Hey all, long time no speak from me... I've been without a problem for years!!

I have a 2006 Vogue TD6.

The other day, the message flashes up, "transfer box neutral". Was able to keep driving, just a lot of bong, bong sounds.
Got sick of the bongs, crawled underneath and disconnected the plug on the transfer box shift motor. (Google told me this was a likely candidate for causing havoc). All bongs gone, kept driving OK without issue.

I pulled the shift motor out, inspected everything, cut open the potentiometer to investigate and everything looks like new. Everything was perfect. Bench tested all OK. Back in, problem still exists.

I then discovered my diagnostic tool wasn't seeing the transfer box ECU, so upgraded the firmware and bingo! Fault code from the transfer box, "0x5220 Sensor short circuit to ground (0x5220)". Should have solved that before pulling everything apart!!

Unplug the shift motor loom at the ECU, clear fault codes but I still get the same fault code.

I was able to drive still if I had the shift motor unplugged, but now the battery has been drained to zero overnight. Battery was definitely OK before this. At this point I'm assuming it is not a coincidence.

Clearly the issue is not the shift motor or wiring loom to the shift motor.... right?

Any bright ideas before I get a quote for a new ECU?



Lastly.... I don't know if this is a red herring, but as I have turned my attention to the ECU, I pulled it out and put the multi-meter on the pins. The workshop manual says pin 6 is "Actuator potentiometer 5 volt reference voltage". This tests as a short to the ground pins. Is this bad? Should the reference voltage be grounded when the ECU is offline? I'm stretching my electronics knowledge now.

Cheers. -Justin
2006 Vogue Td6

Following with interest as i had the same problem. Refurbished shift motor solved the problem.
Still sometimes a bong with neutral, every 2 months or so.

Update...

I used some clip leads to connect what I thought would be the minimum to the ECU and reconnected the battery.

Can bus, diagnostic port, high/low switch (difficult to not connect this), and ECU power.

Everything boots OK, I can clear fault code, but the sensor short to ground code still comes back from the transfer box ECU.

Looks like I'm sourcing a new ECU....

That being the case, I figured I might as well have a look at the ECU, but no chance of troubleshooting anything there for me. No regular size components, everything is tiny, and access to underneath the board means drilling out the mounts which are one time pressed in place.


Does anyone know where I might look for a second hand ECU (In Australia, or someone willing to post to Australia)? I'm scared what the new ECU price from Land Rover will be....

Inside of a transfer box ECU:

clemenz wrote:

Following with interest as i had the same problem. Refurbished shift motor solved the problem.
Still sometimes a bong with neutral, every 2 months or so.

Plenty for sale on UK eBay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R4...p;_sacat=0 .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

Any update cos have the same brb?

brb ? (be right back) .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

I found a workshop and parts supplier here that had a second hand ECU. They posted me an ECU and I tried fitting it just before Easter only to discover it doesn’t fit. Very similar but the sockets for wiring looms are in a different order on the ECU. The looms are basically an exact size from 2 different sides of the ECU housing so they don’t reach to the positions on my new ECU. Have to wait another few days until they’re open again and see about swapping it.

I’ve been driving fine without the ECU connected tho.

At first I only had the shift motor unplugged and the ECU had decided it was in low range even though I was in high range. Drove OK but the transmission was behaving differently, like keeping it in lock up causing lots of engine braking etc.

Since I’ve disconnected the ECU entirely I had the battery out. The battery disconnect has reset all the ECUs and now the default setting is assumed to be high range. Drives much better now! Done a few hundred kms since then and driving like normal without the ECU. Only 1 fault code remains from the ABS ECU saying CAN bus comms failure to the transfer case ECU.

Will update once I have yet another ECU to try.

BRB I guess. -Justin
2006 Vogue Td6