Freelander 1 TC Lights up.

Hippo MK1, 2000 build Date. 1.8K Engine. HG upgrade & Thermostat relocation done.
New owner here! *HDC not TC*

I got myself this lovely car and done about 1000 miles now. During a cleanup last weekend I've noticed that the HDC bulb does not illuminate when putting the shift gear yellow HDC handle down, but does illuminate during ignition on and goes off.

Pulling the boot up I did discover that one wire of the two wire connector to the HDC * handle was torn / cut. I've fixed the wire and now the dash light illuminate when putting the HDC handle down.

So far so good, but after driving another 250 miles today, on a straight highway line @ around 80mph - suddenly the HDC icon did illuminate and the engine started to rev up on it's own. I disengaged the gear and the engine keept crawling up to near 5800rpm for a second and suddenly dropped down to idle speed again. I've shut the engine down and started it again while rolling, the HDC went off, I could get the car into gear and keept driving for another 50 miles with no issues.

Anyone got pointers what could have done that? The HDC making the engine accelerate on it's own at 80mph worries me a lot.

Since I'm not utilizing the HDC yet, is there any safe way to disable the system with no warning light? Might be the wire related at the HDC handle or just coincidence?

Thanks in advance,

Cheers!

Are you talking about the HDC switch on the gear stick?

When switch on, the HDC warning light should flash. The switch is known to suffer from broken wiring, which is why it was moved to the centre console on later FL1s.

The TC light will only illuminate when there's a wheel spinning. Except when first switching on the ignition, which it should illuminate for a few seconds, along with all the other warning lights.

Uh yes. HDC - not sure how I got stuck on TC*, *Thanks! Will edit the Title.
Good to know that it's a common thing for the wire to break, so that decreases the chances that the last owner tried to tamper / hide, significantly!
But I'm curious why it randomly engaged @ 80mph and accelerated the car on it's own with me off the throttle (if it is related) - and how I could disable the system till I might find the cause of it.

(The car does not have Cruise Control - ) Not that I am aware of. (Switch is not there, nothing at the throttle body indicating otherwise)
Cheers

scorp said:

But I'm curious why it randomly engaged @ 80mph and accelerated the car on it's own with me off the throttle (if it is related) - and how I could disable the system till I might find the cause of it.

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Which light is coming on?

scorp said:

(The car does not have Cruise Control - ) Not that I am aware of. (Switch is not there, nothing at the throttle body indicating otherwise)

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A 1.8 won't have CC, unless it's had an aftermarket kit fitted.

Only FL1 autos got CC as an option, and the 1.8 wasn't available with an automatic box.

I'm not sure what has caused the car to raise engine revs - however, it is unlikely to be due to HDC as HDC will only cut in if the HDC switch is turned on AND the gearbox is in either 1st or reverse gears. I presume at 80mph you were in neither of those gears! I can never exactly remember how HDC functions, but it is also not designed to hold the car at a speed over 80mph for hill decents

It is strange that this would happen so soon after you have reattached the HDC switch wire, but my guess would be the Throttle Position Sensor on the accelerator peddle. The TPS is not used for ABS and I'm also pretty sure it isn't used for TC, but is used for HDC. If there was a fault with it therefore it would not throw the full (almost) monty 3 Amigos - but would (and I say this without checking documentation) throw the 1 Amigo HDC error lamp.

If you have a workshop locally with diagnostics kit that can connect to the Freelander ABS system, its probably worth getting the codes read to see if there's any stored errors relating to the TPS - or indeed any other faults.

A 2000 build 1.8 could possibly be using the early WABCO ABS system or (more likely) the later Teves system - and the actual brake components could be earlier solid disks (on the front) or later vented disks with larger vacuum assistance thingie. So be careful when buying parts.

The yellow light with the ! Sign came on during that incident. I've investigated further and now the 3 amigos illuminate just at ignition on and turn off, all good. Except engaging the HDC handle now does nothing at all.

I've done quite some restoration work on the Hippo, it has the Wabco abs and vented front disks. Thanks for the pointers!

Im going to plug the Autel Autolink al619 unit in tomorrow and see what comes up.
Cheers

scorp said:

The yellow light with the ! Sign came on during that incident. I've investigated further and now the 3 amigos illuminate just at ignition on and turn off, all good. Except engaging the HDC handle now does nothing at all.

I've done quite some restoration work on the Hippo, it has the Wabco abs and vented front disks. Thanks for the pointers!

Im going to plug the Autel Autolink al619 unit in tomorrow and see what comes up.
Cheers

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Pretty sure the WABCO cars never had vented disks, so that's presumably something you've modified. Presumably you then had to take over the calipers and the original wheels won't have fitted then.

Not sure which Autel it was, but I tried one on my '99 L Series Freelander and it couldn't see the engine ECU, but did communicate with the WABCO ABS.

Hello!
Right, so it is actually the new ABS system Teves. I've got to choose 2001 onward on Autel device to read the ABS computer.

Vin (chassis no.) matches vented disks, I've ordered and replaced those along pads, brake lines and a caliper rebuild kit and did fix everything. The abs wheel sensor is rusted to the axle hub on both sides but still works so didn't touch it beyond cleaning the ring and sensor.
Got new drums and shoes / brake anker for the rear too.


The Autel unit can read the Obd2 just fine and clear the errors (had misfire cylinder 3when I bought the car, new coils, lines and spark plugs and all is well, cleared the error with the Autel and it didn't come back.

So this is what's stored today:
No engine fault codes, ABS has error code C1146 Can Signal TPS error.



Time to put the rave disks out and do some investigation.

Thanks again everyone.
Cheers!

scorp said:

Hello!
Right, so it is actually the new ABS system Teves. I've got to choose 2001 onward on Autel device to read the ABS computer.

Vin (chassis no.) matches vented disks, I've ordered and replaced those along pads, brake lines and a caliper rebuild kit and did fix everything. The abs wheel sensor is rusted to the axle hub on both sides but still works so didn't touch it beyond cleaning the ring and sensor.
Got new drums and shoes / brake anker for the rear too.


The Autel unit can read the Obd2 just fine and clear the errors (had misfire cylinder 3when I bought the car, new coils, lines and spark plugs and all is well, cleared the error with the Autel and it didn't come back.

So this is what's stored today:
No engine fault codes, ABS has error code C1146 Can Signal TPS error.

View attachment 198659 View attachment 198660

Time to put the rave disks out and do some investigation.

Thanks again everyone.
Cheers!

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Going by the symptoms and that error code, I recon you need a replacement TPS.