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Select neutral. Low range only.

5K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  martinrr 
#1 ·
I had little trouble with parking in the city with deep snow since the tc control was super active for some reason. Gently with throttle etc just a lot front and back movement. Next morning the select neutral message came to display. I put it to N for few seconds. Put it to D and started moving. The message was back on and beep beep started. Stopped and put it again to N, the N(middle-middle) and after that to low range N. Beeping and it went to low range. Now message anymore. Tried to put it back to high range but it won't go. L stays on. I drove to mechanic. I was sure it must be something easy caused by day/night temperature changes. Checked thw wires etc and nothing. Took off the transfer box motor. Checked with 12v and it moves, checked the contacts with multimeter. Put it to hi range manually and installed the motor back. Now it is in high range. The green lights are flashing and select neutral is on the screen. Other than that there is no usual sound when using turning lights. The gearshift are smooth but on wrong time. I have not put it back to low range since the because I believe it will stay there like before
I found similar symptoms from olders threads but they end before solution came up. Most of the time people change the ecu but still have same issue after that.
Tomorrow I will disconnect the ecu to see if the message will go away. Someone from here did it with success, ordered new ecu and after connecting the message was back.
 
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#2 ·
Seems like the transfer motor / ( or fork spindle inside the transfere case ) is out of alignment.

Or more likely the microswitch under the shifter is out of position, seems possible since you propably rattle the shifter from Drive to Rev to Drive and so on..

Check the switch position.

mvh Brage
 
#3 ·
I don't believe it is something to with the shifter. It goes on every gear like it should. I didn't go mad with this R->D->R-> thing. Searched little more but still in same place. I put it back to Low range and it went there and stayed there. I let the 4 motor bolts looser and wiggle it a bit. Nothing. When I keep playing with the shifter to Low range N to High range N and keep my eye on display the HIGH will appear at one point. I did it many times to check if I just got lucky. But it still not lock. Green lights will keep on flashing and the red ones stay on also like the are when I am on Low range.
I took the motor off and now it is inside in warm conditions. The fork that comes out from transfer box should therebe very little play right to left?
 
#5 ·
The radio control motor worm wheel at the end of the motor incorperates 4 microswitches telling the posistion of the spindle.
The transfere box ECU reads the signal from these microswitches to understand where / how much of the spindle travel is done during shift from Hi to Low or from Low to High. So even though the motor is turning when power applied, it still can be unserviceable due to faulty switches.


Replace the radio controll motor.


Best regards Brage
 
#6 ·
Had the same problem when changing my transfer box. Replacement was on and when starting up and driving, i got the usual flashing, beeping, transfer neutral messages. Also noticed that the indicators didn't work etc.

Turns out the transfer motor was knackered. Replacing it fixed the problem after moving between hi/lo a few times. Remember, if you've changed it manually to high before replacing the motor, the ECU will still think it's in low. Swap between the two a few times and that should sort it.
 
#7 ·
I can't find new motor from anywhere and buying the used one makes not much sense. I found thread where someone opened the transfer box motor. I will try that too. The bolts didn't came loose, two of them broke right under the head and third one needs thrilling. It also killed two t20 keys. I will try to fix it/ clean it/...
 
#9 ·
As long as the motor runs, it's perfectly fine to buy one secondhand!
Not really. Even if the motor runs, the position sensors could be faulty, which would prevent the ECU from controlling the motor correctly and you could still end up with an error.
 
#10 ·
Did not find anything wrong with the motor. I got other one for testing from running/working p38. To install it I needed to turn the trasfer box "stick" all the way to right(passanger side). The motor went on perfectly then. I charged the battery day before and put back on the wires and inserted the eka code. Started her and flashing was gone, select neutral was gone. Let it idle for minute or so, just to be sure.. Switch it to Low- beeping and Low selected. Back Hi- nothing. Beeping forever. Nothing. I tried to install the motor in different positions by moving the box by fingers and motor by using battery and wires. One point switching started to work both ways but the flashing stayed on. Flashing on Hi, flashing on Low.
If I turn the transfer box stick I feel sometimes some sort of resistance in the end of right(Hi). I can't turn it to max. I need to go back to neutral and try again.
Have no idea what is wrong there. But I am sure I have two working transfer box motors at the moment.
 
#12 ·
Took out the ecu today. For thise who should read this somewhere in future, the ecu is located under driver seat and you need short screwdriver for removing 6 screws.
No burned smell or rattle sound when shaken. Put it back still same. Starting her without transfer ecu made flashing and select neutral go away.. Now I need to find new ecu I believe. Here's the question: do I need to use the older version or I can also use the newer version that should be bit better.
 
#13 ·
You can use the newer version if you can get your hands one one.

All the connections, and operations are exactly the same - it's just been redesigned internally to allow better cooling for the power transistors that drive the motor, so they aren't as likely to blow up!
 
#14 ·
Got it fixed two days after last post. It was the ecu. And yes, I got the newer version from the same guy who had the selector motor. Now I can say that I should had started from ecu. Engine running, doors and windows closed you can hear loud enough "click" when the motor changes from hi to lo and lo to hi. Great that it is working again but new issue has arrived. Battery drain... It takes a week(maybe less) to go from full to none.
 
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