soon as I put the vehicle in drive. I tried performing the soft reset on my vehicle, which did not resolve the error, and I could not shift out of park. I was essentially stranded in a parking lot, but could have been a lot worse. I performed a hard reset on the vehicle, which allowed me to place the vehicle in drive and go about my drive.

A couple of days later, as I was leaving my house, after shifting into drive, the “Drive Stalk” error message appeared again. Trying to understand the error, as well as being in a safe place, I did not place the vehicle in park, as the message stated and drove it around my neighborhood for a little bit. All appeared to be fine with the vehicle, I ran some errands and went back home. Later that evening, as I was trying to leave again, the “Drive Stalk” error message appeared again.

This time I placed the vehicle in park, performed a soft reset, which again did not resolve the issue, I was unable to get the vehicle out of park. I then had to perform another hard reset, which then allowed me to place the vehicle in drive. However, the error message appeared again, immediately after shifting into drive. I then performed another hard reset, so that I could get the vehicle in reverse to back it into the garage.

I wanted to state that Rivian has great customer support, they were understanding and helpful with my concerns. As I did not feel comfortable driving to their repair shop, I setup a mobile appointment for the technician to come to my home.

However, the issue with the drive stalk appeared nearly every time I tried to leave the house. This issue does not appear to be a random issue or software problem, as an OTA update to version 2024.43.01 was completed on 12/02, with the problem still occurring.

With my concerns for safety and potentially being stranded somewhere, or causing damage to the vehicle. Rivian customer support arranged to have my vehicle towed to the nearest repair center to investigate the error.

This is a Gen 1 vehicle, and while I did expect some minor issues, this is really the first major problem
I have had with the vehicle, I am impressed with the overall functionality of the vehicle, but a bit frustrated with this error.

I hope my experience helps anyone else out with this same error.
I would suggest contacting Rivian support immediately, as the error might start out intermittent, but appeared to escalate very quickly.

LARRY

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[clostridium]

I head to service later this week. Problem hasn’t recurred however I’ve had a lot of intermittent front, rear, or both sensor failures. I will let you know what the service people say.

 

[greyboundary]

Hi Everyone.

First, Thanks to everyone that posted something about this issue, it was relief to know that I was not the only owner having this error. I also wanted to share my experiences with the “Drive Stalk Not Working” error message.

I own a 2023 R1S, Quad motor vehicle. As many have stated, the error with the “Drive Stalk Not Working”, appeared out of nowhere. I was out running errands, luckily I was already parked. The error message popped up as soon as I put the vehicle in drive. I tried performing the soft reset on my vehicle, which did not resolve the error, and I could not shift out of park. I was essentially stranded in a parking lot, but could have been a lot worse. I performed a hard reset on the vehicle, which allowed me to place the vehicle in drive and go about my drive.

A couple of days later, as I was leaving my house, after shifting into drive, the “Drive Stalk” error message appeared again. Trying to understand the error, as well as being in a safe place, I did not place the vehicle in park, as the message stated and drove it around my neighborhood for a little bit. All appeared to be fine with the vehicle, I ran some errands and went back home. Later that evening, as I was trying to leave again, the “Drive Stalk” error message appeared again.

This time I placed the vehicle in park, performed a soft reset, which again did not resolve the issue, I was unable to get the vehicle out of park. I then had to perform another hard reset, which then allowed me to place the vehicle in drive. However, the error message appeared again, immediately after shifting into drive. I then performed another hard reset, so that I could get the vehicle in reverse to back it into the garage.

I wanted to state that Rivian has great customer support, they were understanding and helpful with my concerns. As I did not feel comfortable driving to their repair shop, I setup a mobile appointment for the technician to come to my home.

However, the issue with the drive stalk appeared nearly every time I tried to leave the house. This issue does not appear to be a random issue or software problem, as an OTA update to version 2024.43.01 was completed on 12/02, with the problem still occurring.

With my concerns for safety and potentially being stranded somewhere, or causing damage to the vehicle. Rivian customer support arranged to have my vehicle towed to the nearest repair center to investigate the error.

