D2 Manual with Transmission Controller??

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Gingerbread

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79
I have a manual D2 2003. I was confused to find a transmission ECU under the passenger seat. Why on earth is there a transmission controller for a manual car? Could this be an automatic originally that has been converted?
controller.jpg
 
Yes, it seems that it's a converted auto cos i don't see other explanation for that TCM there... which IMO is not good news cos it's possible to be full of bodged up mods
 
The vehicle is in very good rust free condition. Hence why I bought it. What do you think could be the dodgy areas that I should look into?
 
I've seen two such converted vehicles myself and both were full of ugly improvisations on the clutch hidraulical and electrical side hence my concern but maybe you are lucky and somebody scrupulous converted it. where is the clutch switch fitted on your's ?
 
Are there any other areas that need to be checked over for potential bodges? How can I tell for sure if this is a conversion?
 
Are there any other areas that need to be checked over for potential bodges? How can I tell for sure if this is a conversion?

The no. in the 9th position of the VIN should tell you the factory configuration for the gearbox. For manual transmission on a RHD D2, it needs to be 7 which refers to any of the following -

LT77 5 Speed Manual, LT77S 5 Speed Manual, LT85 5 Speed Manual, R380 5 Speed Manual, PG1 5 Speed Manual

If it had an auto transmission, it would have no. 3 for the ZF 4
 
The 9th alpha numeric digit on the VIN is a 7.
So that confirms it was a manual from factory..........so why do I have a bosch transmission ecu??

Could it just be that it was standard fitment but just not utilised for a manual version??
 
My guess is that at some point they were in the process of converting it to auto and gave up when they realised what's involved. AFAIK, you even need to change the wiring harness.
 
Very strange. The loom doesnt look like its been modified. Could it possibly be because with late model disco2 ES with ACE there was some electronic feature that needed the transmission ecu to enable?
 
Is there any harm in trying to disconnect the transmission controller? Would I need to do something with a nanocom?
 
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