1997 Range Rover 4.6L HSE with Automatic transmission won't move in any gear. 12?K miles on the odometer.

A friend of mine owns this vehicle and I am trying to figure out why it won't engage the transmission. So here is the history so far.

Old engine leaked coolant into the oil. She drove it to its present location and shut it down. From there it would not restart. I found that it had not blown the intake gasket and suspected either a bad head or head gasket. And yes the engine had overheated. So her husband replaced the engine. Engine does run but has a misfire and is hard to start. Once started it will idle.

She said the trans fluid was milky pink and her husband changed it along with new trans filter.

I and a co worker check the transmission and all the plugs are connected, the torque converter is bolted to the flex plate.

Check Engine lamp is on yet the PCM shows that all is fine when I connected my scanner up to it. Dash information panel flashed not to go over 35 miles per hour. Only other things it flashes is about the windows and doors which one window was rolled halfway down and the drivers door was open. I asked the owner if her husband tried to move the vehicle with all the doors closed and he had. Also the SRS, brake lamp and something else were all lite up on the instrument panel.

The vehicle drove fine before the engine mishap and won't move now. What should I test/look for? And does this vehicle have a electronic transfer case or is it full time AWD?

 

Yes, electronic transfer case. Electric motor moves case to various positions and rotary switch signals dash and computer control units involved. If you download the RAVE shop manual series (links below) you'll find both mechanical and electrical sections that cover it. You may have the unit out of sync with the BeCM controller. Here's some pages from the manual.

 

Make sure everything is plugged in and all the grounds are tight. the brake light will go off when it drives.

 

Thanks guys for your help.

Savannah Buzz, if I am reading the info correctly to reset the transfer case and BeCM I need to have the gear shift in park and install a 5 amp fuse into socket 11 there at the passenger seat and wait for the audible and visual message at the message center saying the Transfer Neutral? I suspect I need to put the fuse in before I turn on the key of after? The information was not clear on that account.

Rovin4life, we will double check the grounds and connectors again. Thank you on the brake light information.

 

Brake lamp or ABS lamp? ABS lamp stays on until it moves, but the brake light shouldn't be on unless your fluid is low or the emergency brake is engaged. When shifting through the gears, do they light up as you go through them, does it say what gear you are in on the instrument display, and will sport mode engage?

 

It is the ABS lamp that is on.

The gear shifter LED's light up all the way through the selection, did not notice if the information center displays the gear. I will check that out Thursday when I go back to the vehicle.

Did not try engaging the Sport Mode. I will also try it.

 

Thanks for your help guys. We were able to do the fuse trick on slot 11 of the BeCM fuse panel and the vehicle moved. Had to add 3/4 of a quart of transmission fluid to get it into reverse smoothly but it immediately went into drive.

 

I need your guys help if possible, as I am new to this forum, and cant seem to start a new thread.

We have a Range Rover DSE 1995 Automatic, and it now wont go into gear. The gear lever was stiff to move into reverse, but all of a sudden, it eased off, and moved freely, but now wont go into any gear at all, and the dashboard says it is stuck in 2nd gear, so cant put it into neutral to start the car. We need some advice as to what this could possibly be? This is the 1st Range Rover we have had so it is all new to us.

 

Check underneath the truck at the transmission to see if the linkage is loose. If it was stiff and suddenly became free that is what I would expect.

 

I am having almost the exact same issue with my RR. I actually pulled the BECM out and cleaned it up, then re installed it. So now it is doing the exact same thing, it won't go into any gear. The lights on the sifter all seem to work, it makes a grinding noise when I go to put it back in park. I am having a lot of trouble trying to get those attachments down loaded that Savannah Buzz put in here to get the actual steps to doing the fuse sync. Can anyone be a little overly specific as to how I can try that trick? Does the key need to be on, if there was a fuse in it already does that matter? Fuse 11 on my panel for the fuse box does not show that socket goes to anything? I am almost 100% that this is the issue, especially considering I have trans fluid, the trans tries to go into park. Any help would be nice, the shop I have it at is completely mystified as to what is wrong and I don't want them ripping into anything especially my wallet!

Please help!!