Aaargh - PRNDS!

[HPsauce]

I'll give my old one "a quick rub down with the sporting life" and bolt it back together; just waiting for the fixings I ordered on eBay to arrive as I don't have anything of the right size for the job. £2.24 delivered, crazy world!

[MikkiJayne]

It'd be doable on the floor but not pleasant. Things I learned:

1, Move the headlight level sensor. Its right in the way of where your arm needs to be. Two M6 socket-head bolts to remove the bracket, undo the connector and release the wiring harness from the bracket and it'll just hang down out of the way:



2, Remove the driveshaft heat shield. Thats also in the way of your arm getting to the top gearbox mount bolt. It needs to be out of the way to move the mount. Already removed in this pic:



3, Move the exhaust. Its not worth trying to work around it - its just too tight. Remove the four bolts holding the downpipe to the n/s cat:



Then loosen the two bottom ones from underneath. You don't need to remove the downpipe, just loosen it so it will twist towards the side of the car by 1", hence you don't need to touch the top manifold bolt. These two can be accessed through the gap in front of the driveshaft:



Note my new stainless fixings which made this very easy for me, whereas old rusty factory nuts could really spoil your day. A 12mm ratchet spanner is pretty useful here.

4, Move the subframe brace out of the way. This is right where you need to be working.



5, The gearbox mount does not need to be split like the Audiworld article says, or even removed completely - just moved out of the way. The gearbox needs lifting to undo the bolts. I used a transmission jack with it up on the lift, but on the floor a trolley jack with a block of wood on the gearbox sump flange will do. Do NOT lift using the sump!!! Only the flange. You don't need to move it far, just take the weight off the three bolts. The bottom two are easy with an 8mm hex hey on an extension. The top one is much harder but doable. I used the same 8mm hex key on a 3/8" ratchet. There is space above the mount to move the ratchet, putting your arm in from in front of the inner CV joint. Two more bolts hold it to the subframe from underneath.

Once the three bolts are out you can shuffle the mount away from the 'box just enough to get to the switch, and the 'box does just sit there on only three mounts. It only drops a few mm when you take the jack away, but you will need to lift it again to get the mount back in.

6, You need a T27 Torx to get the switch off the gearbox but with the downpipe still in the car a standard 3/8 bit or allen-key type won't fit. I used just the bit from my set with a 10mm ratchet spanner to get in the space.



This tool is key to it being straightforward. Without something like this you'd need to take the downpipe off completely which will be a bit of a 'mare on a car with original hardware and the SAI stuff still in place.

[David's8]

Good write up MJ. Definitely a good alternative to the Audiworld methodology. As you said though, with all your new bolts etc in place it does make it a bit easier.

The combo of the ratchet spanner with the Torx bit is a neat solution rather than grinding down the Torx as per Audiworld,

[tintin]

Interesting and possibly useful for me too in the near future - I've had limp mode show up with the PRNDS lit up once in a blue moon, but - subjectively - it seems to happen a bit more frequently now.
It came on this morning, following a reverse off the drive, and stayed in limp mode as I drove off, but then disappeared and was ok when I turned the ignition off and then on again.

I could blame Neil, as he was the last person to drive it , but that would be deeply, deeply unfair, as he's also managed to improve the trip average consumption more than I'd thought possible!

[David's8]

Originally Posted by tintin

It came on this morning, following a reverse off the drive, and stayed in limp mode as I drove off, but then disappeared and was ok when I turned the ignition off and then on again.

Thats EXACTLY how mine started and that was the morning after driving to Preston and back in one day. So I couldn't blame anyone else!
You would probably find that whichever contacts are responsible for showing the car was in reverse to the TCU is the first to have contactor problems, possibly - and counter-intuitively - as its the least used. The car is then OK when you stop and start off in D or even S but as soon as you engage reverse again the system "sees" an implausible signal and goes into Limp mode.

[HPsauce]

Indeed. My own feeling is that once you start to see those symptoms it's an indication of internal wear that causes other oddness as well, so the sooner the better for replacing it.

Had a fair old drive this morning (to and from a Tesla test drive, more of which elsewhere) including passing through several "hot spots" that have shown up my problems in the past. All good.

[HPsauce]

Originally Posted by HPsauce

I'll give my old one "a quick rub down with the sporting life" and bolt it back together; just waiting for the fixings I ordered on eBay to arrive as I don't have anything of the right size for the job. £2.24 delivered, crazy world!

All done. I used M3 countersunk allen key bolts, 12mm long with stainless nyloc nuts.
15mm long (overall) would be fine and probably a bit easier to start the thread in the nut.
M4 would probably fit too, but I wanted to be sure the head was inside the small well that previously was for the end of a rivet.

I'll hang on to it as a spare, or if anyone is in desperate need.

[Architex_mA8tey]

Originally Posted by tintin

I could blame Neil, as he was the last person to drive it , but that would be deeply, deeply unfair, as he's also managed to improve the trip average consumption more than I'd thought possible!

Ha! At least you now know I drove Herman with great respect and care!

[oldnick]

just realised something

only ever had this after using reverse[ same for everyone else I presume]

switch off and restart engine cures problem [ ditto ]

ONLY HAPPENS IF THE CAR HASN'T BEEN USED FOR A WEEK MINIMUM

so why is that ? wondered if it is connected with the fact that the [fresh ] battery drains , albeit slowly

anyone else observed this ?

[MikkiJayne]

For me it was temperature related. It would fail the first time it was moved after a cold start, but then once the engine was warm it would be fine for the rest of the day.