This is a Gen 1 vehicle, and while I did expect some minor issues, this is really the first major problem
I have had with the vehicle, I am impressed with the overall functionality of the vehicle, but a bit frustrated with this error.

I hope my experience helps anyone else out with this same error.
I would suggest contacting Rivian support immediately, as the error might start out intermittent, but appeared to escalate very quickly.

LARRY

Does yours prompt with an ability to put it in park using the main screen? I noticed that when it did happen, it wasn’t visible if you were in the camera view.

Another thing noticed was that just lifting your foot off the brake and opening the door would also make it self park.

 

[LDJ]

Does yours prompt with an ability to put it in park using the main screen? I noticed that when it did happen, it wasn’t visible if you were in the camera view.

Another thing noticed was that just lifting your foot off the brake and opening the door would also make it self park.

I did not notice the error while
In camera mode, but yes lifting my foot off the brake and opening the door would place the vehicle in park. However, after the vehicle was in park, I could not shift into drive or reverse. Always had to perform a hard reset to get the vehicle to respond to shifting out of park mode. It is very concerning that the vehicle could be disabled.

 

[LDJ]

I will post the findings from Rivian, once they have a chance to review the diagnostics and investigate the issue.

 

[greyboundary]

I did not notice the error while
In camera mode, but yes lifting my foot off the brake and opening the door would place the vehicle in park. However, after the vehicle was in park, I could not shift into drive or reverse. Always had to perform a hard reset to get the vehicle to respond to shifting out of park mode. It is very concerning that the vehicle could be disabled.

Oh yes that’s more severe. Sorry to hear that was happening. For what it’s worth, I’ve still had mine pop in about 2 times since even the last update, however I’m still able to park it (on screen or just lifting off the brake) and it goes away after.

Interested to see what you learn from them.

 

[norivian]

Hi-

About 15 miles into a drive my 2025 R1S popped up basically all of the warning lights at the bottom left of the driver screen and said "Driver stalk not working" in a pop up. Pic included below. The statement that we might be stranded was alarming to say the least. The steering felt a bit funny and it wouldn't regen brake as we pulled over. I couldn't get it into park without clicking the button on the screen. I was able to hard reset it and things seemed fine afterwards and we continued our drive. A bit later during the drive it then warned me the turn signals weren't working twice but that warning went away and it also gave me warnings about the adaptive headlights though they ultimately started working.

I have also seen intermittent warnings about the parking sensors and radars sometimes in just front or back sometimes all around.

Currently on software version 2024.39.32.

I added this to my list of stuff for a service apointment. I searched these forums and didn't see this issue but on Reddit I found some examples of the same thing. I find it hard to believe my only issue is the control stalk since other things are happening. Perhaps all software but not everyone is having all these issues. Some guy on facebook said he's never had to do a soft or hard rest of his R1S. I am stunned since I have to do them often after software updates and sometimes I get a bonus event in between like here.

I also have noisy front drive unit especially between 15-35 mph and especially on regen that others have noted in other threads. And some mostly cosmetic issues. Love the vehicles but this latest thing has us a bit rattled about reliability.

Craig

Yes. This exact error happened to me while driving… following the last 2024.39.32 software upgrade. I just also happen to try Tesla charging for the first time before that occurred. Called service and after a reboot, the issue was gone and has not happened again since. I had a svc request to do diagnostics (at the SC) specifically for this issue.

 

[LDJ]

I head to service later this week. Problem hasn’t recurred however I’ve had a lot of intermittent front, rear, or both sensor failures. I will let you know what the service people say.

Yes… would like to hear what Rivian has to say about your issues.

 

[LDJ]

Oh yes that’s more severe. Sorry to hear that was happening. For what it’s worth, I’ve still had mine pop in about 2 times since even the last update, however I’m still able to park it (on screen or just lifting off the brake) and it goes away after.

Interested to see what you learn from them.

Thanks. Will let you know. It seemed to happen really abruptly and just got progressively worse over the holiday weekend. Hoping they can identify the problem.

 

[LDJ]

I will post the findings from Rivian, once they have a chance to review the diagnostics and investigate the issue.

