Help Needed - Handbrake Light Staying On

Hi everyone,

I'm posting this to try and get some help for my dad who bought a Freelander TD4 2001 about nine months ago. He recently noticed the handbrake light on the dash was flickering on and off and finally it stayed on altogether. He took it to the garage and they eventually said they had no idea what the problem was.

After searching online I found that there was a switch near the brake pedal so we took it out, clicked the plugger core and then plugged it back in and the handbrake light went off until car was driven a few miles. My dad then asked the garage to replace this switch as we'd read there was a newer switch with a harness but they said this wouldn't fit his model. So we just replaced the switch with the same type of switch and the light stayed on.

A possibly connected issue is that when it was in the garage the mechanic said that three other lights on the dash weren't lighting up at startup which should have been - these are ABS/HDC/TC and they have never been on since my dad bought the car plus the car was apparantly MOT passed by the garage he bought it from without these lights being on (?)

Any help would be really appreciated.

Emma

The handbrake light is also linked to the brake fluid level warning, so check that the brake fluid is up to level.

The ABS/HDC/TC or the '3 Amigos' should light when the ignition is turned on and go out after a self-test sequence.

The MOT is invalid if those lights weren't working, they are part of the MOT test and if fitted by the manufacturer, which they were, they have to be seen to be working, take it back. Might be worth contact Trading Standards as well, bent MOT's they love to get their teeth into, so perhaps also VOSA. Have a look at the MOT check sheet, those lights should be ticked as being OK.

Peter

Have a look in the freelander section. The 3 amigos are all connected and can be to do with the switch behind the brake pedal. Could also be a faulty abs sensor. Traction controll, abs and hill descent all work by checking the speed of each wheel and if it can't get a proper reading it will throw up the lights. Perhaps this was a problem the dealer didn't know how to fix and they whipped out the bulbs?


As said previously a flickering handbrake light then turning to solid might suggest brake fluid level, but surely that's the first thing a garage would check? I don't know but there should be a switch down by the handbrake, maybe that's to blame?