E38 gear selecter question/issue

[jhonmagee]

i had a question bout the Highlights of the gears on the instrament cluster my gears dont light up i did a cluster test on test 2 and they light up wil the car start witout a cluster?i hav replaced the nuetral switch 3 times the wire harness the ecu the tcu and relays and fuses checked for a short dnt see any burned wires does anyone hav a diagram for this?its lik tryin to start the car in drive it wont even crank it because it doesent see the gears where else can i check?also wat is tht module on the passenger side behind the carpet is tht the general module?please i need sum help on this......

[psjr]

You'll want to check the TCU and the thransmission Position Selector Switch which is on the side of the transmission. Do a search to find more info about it.
Sometimes with that problem the car will start if you hold the key for 10+ seconds.

The General Module is behind the glovebox on the passenger side.

[jhonmagee]

but wat does the general module do? and yes i can hold the key thier for hours it doesent make a difference Lol!

[Mayorchuck]

What Paul said. Also, the module under the carpet is the LCM, Light Control Model, aka Light Check Module.

[jhonmagee]

yes i hav replaced the tcu and tht selecter switch 3 times already ive had the switch tested on another e38 to but wen i put it on this one i get no responce at all

[Mayorchuck]

Have you ever had it properly diagnosed by a shop with the proper BMW software?

[jhonmagee]

and ooh ok ya im jus iliminating things i cant fugure out wat is wrong wit it i jus go one day park it and it never turned on again after tht it jus ent crank u can put it in reverse it wil show no lights it has no light on the gear selecter on the instrament cluster

and yes i hav they canot even tel me wat is wrong wit it they told me my ecu and my key and al tht is reading they say they dnt kno wats wrong wit it

it has been to 2 shops already i hav to take it to 1 more and if not then off to the dealer it wil go

[Mayorchuck]

Neutral safety switch maybe? Read thru this entire thread. Good info top to bottom. Maybe there is something there you have not tried.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1681862

[DUDMD]

Could be an EWS issue or EWS module problem.
If the EWS doesn't detect P or N, it will not allow you to crank the car.

Not having the gear display functioning correctly leads me to believe the TCU is acting up.
You need to diagnose the problem with INPA/GT1/BMW Scanner, most likely it will give you a fault code that will point into the direction of the problem.

[jhonmagee]

ya i wil swap the ews again later but i bet it wil stil not hightlight the gear tho

yes i hav 2 tcu's u swap them every now ad then stil no change

[jhonmagee]

ok so i swapped ews it stil does the same..........

[GSXRliterbikz]

ok so i swapped ews it stil does the same..........

Did you code it. You can't just plug modules in and expect them to work. They need to be coded.

[jhonmagee]

so i hav a list of thing tht i replaced

tcu
nuetral switch
ecu
ews
starter
wire harness
fuses
relays ...or if there ones i dnt kno about?
mass air flow
ignition switch

also i hav replaced the gear position thin on the shifter assembaly up top
i am so beyond clueless wat my problem is one thing the car does also sometimes it wil go in safe mode and wont even say on the dash the gear indication lights arent workin on the dash did a cluster test they do light up wen tested i hav tried everythin! any ideas?

oh and sometimes the dash wil die as soon as u start the car lik the cluster gaguges wil die but al other lights on the bottum wil stay on so i would hav to start it up a couple more times for it to get bak on

[M I C H A E L]

IF it's going into transfailsafe you need to get the codes ran... Have you check your fluid level? thats the most overlooked thing on these cars.

[Mayorchuck]

Have you ever had it properly diagnosed by a shop with the proper BMW software?

Again I ask...

[psjr]

Again I ask...

+1... this would benefit greatly from and probably be quickly resolved by a look with BMW diagnostic software.

[jhonmagee]

yes i took it to 2 shops one told me it was the wire harness so i replaced it the other told me they could not communicate wit the tcu and yes they recoded al my modules al over again and stil the car does not work im loseing my mind already wit this

[psjr]

If they could not communicate with it you need to find a known working TCU and see how it performs. Do you know your 2 are good?
You could also try unplugging the ABS module as that could cause CAN bus issues, although I think diagnostics should see it on another bus.

[Qsilver7]

In the chart below...you can see all of the major & minor control modules...plus the Bus system they are connected to. Take note how the instrument cluster (IKE) is a MAJOR "gateway" control module...it communicates with all the Bus systems.

You can also see how BMW DIS (diagnostic & information system) has the ability to interact/communicate with all the components/systems of the car. Many non-BMW shops may not have full access...or may not understand how to communicate fully with everything.


http://www.bimmerboard.com/members/q/original/Bus%20Topology%20I%20-K-M-P-Can-Diagnostic.jpg

[jhonmagee]

wow ok thts a good diagram