Freelander HDC & TC Warning Lights

Whilst driving to work on Friday, I noticed the Hill Descent Control & Traction Control warning lamps illuminated as in the image above.

Also realised later in the evening that my brake lights weren’t working either! After much reading of the RAVE CD and finding a link on the Scottish land Rover Owners’ Club, I came to the conclusion that the brake pedal switch was stuffed!

This morning I popped down to my local Land Rover dealer and bought the  requisite parts: -Switch (XKB500120)

Convertor Harness (YMQ503280)

Total cost was around £20. Could have got it cheaper online but I didn’t fancy driving around without brake lights for a few days whilst waiting for it to arrive. Also I would have probably bought just the switch which won’t fit the existing plug!

Brake light sw   loom 1

Here’s a picture of the switch with the convertor loom attached: –

Brake light sw   loom 2

It was then just a matter of removing the old switch by twisting it and then withdrawing it from its retaining bracket.The old switch can be seen to the left of the throttle pot in this picture. Notice the small item below the brake light switch. This is the brake pedal position sensor. Used by the automatic transmission and cruise control ECUs. Mine is a manual but this discovery could mean that I could fit cruise control 🙂

Old brake light switch

The new switch was then installed by inserting it into the retaining bracket and twisting. The loom was connected up and the ignition turned on. The HDC & TC lights then extinguished after the bulb check.

Compare the new switch to the old one! They are substantially different.The new switch also seems more robust than the older one!

Old brake light switch 2

Old Switch

New brake light switch

New Switch

Jason

GLR Webmaster & Contributor. In real life I'm a Software Engineer developing embedded software mainly in the automotive industry. Freelander 2 SE TD4 in Tonga Green Discovery 4 SDV6 HSE in Aintree Green Defender XS also in Tonga Green - Gone Freelander Td4 ES TD4 in Epsom Green - Gone Freelander Td4 Kalahari TD4 in Epsom Green - Gone Freelander XEi in Epsom Green - Gone

One thought on “Freelander HDC & TC Warning Lights

  • 03/12/2010 at 21:05
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    Thanks a lot. I had the same problem of TC and Hill descent lights coming on intermittantly but changing the brake switch cured it straight away.

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