[TwanMedleyVT]

Hey folks, this is my first post ever. I have been using this site for yr. GREAT KNOWLEDGE HERE!

I have a 2003 RR MKIII and it has 86K miles. I recently had my alternator changed about 3-4 weeks ago. Battery light came on and the truck put down on the side of the road. Yesterday the truck drove fine. about 10 miles from home I noticed it was driving funny. No light came on. No warning message in the screen. Nothing at all. Truck seemed to not want to shift. It would rev up to 3500-4000 RPMS then shift. It seemed like the truck would not go past 3rd gear.

I managed to make it home. The truck sat for about an hr. I started it. No lights no codes. Put it in gear drove it around my block. Changed gears fine. Tried Manual mode. Worked fine. I did not drive it today. Did not want to be stuck on the side of the road.

Any ideas? No codes and no errors at all. I plan to drop it off to my Indp. Mechanic today.

Over the past I'd say 8 months, I have gotten a "TransferGearbox Neutral" message maybe once every two weeks. You think that may have something to do with it. When I get the message the truck does change. It drives normally.

I have a warranty on my Trans up to 91K miles. If it is the Trans I feel better because my warranty is still in place.

Past Repairs:
MAF
Alternator
PCV Hoes
Belts (Replaced during Alternator fix.)
Hoses
Battery (Did not change it after alternator failure. Just a recharge.)
Radiator Overflow tank (Old one exploded.)

 

[jjjones]

I had a similar issue with the Transferbox Neutral light, it was a fault in the Transfer box Mode selector motor, and expensive piece that is very easy to change. It sounds like you were in the Transmission failsafe mode which limited you to second gear, when you shut the car down everything reset itself and the car will run fine until the Transferbox neutral light comes on again and the transmission puts itself in the failsafe mode.
It is a very anoying problem because it is so random, my transferbox neutral light never came on until the car was driven more than 30 minutes, sometimes it would flash and other times it would stay illuminated, if the light stayed illuminated the transmission would go into the failsafe mode sometimes without the appropriate light.
The replacement motor was over $1,900 and the labor was over 2 hours for a job that required the removal of 4 bolts. Try and find a replacement motor, Atlantic British or British Pacific have them and do the job your self.
J.J.J.

 

[TwanMedleyVT]

I dropped my 2003 RR off to my mechanic and he said I had no mechanical issues. He checked he Transmission ECU and saw it has some issues communicating with the main ECU. He stated that when I was having issues with my alternator, there could have been some voltage issues and the computers may not have been communicating properly. He cleared all the errors and reset my adaptives. He explained that doing that would allow the truck to relearn my driving style.

The truck drives so much better. Anyone had any experience with resetting adaptives?

If so please share.

I hope this new system reset was my issue.

 

[jjjones]

For your sake I hope it is a voltage issue, in fact when my problem first occured I immediately replaced my origional battery and hoped for the best. Unfortunatly, that was not the problem and i was stuck with a big repair bill. What I discovered is that the computers reset themselves whenever the ignition is turned off, so the Transferbox neutral isssue is continually being reset, ask your mechanic what codes he did find and I can compare them with the codes I got from the RR dealer in Seattle.
J.J.J.

 

[ZambeziHSE03]

You might want to check some recent posts. I had the same exact problem. The truck would run fine afgter sitting for a few and then after driving it, it didnt want to change gears and would get stuck in 3rd gear and the rpms would shoot up but the truck barely moved and then it would change gears and be fine...over and over again so I change the radiator and transmission oil cooler and now it's getting a rebuilt tranny. I am going to pick it up tomorrow. ,I miss it!!!! :dance:

 

[TwanMedleyVT]

I will check with him on the codes. So far it has been driving like a freakin new truck!
My gas mileage has increased. I am keeping a close eye on the truck and how it runs.
So far so good. :clap:

 

[TwanMedleyVT]

Truck acting crazy again. I think it is the radiator. I have read alot about the radiator and the transmission. I noticed it only happens on hot days. Crazy. Any ideas. Is the radiator my best bet to check first?

 

[DeltaC]

My transmission was going into safe mode after about 30mins of driving. It didn't flash any messages up either. I changed the oil and filter in the gearbox which made no difference. I then changed the radiator, hoses and oil cooler plus oil cooler hoses. It has been fine since.

When you look at the radiator, the outlet to the engine is about 5in from the bottom and the line to the transmission cooler is below that so you can imagine that there is not much flow and the fins may be prone to blocking...

Radiator swap is straightforward. Give the maze of hoses at the bottom a good flush out as well.

 

[TwanMedleyVT]

Well, my independent specialist check the radiator and oil cooler. He said when he disconnected the hose from the cooler to the radiator nothing came out. He said he shot air into the radiator and only a little coolant came out. He said the radiator was definitely clogged up. So, I had that changed. He tested the cooler and the hoses and all looked good. I really hope this was my issue.

Another repair in the books. I just hope it was my true issue. I am going to have thim change the Transmission oil and filter in a week or so.

 

[gw2doc]

if he pulled the oil cooler off, then that means he disconnected the cooler pipes, he should know what the oil looks like, does it look like its burned up and needs to be changed? if so why would you wait another week? the trans was already operating with out proper cooling of the oil.

 

[redtarpon]

TW VT,
i had same issue the other day driving in hilly stop/go traffic (hot day). stuck in 3rd gear, would not shift with sport shift. stopped for about an hour to cool off, then drove 5 hours on interstate with no issues. no messages/codes either. then drove back 600 miles to NC on interstate with no codes or stuck gear, i did not drive hard though so as to make it to the shed.

probably going to take mine in, but would be interested to see what turned out with yours.
i recently had the dealer flush the radiator/fluid, but not the tranny fluid or area of radiator.

we'll see what happens. new radiator is $350 from BP U. going to take it to indy shop 1st for diagnosis, then go from there.

thx
rt

2004 RR
2005 F250
1986 911
1986 XR4Ti