Disco II TD5 cuts out when put handbrake off

As the title says, today my disco always cuts the engine off when I take the handbrake off. The car also cut out whlle driving and the whole dash went blank - it took a couple of minutes before I could start it again. Car starts OK and will happily sit there ticking along!
Any ideas why this is happening?

discoqueen said:

As the title says, today my disco always cuts the engine off when I take the handbrake off. The car also cut out whlle driving and the whole dash went blank - it took a couple of minutes before I could start it again. Car starts OK and will happily sit there ticking along!
Any ideas why this is happening?

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I reckon the handbrake mechanism is shorting something out when you take it off.

Strip the centre console to check.

It sounds like a bad earth to me.It sounds like your landy is using your handbrake as an earth. Try putting a jump lead straight from the battery and onto the engine/gearbox. If this cures it you'll need to add another earth strap or two.

Many thanks for your replies - forgive my ignorance but why would it suddenly need an earth? is the handbrake wired up to the electrics?

no but thers is an earth connected to top drivers side of transfer box

Normally, the engine has an earthing strap to the chassis and the negative on the battery is akso connected to the chassis. If these fail, electricity will try and find the next easiest route, and unfortunately on Land Rovers, the next easiest is through the handbrake cable. I extreme cases it can melt the inner lining of the cable meaning new cable!
Cheers!

Graham Carter said:

Normally, the engine has an earthing strap to the chassis and the negative on the battery is akso connected to the chassis. If these fail, electricity will try and find the next easiest route, and unfortunately on Land Rovers, the next easiest is through the handbrake cable. I extreme cases it can melt the inner lining of the cable meaning new cable!
Cheers!

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^^^^he is spot on worth looking at^^^^^^^

As Ratty says, and if that makes no difference try connecting the earth from the neg battery terminal to a good body earth!

After I fitted a new abs sensor the handbrake warning light came on (handbrake off) and stayed on until I had travelled a few miles which suggests to me that the ECU has an effect on it.

I have no warning lights on tho - but went under the bonnet today to find the active cornering enhancement fluid is low - can this be the problem?

discoqueen said:

I have no warning lights on tho - but went under the bonnet today to find the active cornering enhancement fluid is low - can this be the problem?

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You won't get any warning lights on if the earth is poor. Did you try a temporary earth strap while you were under the bonnet?

haven't tried it yet - ****ing down with rain today and loaded with the cold, but will try tomorrow. I got a new battery 4 months ago but was from local car assessory shop and not Land rover specific. When it was fitted it was a much smaller battery than the original one and since then If I use the wipers/lights then the radio will cut out (or vice versa) looks like the battery cannot handle all the electronics!

Sorry meant to say - Many Thanks for all your replies!

discoqueen said:

haven't tried it yet - ****ing down with rain today and loaded with the cold, but will try tomorrow. I got a new battery 4 months ago but was from local car assessory shop and not Land rover specific. When it was fitted it was a much smaller battery than the original one and since then If I use the wipers/lights then the radio will cut out (or vice versa) looks like the battery cannot handle all the electronics!

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Once the engine is running the alternator is responsible for supplying the power to the electrical accessories. It sounds like it's had an earth fault that has been gradually deterioating.

Discoqueen, you asked if ACE fluid is low is this a problem -- YES
Top it up with fluid from Landrover, about £16 litre , and then inspect sysrem to find the leak. It is a sealed hydrolic system like brakes, and shouldn't go down. If your warning light comes on stop an dont drive any further. The damage to the system will be very expensive. Do a search, there is a fair bit of info around about the ACE system.
Paul.

The earth is fine - but when i had a look underneath there is oil (which I guess is the ACE fluid) coming from the handbreak/gearbox area. Does anyone know if the ACE pipes are around that area?

discoqueen said:

The earth is fine - but when i had a look underneath there is oil (which I guess is the ACE fluid) coming from the handbreak/gearbox area. Does anyone know if the ACE pipes are around that area?

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No they're not...might be the output seal of the transfer box

Looks like it will be going to a garage - i'm at a complete loss

did you get to the bottom of this problem as im having the same issue...