Update: 12/20/2024
Just wanted to update everyone on my repair. I just picked up my car from the Rivian service department. While it did take a couple of weeks for them to repair the vehicle, due to delays of replacement parts, I am very satisfied with Rivian for their customer service and communication throughout the entire process.

It turned out to be the steering column control module, that needed to be replaced on the vehicle, due to a short and broken pins. Not my fault of course, just a defective module. Somewhat related the car bluetooth was also impacted, causing issues with the keys, which they found during the inspection.

If you are experiencing a similar issue, I would suggest contacting the service department and setting up an appointment. I fear that it could have been a serious safety concern with the drive stal

This company is top notch, very pleased with the vehicle and service technicians.

I hope this will help anyone else that may have this issue.

Larry

 

[norivian]

Appreciate the update. I may have posted earlier but I had the same “driver stalk not working” issue but was fixed with a reboot when it happened and it seemed ok.

Having said that, I requested the SC to run diagnostics in reference to this issue. Rivian replaced the high voltage harness due to some defects - i am not sure if it was this or to another power outlet issue or both.

Like you, I am very pleased at how Rivian handled all issues and concerns I have that came up. My SC is A+ rated at every level (from the technicians to sales to management, and most especially my Service Manager) in my opinion. I could go on with my praises ?. The service I received was above and beyond.

 

[LDJ]

Appreciate the update. I may have posted earlier but I had the same “driver stalk not working” issue but was fixed with a reboot when it happened and it seemed ok.

Having said that, I requested the SC to run diagnostics in reference to this issue. Rivian replaced the high voltage harness due to some defects - i am not sure if it was this or to another power outlet issue or both.

Like you, I am very pleased at how Rivian handled all issues and concerns I have that came up. My SC is A+ rated at every level (from the technicians to sales to management, and most especially my Service Manager) in my opinion. I could go on with my praises ?. The service I received was above and beyond.

Sorry did not see your earlier post, related to the “Drive Stalk” issue. Glad to hear they resolved the issue for you. Great company. I feel the same about the praises.

Wondering if the harness that they replaced on yours, was connected to the sccm? Service manager said they have had a few problems with drive stalks, but it seems like there have been a variable range of potential fixes for the same problem. Resets only temp fixed the problem for me. Hardware does fail and continuously rebooting servers or computers, only masks the problem for short periods of time. At least in my opinion.

Larry

 

[norivian]

I was just reading the service summary. Accordingly, the drive stalk issue is software related.

 

[dScotts]

Update: 12/20/2024
Just wanted to update everyone on my repair. I just picked up my car from the Rivian service department. While it did take a couple of weeks for them to repair the vehicle, due to delays of replacement parts, I am very satisfied with Rivian for their customer service and communication throughout the entire process.

It turned out to be the steering column control module, that needed to be replaced on the vehicle, due to a short and broken pins. Not my fault of course, just a defective module. Somewhat related the car bluetooth was also impacted, causing issues with the keys, which they found during the inspection.

If you are experiencing a similar issue, I would suggest contacting the service department and setting up an appointment. I fear that it could have been a serious safety concern with the drive stal

This company is top notch, very pleased with the vehicle and service technicians.

I hope this will help anyone else that may have this issue.

Larry

good to know. I’m having the exact issues and have mobile service scheduled if Jan8. Sounds like it may need to go in for service.

 

[clostridium]

Yes… would like to hear what Rivian has to say about your issues.

So my issues have not recurred but did not really get a specific answer except maybe a software problem. They didn't find any hardware issue like they did with your vehicle.

I also had them check on some rattles and air leaks which they did not address so am going back in January.

They fixed a seat stitching problem and some interior panel issues.

My car is somewhat noisy (sounds like coming from front drive unit) with deceleration especially between 20-40 mph but they said that is as expected but to monitor. It remains unclear if this is truly as expected or not but I am connecting with local drivers of gen 2 vehicles to see what they hear. It is definitely louder and harsher than our Teslas have been. I chalked it up to just not being as refined but saw in other threads on this forum that some folks have needed the front drive unit replaced.

Still love the vehicle despite the quirks. Someone in a facebook group said that they had never had to reset their vehicle in over a year which blows my mind. I think I have to reset at least once a week.

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