Thread: Transfer box neutral message, suspect ECU, other ideas?

Update...

I used some clip leads to connect what I thought would be the minimum to the ECU and reconnected the battery.

Can bus, diagnostic port, high/low switch (difficult to not connect this), and ECU power.

Everything boots OK, I can clear fault code, but the sensor short to ground code still comes back from the transfer box ECU.

Looks like I'm sourcing a new ECU....
That being the case, I figured I might as well have a look at the ECU, but no chance of troubleshooting anything there for me. No regular size components, everything is tiny, and access to underneath the board means drilling out the mounts which are one time pressed in place.


Does anyone know where I might look for a second hand ECU? I'm scared what the new ECU price from Land Rover will be....


IMG_2818.jpg

G'day Judo,
I have a 2004 Vogue and have the same problem mentioned in this thread, what was the final fix for the problem?
Where abouts is the transfer box ECU located and if you don't mind what did the second hand one set you back.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Cheers

Bad news, I haven't actually resolved this yet! I have tried a new ECU, same problem.

Transfer box ECU is behind the battery, in the battery box. Realistically you have to remove the battery to access it. A second hand one was about $300. Although I have 2 that work and give the same problem. I recommend trying lots of other things first!

Have you googled this problem yet? I found a few common problems to look out for with these symptoms although none of them turned out to be correct in my case. The shift motor contacts are one place to look. I would disconnect the shift motor loom for a start and see what fault codes you have.

If I have the shift motor unplugged, I can drive without risk of it changing range, however I noticed that the transmission defaults to thinking I'm in low range and behaviours odd.

The way I am driving normally at the moment is to have the transfer box ECU removed entirely. With the ECU removed, I disconnect the battery for 10 minutes, reconnect battery and the transmission stays in high range mode. As soon as I connect the ECU power and CANBUS pins, fault code appears again and transmission thinks I'm in low range.

My latest thinking is the problem exists somewhere in a loom between the centre console and transmission ECU, or maybe loom between transmission ECU and transfer box ECU.

Sorry for the late reply, how are you going with it?

Originally Posted by Judo

Bad news, I haven't actually resolved this yet! I have tried a new ECU, same problem.

Transfer box ECU is behind the battery, in the battery box. Realistically you have to remove the battery to access it. A second hand one was about $300. Although I have 2 that work and give the same problem. I recommend trying lots of other things first!

Have you googled this problem yet? I found a few common problems to look out for with these symptoms although none of them turned out to be correct in my case. The shift motor contacts are one place to look. I would disconnect the shift motor loom for a start and see what fault codes you have.

If I have the shift motor unplugged, I can drive without risk of it changing range, however I noticed that the transmission defaults to thinking I'm in low range and behaviours odd.

The way I am driving normally at the moment is to have the transfer box ECU removed entirely. With the ECU removed, I disconnect the battery for 10 minutes, reconnect battery and the transmission stays in high range mode. As soon as I connect the ECU power and CANBUS pins, fault code appears again and transmission thinks I'm in low range.

My latest thinking is the problem exists somewhere in a loom between the centre console and transmission ECU, or maybe loom between transmission ECU and transfer box ECU.

Sorry for the late reply, how are you going with it?

G'day Judo,
All went bad yesterday, Pennant Hills Rd, Friday 5pm middle lane no gears at all.
Was driving along message bar states transferbox neutral, gearbox stuck in 5th gear. Turn off car, wait a couple of seconds and restart, normally this will reset and I can drive off normally. However, today, no gears at all. Narda, nix, nil, zilch. Had the car towed tried again this morning still nothing. I did try an ecu reset yesterday but that didn't work either. I have no idea, maybe the ecu or transfer drive motor.

Bugger, sorry to hear that. That does sound like a candidate for faulty range sensor in the shift motor. If you can get it back into high range, I would try disconnecting the round plug from the transfer box.

Are you a DIY fixer? Have you been checking fault codes?

The shift motor is easy to remove and bench test for both motor function and range sensor if you're that way incline.

I try to DIY as much as I can but when it comes to electronics I'm all at sea.
I'm going to disconnect the batteries for about half an hour and see what happens.
That round plug on the shift motor does that rotate off or just pull out?

Rotate to undo.

Disconnected the batteries for 1/2 hr, hooked it back up, now still have no gears but EAS Inactive and ABS amber light on dash.
When engaging P sound like a bearing rotating