Freelander 1 Electrical connection cleaner and auto lever shift

Evening all.

Have found P0705 fault code in me Freelander 1 v6 auto's computer. Seems to relate to either inhibitor switch input multiple signal/no signal or trans range selector circuit malfunction PRNDL input. Either way it could be an electrical connection problem, hence I'd like to know what electrical contact cleaner to use to clean the barrel connectors on the auto wiring harness below:

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Also, me auto shift lever moves from Park all the way down to 1st ok, but it's not as smooth a shift as it has been some years ago. It's the actual gear lever that seems to snap into position, when selecting auto gear options, rather than move to the next position with a normal push. Slowley got worse over time and now looking into this too. Not sure if it's related to the above fault. Found several bit's of info on the web that point to the inhibitor switch on top of the auto. Anyone ever changed one of these? Does it sound logical to do so?

The auto drives ok, changing and using all gears ok. The PRND display on the dash and next to the gear lever both display correctly.

Seen this in the professional motor mechanic mag Contralube 770 Connector Lubricant : Connector Lubricant : Maplin not tried it meself yet, but will pick a tube up soon.

Thanks. Nice ta see a fellow Freelander owner coming to the rescue.

Looks like cleaning the contacts and checking the earth is the way forward. Inhibitor switch is hard to trace a replacement. Think it's part no UHB000030. Have seen the rover guys talking of £100 a pop.

Does anyone know if I can remove the inhibitor switch and panel thing from the top of the auto, have a look at it, and put it back without it ####ing up? Is it sealed with glue stuff or a gasket?

Not sure about the inhibitor, but as a contact cleaner, if you have nothing better just use plain old WD40. We use a very similar product called ZX54, it does much the same thing, or try GT85. Don't soak it in it tho, just give the contacts a light spray, then cover with a piece of rag and let it do it's thing, I use it on the 12N trailer sockets all the time.

Been shopping today fer some of the contralude stuff, and also picked up some halfords electrical contact cleaner. Din't see the post above about cleaners till now. Also have a dust can ta blowed it out also. Will have a go over the weekend and report back.

Maybe the increasing gear selection stiffness can be attributed to the cable??

i wouldnt remove anything from box unless you know what your doing ,remove cable underneathe by all means and lube same with the two sockets

Will have a look at the cable and see if I can get something down it ta lubricate it a bit. Seems ta be the bit where it clicks into and out of the positions when it's said to be in gear. Just seems as if you have to apply more effort.

Yep was thinking the same about taking it apart. I don't know whats in there, and can't find enough details of the inhibitor switch and what it looks like, so I'll leave it alone. If it int broke... Just curious as it's me hawkeye thats telling me some of the signals are missing. It seems ta drive ok.

Nothing in the inhibitor switch to be frightened of, just contacts. 2 bolts to remove and half a dozen screws to open it up and check it after removal.

Thanks. May try cleaning the connector tomorrow. Also lubricate the cable. Then if it's no betterer, have a look at the inhibitor.

Found the tool LRT-44-018 fer setting up the inhibitor switch on top of the auto, in the Haynes manual. Gives the measurements so you can make yer own.

Another quick question...

Lubricating the auto cable: should I do it wiff 3 in 1 silicon spray, spray grease, or 3 in 1 spray oil. I have these already, wiff straws to direct the stuff down the cable. I'm thinking it may be full of ****e, as it's been through mud and water etc. Perhaps even try to pressure clean the cable tube wiff an air duster compressed air can too afterwards, to blow out the ****e when it's loosened up? Then re lube again?

Thanks

grease won't get very far and if you suspect it's full of ****e then the silicon spray is going to penetrate the best so try to flush it from the top till it finds its way out the bottom, then you could follow with oil after if you want.

Lubricated the barrel connectors a bit ago and caused the F4 flashing in the process, and a huge bang as it changed gear. So I had to clean up the connectors to get it to work ok again.

Done a resistance check on the connectors and all is ok.

resistance check = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTmdkDuKZ6A

This evening I disconnected the auto lever connection to the auto gearbox to see if it was the lever or gearbox that was notchy when moving the lever. Lever is ok. The resistance is in the auto. Not sure how, but it’s been like that for best part of 4 years so I’ll leave it alone.

To conclude, the P0705 error code never came back. Cleaning the connectors was difficult and I managed to cause it to fail into F4 flashing mode and lost drive due to either short circuits or isolating some of the signals in the auto's wiring harness. Not a good thing to do even by mistake. Cleaned the connectors out and dried them oft and everything was back to normal. Fault has never returned so I'm putting it down to a blip.

The resistance issue I mentioned is within the auto gearbox itself. It's not a problem so I left it alone. I have a spare auto and that has the same resistance so I'm going to take it apart and see why. Will report back when I do.