Hello!

I have a 2003 V8 Discovery 2 that went for a swim...

The engine is fine fortunately, bit lumpy but I'm putting that down to a mucky MAF and probably some sooty O2 sensors as a result - No bent conrods or bust valves!

The gearbox however is giving me cause for concern. It's able to go into reverse and drive but won't change gear. Stays in the one gear, slow up to 60mph but gets there (only done this a couple of times to try and get it to drop down)

I've drained all the ATF and yes, it was milky and clearly had a lot of water in it. It's fairly clear now after a cycle of changes and has a new filter etc.

I'm wondering if it's the Bosch Transmission Controller that was underwater too. There are no M+S Flashing lights when it's plugged in but there's clearly some sign of electrical greenery around some of the connectors.

Before I buy a new one, is this the likely cause of the problem? I sort of get what they do but I was under the impression that gear changes occur as a result of pressure rather than electrical signals.... Probably being a bit of a tard here.

Seemed ok immediately after the 'incident' although gear changes felt like aggressive rather than smooth.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers

Si

You are being blanked.. I would suspect because you have not paid attention to protocol and introduced yourself first
A good start would be to go down this road first. There are members on this forum who have forgotton more about auto gearboxs than you or I will ever know
That said, your gearbox is in part electronic, it is probably the most sensative and expensive part of the vehicle after the engine and you appear to have totally shagged it.
It needs to go to a specialist for repair rebuild. All the fluid needs to be remove including that in the TC. If after that, you may find your problem is with the xy switch, It dont like getting wet.
Best bet, if your not already a member join the AA/RAC, give it a day and get it recovered to a specilist. Get a quote first. You may find the total bill quite shocking.
Good luck, and welcome.


.

simeonuk said:

Hello!

I have a 2003 V8 Discovery 2 that went for a swim...

The engine is fine fortunately, bit lumpy but I'm putting that down to a mucky MAF and probably some sooty O2 sensors as a result - No bent conrods or bust valves!

The gearbox however is giving me cause for concern. It's able to go into reverse and drive but won't change gear. Stays in the one gear, slow up to 60mph but gets there (only done this a couple of times to try and get it to drop down)

I've drained all the ATF and yes, it was milky and clearly had a lot of water in it. It's fairly clear now after a cycle of changes and has a new filter etc.

I'm wondering if it's the Bosch Transmission Controller that was underwater too. There are no M+S Flashing lights when it's plugged in but there's clearly some sign of electrical greenery around some of the connectors.

Before I buy a new one, is this the likely cause of the problem? I sort of get what they do but I was under the impression that gear changes occur as a result of pressure rather than electrical signals.... Probably being a bit of a tard here.

Seemed ok immediately after the 'incident' although gear changes felt like aggressive rather than smooth.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers

Si

Click to expand...

gear change is ecu controlled

Thanks for the advice so far! I've now posted in the new member thread so hopefully I'm now complying with protocol Thanks spanishlair!

I've drained and refilled the gearbox, driven it and repeated until there's no sign of milky/watery fluid. I think that covers the TC?

I'm not sure where the xy switch is but I'm going to just have to take a risk and order the Gearbox ECU replacement.

I don't have the cash to get specialist work done. I have myself, some tools and some boys in my barracks with some Land Rover Defender experience that help out all they can.

I have an ECU faultcode reader and I'm wondering if there's another hook in point other than under the steering wheel. Does that cover the gearbox ecu too?

Cheers again for all the help!

simeonuk said:

Thanks for the advice so far! I've now posted in the new member thread so hopefully I'm now complying with protocol Thanks spanishlair!

I've drained and refilled the gearbox, driven it and repeated until there's no sign of milky/watery fluid. I think that covers the TC?

I'm not sure where the xy switch is but I'm going to just have to take a risk and order the Gearbox ECU replacement.

I don't have the cash to get specialist work done. I have myself, some tools and some boys in my barracks with some Land Rover Defender experience that help out all they can.

I have an ECU faultcode reader and I'm wondering if there's another hook in point other than under the steering wheel. Does that cover the gearbox ecu too?

Cheers again for all the help!

Click to expand...

Hi Si, if you haven't already ordered it, don't buy a new transmission ECU yet!

Your problem is very likely to be caused by the external switch on the passenger side (UK) of the gearbox, sometimes referred to as the "XYZ switch".

There may be two issues here:

1. The electrical connector that connects the switch to the loom may need a good clean. Use a proper switch cleaner not WD- 40.

2. It may be the switch itself that has suffered water contamination. Clean as above.

Both of the above will cost you little or nothing and may well rectify the issue - what have you got to lose?


Dave

Cheers Dave, I'll go give that a try and let you know how I get on.

I haven't ordered anything yet, phew!

Si

simeonuk said:

Cheers Dave, I'll go give that a try and let you know how I get on.

I haven't ordered anything yet, phew!

Si

Click to expand...

I suppose it would make sense to 'switch cleaner' the EATS connects as well. Is it still under the front passenger seat?

OK, so today was fairly productive in workload but I'm still left with the same problem! Argh!

Took the XYZ switch off and stripped it apart completely. Didn't look wet or like it had had any water ingress at all. Still cleaned it thoroughly and ensured there were good contacts all round. Also cleaned the electrical connector but to no avail.

I've checked the fault codes again and P0600 sits on there too which suggests a serial connection failure to the Transmission ECU... Back to this again.

Stripped that apart completely and it certainly looked poorly... A lot of electrical scaring across connectors, resistors and chips. It's more than likely fried. Very frustrating. Attempted to clean it and remove all the 'greenery'.

The main ECU can tell when its connected or not but can't seem to send it commands or get it to change gear. Think I'm going to have to order a replacement ~£40 on eBay.

The Harman Kardon amp is also completely fried. Winner! Ordered a new MAF for it today as it won't idle with the old one one. Tried cleaning that too. Hopefully that gets the engine running smoothly again at which point I'll get all the O2 sensors out for a de-carbon. Probably going to have to do the sparks as well.

Next weekend is looking busy...