engine light, no revs when clutch is pressed

Hello everyone, Im really stuck and would appreciate any help. Ive got a 2002 defender 90 td5 pickup with the weirdest problem, when i start the engine it will rev up and run perfect but the second i put pressure on the clutch to put it in gear the engine light comes on and the throttle wont work at all. Ive been reading thru posts for ages and havent found a solution. I dont think its the potentiometer or the fuel pump thats causing this because i can jump it into gear in the low box without pressing the clutch and it drives around the yard fine. a friend of mine served his time on landrovers and he has never seen anything like it. Im miles from a landrover garage so just wanted to c what you guys thought before i go getting it towed to them. theres only 55,000 miles on it. thanks in advance.

the only link with clutch operation and engine management is switch on clutch master cylinder

jamesmartin is right(again) ... though it's just a simple switch actioned by pressure and it's there to prevent surge damping or cancel cruise controll when fitted... anyway, unplug it and if the symptom will dissapear u'll know what's the reason... this switch is closed with the clutch unpressed and opens when u press the clutch, u can measure it with an ohmmeter after u've unplugged it.... your problem though might be generated by an ECU missbehaviour which could act strangely when the 12V supply from the clutch switch is interrupted. That's all what connects the clutch to engine management.

Thanks for the replies, I plugged out the sensor on the clutch and the engine light comes straight away and still no revs. I think I'll get a sensor for it and try a new one anyway. They can't be that dear.

dannyboy3767 said:

Thanks for the replies, I plugged out the sensor on the clutch and the engine light comes straight away and still no revs. I think I'll get a sensor for it and try a new one anyway. They can't be that dear.

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bridge the pins in the plug with a paperclip or something and see what happens then(in this case it must act like the clutch is unpressed) ... if everything will return to normal u need a new switch....its not that expensive...but it's not normal to act like this(i mean unplugging it does not have to turn on the MIL) .... disconnect battery and check black plug of the ECM, maybe u see something strange there around pin 35... and for oil in the red plug too if u didnt check this yet and u are anyway there.

:doh::frusty: .... i might be wrong on this cos now i've realised that it's a defender ....though i suppose that the TD5 management must be quite similar

Have you got cruise control? The ECU needs to know when the clutch is depressed to disengage the cruise hence the pressure switch.

I bridged the switch and the problem went away, it needs a new switch, thanks for the help lads I was getting worried. It doesn't have cruise control so it's weird that it happened. I checked the red plug on the ecu and there was a little oil in, what causes that?

check the plug under front drivers side rocker cover injector loom comes out there and oil leaks through plug eventually to ecu ,replace injector loom £30ish clean other with spray cleaner both ends and often till dry