Yellow button on gear stick

Should also work in muddy conditions while offroading then ??

Hi Singvogel,
Not sure, but as I remember that's what I was told by an experienced LR mechanic with many years at competition level off roading.
I don't think pressing the accelerator over-rides it. I can go down a hill with some throttle and the hill decent keeps it at the "faster idle" speed. Sure I've been gunning it down a hill, lifted off to half throttle and felt it kick in.

chris2000 said:

Hi Singvogel,
Not sure, but as I remember that's what I was told by an experienced LR mechanic with many years at competition level off roading.
I don't think pressing the accelerator over-rides it. I can go down a hill with some throttle and the hill decent keeps it at the "faster idle" speed. Sure I've been gunning it down a hill, lifted off to half throttle and felt it kick in.

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I believe you of course when you say that someone told you that, Chris.

But it doesn't agree with the handbook or my off-roading experience.

I usually do switch on the HDC when I'm off-road - but only to add extra 'feet-off' assistance when going downhill.

I've never entered any off-road competitions but I've driven many hundreds of miles off-road in the Balkans on tracks that a UK farmer would hesitate to take a tractor and I've found that the Freelander 4X4 system is the most user friendly that I've come across.

I'm eager to hear from others what they think of the HDC used as a 'Hill Ascent Control'

S.

banditste said:

Hi, pardon my ignorance but i dont have a clue where to find the answer for this...

On my 1999 FreeLander there is a yellow button on the gear stick... i have absolutely no idea what it does and how to make it work

can someone tell me what i have to do to make it work AND what it is supposed to do... please

thats if it even works in the first place haha

Thanks, Ste

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how did you ever think you were going to get sensible suggestions lol.

yellow button is land rover trying to re-create the DB5 ejector seat

Don't like un-answered things like this but I cannot find an answer.
One other forum suggest it's good idea for hill climb - incase you fail and have to come back down it backwards in a hurry. Also said they think it makes traction control more sensitive/quicker response.
Hill Descent Control: Uphill
The handbook says on page 115
CLIMBING STEEP SLOPES
ALWAYS follow the fall line of the slope -
travelling diagonally could encourage the
vehicle to slide broadside down the slope.
Select gear selector position ‘1’ and engage hill
descent control (HDC). If the surface is loose or
slippery, use sufficient speed in the highest
practical gear to take advantage of your
vehicle's momentum. However, too high a
speed over a bumpy surface may result in a
wheel lifting, causing the vehicle to lose
traction. In this case try a slower approach.
Traction can also be improved by easing off the
accelerator just before loss of forward motion

Unfortunatly it doesn't say why use HDC

I think we are in agreement here Chris - I would like to know more too.

The bit about 'if you fail and have to come back down' rings a bell with me from a LandRover Experience day.

I would imagine thats why on Page 115 they say to use HDC.

S.

In case it goes tits up and you end up going going back down quickly???

Traction control is active all the time. This will help you up hill as it abs pulse brakes spinning wheels, transferring the power to wheels which don’t spin as they have grip.

HDC is only active in 1st (1 for auto's too) or reverse. Touching brakes or accelerator stops it working but lifting oft will allow it to work again. It’s active whenever your feet are oft so you can play with putting your feet on and oft and it will still work again with feet oft.

Peeps say to use HDU uphill to help you if you need to reverse due to failure. But it won't help you up hill. You only need to switch it on when you choose to reverse down the hill after failure.

banditste said:

i will say agin, i have only EVER off roaded motorcycles and still do...
i have stalled bikes down hill because you can only really use your back brake... use it too much and you lock up causing the bike to stall!!!
you can very rarely use your front brake downhill unless you want to go arse over tit haha

engine braking doesnt work either because my bike is a 2 stroke... engine braking doesnt exist!!! lol

so again pardon my ignorance... im only looking for advice

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You might want to get some proper off road training on your bike. The front brake is by far the best way to control your speed on a descent. Relying on the rear brake alone just means you have little or no control.