Wolf you probably didn't do any damage by not disconnecting the battery, it's a good precaution to it though so it doesn't do damage. If you can snag a used ECM for cheap then it's worth a shot. Like I said, the range of codes your getting makes no sense, doesn't point to anything else but the ECM.

 

96/99 d1 for the ecm, ideally you want the ecm, TPS and IACV all off same vehicle, there is always the chance if you get just the ecm it could trip to high idle cause it does not recognize these 2 sensor values but that will only require a reset by a rover shop, not saying it will happen just could

You may also want to invest the $70 in an ultra gauge, it reads and clears codes and reads live data from ecm, a great help when trying to diagnose problems on these, plus it can be mounted easy to use as gauges

 

Thanks for the advise I stared looking for ECUs and found a guy on Craig's list that has had a history with my rover (he even told me what dents it had) he said he had worked on it and replaced all the sensors the ECU head gaskets and could not find the problem he said my rover has been abused and not maintained and he thinks it's in the motor possibly the cam or timing chain and gears but the best advise he could give me was get away from it my question to y'all is are my rovers symptoms possibly caused by this or is this one mans opinion that couldn't fix it please let me know before take drastic measures like getting into a car payment I don't need

 

I do not think a cam will cause the ecm to just pump out random codes like this, I agree with scouts on the ecm, possible harness issue?

I still say check and clean grounds it is something that is free, do you know how many volts you have at idle ?

 

So was he just swapping parts to try or did he leave on the ecm or what?

It may be more then one thing wrong, bad grounds are a biggie, bad ecm biggie, have to start somewhere

Are there and independent good rover shops near you? I see an eventual ecm reset in your future once some of this is sorted out

 

I'm just gonna cut out the bs and tell you like it is. These trucks are as practical as roller blading in sand wearing a G-string. Your either in it for the challenge or not.

 

lol.. rotfl...thanks for the mental image

 

Okay I tried the rollerblading in the sand in the G string the snow added a new twist now I'm not welcome at the county beach anymore and once the police let me go the Rover didn't run any better LOL it's not whether I'm in for the challenge or not I'm always up for a challenge it's just at this point I'm up against the wall I'm trying to figure out if I'm working on something that somebody else has already gotten all the good out of and I'm going to throw good money after bad or if I need to park it and turn it into a donor buy another one that would be more worth the effort i'm up against the wall with this because my wife starts a job 3 1/2 hours away from here in 10 days working with kids that have substance abuse problems and they're often screwed up families and sometimes these families get upset at what she says so I need to have a vehicle that I can get in and know it will get me there if I need to because the last thing these people need are more involvement with the police and a 6 foot for 250 pound redneck answering the door or taking her to dinner around town is a really good deterrent to folks acting stupid or thinking they are going to intimidate a woman so I guess what I'm trying to figure out right now is if I need to cut my losses put something else on the road that I can depend on and pick up the Rover challenge at a later date

 

By the way I'm not a total red neck but that's what I've found most people see when they don't know me

 

Honestly man. These trucks are glorious, they just tend to have been owned by pretentious lazy people that neglected the shot out of them. Don't waste your time just throwing random parts at your truck. Heed scout and tom and all the other serious advise you've gotten. It's really disheartening being mechanically sound and not understand these random British masterpieces. These guys have saved me from dozens of brain farts when it came to issue with by 96. Definitely think with your completely random and non reoccurring codes your ECM is shot. Grab a new one and too and iacv from the same truck. Grab some beers and a good friend and knock them out.

Good luck brother.