I have a 97 RR 4.0 SE. I bought it bieng told that it had needed a tranfer ECU. It has the dreaded "select neutral" on the message center and the illumination around the gear selector on the high side just flashes as soon as you start car. You can get it to say that it switches ranges on the message center but no avail. I put the fuse in for the transfer neutral feature and and it displays tranfer neutral but still goes into gear and drives. Shifts hard but goes thru all gears as if in LOW range, will not break 30 mph. My first Rover. I have unplugged the tranfer ECU and started the truck. Message reads gearbox fault then but it still goes into gear. Plug it back in and message goes away. Same results with it plugged in just no message center message. All fuses related are good. I was wondering if it could still be the transfer ECU or maybe if the the shift motor could be stuck? Not really sure and pulling my hair out... Any suggestions or things to check? Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Would suspect the ratio control motor. It looks like an old skool windshield wiper motor. You could remove it from the transfer case, and reconnect it to the wiring plug, then have someone command high/lo shifts while in PARK or N, and see if motor moves. You may be able to reach into the transfer case and operate whatever the motor turns against to select the right gear.

In the RAVE there is a good deal of info on this in file "LP" (lower case), subfile "wmlp990e", section 41, Transfer Box.

 

ok, to get it back into high range you actually have to jump the motor to put it in the right spot. this is difficult as the only way to check it is to jump the motor and measure the resistance on certain pins to determine what position it is in.

Take off the rear driveshaft and take off the rear ebrake and take out the motor and then with a dvom you can spot what position the motor is in. then by applying power and reversing polarity it will move back and forth. don't keep power on it all the time or else it will go to the end. give it a bit of juice and it will move to the right position eventually. but you have to keep checking the resistance to see the effect.





2. If TestBook is unavailable, the encoder switches can be tested manually by measuring at the TCU
with the breakout box installed.

Disconnect the connector and measure continuity between encoder ground and the four switch
connector terminals. See Figure 3 for terminal positions.
NOTE: The switch state information in some older ETMs is not correct. Use the table below for
shift control motor encoder switch state analysis.
Motor Encoder Switch States Motor Encoder Position
Terminal 1 Terminal 2 Terminal 3 Terminal 4
Pin 17 Pin 32 Pin 31 Pin 7
Open Open Open Closed Left Stop
Open Closed Open Closed Left of High
Closed Closed Open Closed High Range
Closed Closed Closed Closed Right of High
Open Closed Closed Closed Zone 1
Open Closed Closed Open Neutral
Closed Closed Closed Open Zone 2
Closed Open Closed Open Low Range
Closed Open Closed Closed Right Stop

 

Thank you guys for all of the help. I am going to take the old multi-meter and test the motor. Is there a default ohm reading for when it is in High range position? Also was wondering if that would account for the light turning off almost immediately when you select the sport mode setting on the console? No sport mode for 4 wheel low? When removing the motor, do you need to mark the armiture or spline or whatever it has before testing? I havent seen whats on the inside yet so was just wanting a heads up. Thanks guys

 

Here's the section from the manual. Perhaps you could bump the 12 volt a little each way to see if it will find its way home.

Ohms of motor not an issue. Dry contacts from four switches operated by motor as it turns are what you are looking at. Switch 1,2,4 should be closed, switch 3 = open, in high range. Use these readings, they agree with workshop manual and Rover4life.

Attached is the section from the electrical guide. You can download your own set, it is part of the RAVE below. I could not send you the entire section from the shop manual, it is too large unless zipped. There are a few pages from section 41 attached.

I believe what may be the best path is to disconnect the connector from the ECU for transfer case, and do testing from there, a lot easier than from under the truck.

 

what you don't understand is the motor already is off and you need to bump it to the right position. if you want to sit underneath the truck and bump it till its right then go ahead. you need the right pins that fit into the motor and something that will run to a battery or a jump pack.

but basically each switch will be open or closed circuit. basically over the limit or zero ohms.

 

I had similar issues with my P38. Ultimately it was a combination of several things.

First thing is first though....if you need to drive your RR, it is very simple to pull the T-case shift motor (3 or 4 10mm bolts I think) there will be an arm about an inch coming straight out shaped like a triangle where it goes into the shift motor. Simply grab a pair of pliers, get a firm grip and turn it clock wise until it stops. (only about a quarter turn I think) then, voila, youre back in high...But that doesn't solve your problems. Let me ask you, when you use your blinkers, are you hearing an audible click each time the light flashes??? If the answer is no, then that is a symptom of having a bad tcase ecu. (which was ultimately my problem, along with the shift motor solenoid) If it turns out to be a bad ecu, i have a spare tcase and a spare transmission ecu.

 

You still have to get the solenoid in the right position. Then you can turn the gear to the correct position if it the solenoid is off the vehicle.