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Home > General & Technical (L663) > Emergency towing P400e

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o-ren-ishii

Member Since: 25 Jul 2023
Location: The Hague
Posts: 41

Emergency towing P400e

Hi all,

I had an interesting situation. We got into electrical trouble in the border zone of Georgia/ Azerbaijan. After being stuck in the mud for a while the car stated 'electrical malfunction, please stop safely' (or similar message). The battery drained within an hour an long story short we had to leave the car behind for a couple of days.

Second problem was due to the mud road there was not way a tow truck could come. Best option would be to tow the car with a second car to the nearest hard-road. But in order to do so I needed to release the electronic parking brake (EPB) and the gearbox into neutral. Both without power.

The EPB release can be done by unbolting the electronic motor on the back brakes and manually releasing the brake. The neutral should be possible by toggling a lever near the engine block.

Problem is: this lever doesn't exist anymore. I hear conflicting stories by dealer and other specialists. There might be a bolt to the side of the gearbox to select neutral via. But others say it's not an option on vehicles after 2023 and possible especially the hybrids.

This SUCKS! If you get into trouble somewhere even tow truck recovery will be troublesome to get the car on a bed. Maybe only a big hoist type car can be used. Quite useless in the conditions the defender is meant to be used.

Does anybody have more info on putting the 2023 and beyond cars in neutral?

Click image to enlarge

1st Oct 2024 6:54am

lightning

Member Since: 23 Apr 2009
Location: High Peak, Derbyshire
Posts: 2982

Are you not able to fit a good battery and select neutral in the normal way?

1st Oct 2024 8:15am

CincyRovers1

Member Since: 30 Nov 2023
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Posts: 117

Here's a video from Simon at Powerful UK on how to put newer Defenders into neutral. my 2021 110 S P300 has the physical cable.

𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏𝟎 𝐒 𝐏𝟑𝟎𝟎 (Pangea Green over Acorn/Lunar)
𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐒 (Dolomite Silver over Black/Bordeaux Red)
𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐇𝐒𝐄 𝐋𝐮𝐱𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐢𝟔 (Aintree Green over Vintage Tan/Ebony) - Gone
𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟏 𝐋𝐑𝟒 𝐇𝐒𝐄 𝟓.𝟎 (Ipanema Sand over Almond/Arabica) - Gone

1st Oct 2024 12:38pm

o-ren-ishii

Member Since: 25 Jul 2023
Location: The Hague
Posts: 41

Thanks. And thanks for sharing yours has the mentioned “neutral override “ lever.
Mine (2023 75th p400e hybrid) doesn’t have.

I’m aware of the electronic procedure. But I’m looking for one to put the car in neutral without power.

Some people think the blue bolt on the side of the gearbox, displayed on the picture i posted might be an override but I haven’t found somebody to confirm yet.

2nd Oct 2024 12:06pm

lightning

Member Since: 23 Apr 2009
Location: High Peak, Derbyshire
Posts: 2982

My post was ignored. l assume that my suggestion was not viable or there was some other reason why it wouldn't work.

15th Oct 2024 6:44pm

o-ren-ishii

Member Since: 25 Jul 2023
Location: The Hague
Posts: 41

hi lightning, i didn't meant to ignore your reply of course. Because - like I stated in my start post - I had no battery left after the incident ( it was completely flat) that was not an option. "the normal way" for emergency towing is a series of "commands" pushing the throttle down and releasing in a specific order. If you want to know I can look it up for your. Just to clarify that's different to the "everyday" neutral. If you would/could select N with the gear shifter it will default back to park after 10 minutes, resulting in disaster when towing obviously.

I still hope to find out the function of the bolt to the side of gearbox, but since im still traveling (about 16000 km to get back home) I couldn't yet put it on the bridge and try it for myself. Unfortunately I havent found anyone who could confirm (or deny) the manual override possibility.

16th Oct 2024 8:25pm

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