Quick flashing M and S fix today. I left the xyz switch connected to the tranny. Sprayed WD-40 in the crevices of the switch with the nozzle. Allowed 10 minutes for it to dry and it works correctly now. I wish someone had told me this before I read through 3 hours worth of forums and farting around with the battery etc.

I hope this helps the next guy.

 

Your alternator could also be on the way out. Check and clean the hell out of your battery connectors. A battery on the fence can check ok one second but be under voltage the next. That was my reason I got put in limp home. If you have another vehicle with a known good battery I would try to swap them first.

 

No my alternator check out fine. I have a alternator check function on my black and decker battery charger. *farting around with the battery = it checked out, no corrosion along with good voltage numbers.

My issue resolved with WD-40 spraying into the crevices of the XYZ component. I read about this method on the webs in a comment on this very same issue.

Id recommend the WD-40 method for anyone thats lazy like me who doesn't want to try several trouble shooting methods, removing/swapping expensive transmission parts, swapping expensive batteries, going to auto zone to get codes read, drilling rivets and fighting inaccessible plugs and nuts.

Now Im looking for a way to seal the crevasses around the xyz component. Right off the top of my head would be smearing some silicone along the top of it where the wire enters with my finger or possibly plastidip. Maybe Ill leave the crevices open so I can squirt it again if the limp home mode persists while keeping a eye out for spares at the junk yards.

 

So I was on a normal sunday drive around the finger lakes, like Skaneateles, and Auburn NY when I decided to stop at Lake Owasco. After hanging out there for a bit I decided to head home which is when the transmission decided to act up. First time its ever happened to me. So I got home and started looking through the forum to see what was up. So using the advice in the forum I took my truck to advanced auto, did the OBD scan and tested the battery too. So code that came up: P0705. So based on what I read on the forum I'm assuming that this isn't a low voltage problem since the OBD scanner specifically said it's the transmission range sensor. But funny thing is is that my battery wasn't so great either, the terminals were pretty loose and corroded from the previous owner and it was at 570 cold cranking amps instead of 800... I'm hoping it was just the battery but I think its definitely the trans switch...


Turns out battery was fine, and its definitely the neutral safety switch. How hard are these to replace?

 

I was going to replace mine a while back, but ended up not needing to in the end. The XYZ switch itself isn't that hard to get to and replace from what I remember, but from what I've heard they can be a pain sometimes to get the shifter to show the right position or something like that when you're getting the replacement on. Has to be lined up correctly I believe. I'm not too sure as I haven't had to do it.

Replacements are expensive, even used. You can drill the rivets out that hold it together and clean the inside if it's corroded, then put it back together using some screws and nuts. I did that with my spare and used some allen head screws I got in a set with a bunch of other sizes off amazon to hold it back together. Makes it easily servicable in the future. There's also a drain tube that drips on to it which people suggest to reposition, I believe it's the AC condesation drain.

My issue actually ended up being the transmission controller located under the driver seat, not the battery or XYZ switch. I bought a used one off ebay for under 20 bucks and haven't had any issues for about a year now. That's the cheaper route before you replace the switch itself. Flashing M&S can be hard to diagnose by just looking at codes. I'm sure there's a better way to troubleshoot, but these are the most common fixes related to it.

 

hey 11chuck, how'd you figure out it was your transmission controller?

Also another thing I didnt mention, when I shift into drive the lights indicating what gear I'm in do not flash in either drive or reverse. It stays solid in park and neutral.

Thanks!

 

Well I remember the code was a low voltage code, probably some others also. After going through some other troubleshooting, I went to unplug the controller to see if it was fully seated and the side and front panel of the seat was missing and the controller was just kinda sat in there not bolted down. That gave me a hunch, obviously someone had been down there before. If I remember right, my battery was good, all connections were good, gear indicator showed correct selection, I could clear the codes and it would be fine until I turned it off and back on, and the transmission shifted perfect when they werent flashing. I also remember reading somewhere about the board in the controller getting messed up and causing issues. I figured it was really cheap to replace, and it worked out. I had also bought the switch just in case and now I have that as a spare if I need it. Switch was about $100 used, controller was less than $20 used from a good working vehicle.

You could probably do some electrical troubleshooting with a multimeter and some diagrams, but I'm too lazy for that. I mostly just throw money at stuff and hope for the best.

This was when I just purchased the Rover btw. It was extremely poorly maintained, but not many come up for sale around here for the price I got it for and I wanted another vehicle to drive daily. Basically just wanted a 4wd V8 and that's what I found and I kinda fell in love with it. I would have liked a 4wd GM truck with a gen 3 or 4 engine but people want WAY too much money for high mileage vehicles around here. It's almost laughable how bad it is.

 

Is there anything I should know before I start messing around with the switch or transmission controller? Like what gear should the truck be in, park or neutral, or does it even matter? And anything else that I should be aware of?

Thanks!

 

Unplugging the battery is always a safe practice when messing with electronics. I'm not sure when it comes to the switch. You just have to make sure the gear selections are correct.

 

Alright, cool will do 11chuck. So another thing I noticed last night.

After work I decided to warm my truck up since it's been sitting for the better part of 2 days and I noticed that the odometer, which I had it in km (because I thought it was cool), was in miles, and that the climate control was in auto at 22C, which the last time I had it on it was on HI with the fan on 1. So I took it around the block to check the transmission, and it had no m and s lights... but I was going super slow because I was worried, but I'm pretty sure it shifted to 2nd fine. Could it possibly be a bad fuse that's causing these issues and my transmission problems? The reason why I think a fuse might've blown is once I was in reverse and there was a ton of snow on my rear wiper and it got stuck like halfway... could that have blown a fuse? Idk what all the fuses are for, I still need to check it out like a schematic but I just wanted to ask and get other opinions