ABS/TC/Hill Decent

[chrisduet]

Hello to all,

I have just recently purchsed a 99 Discovery II with 58K on it. Well kept with all records etc....The previous owner had the brakes replaced 4 years ago. The Rover was immaculate, except for the rims, they were dusty, extreimly dusty. Needless to say the brakes are extreimly dusty and they do make a sqeeking noises when stopping. I washed the rims and tires on my first wash really good one night and a few days later the lights came on. I am not sure if this is just a coincidence or what but I thought I would metion it.

The lights did not come on all at once, first the ABS/TC light came on when I made a U turn "not very sharp". Then it went off after restarting the Rover, then they came back on at a turn into the driveway. Then two days later the Hill decent light cam on as well with the other two.

AS sugggested from "Mike" on another post, I went on a gravel road a checked the ABS and it worked as it should. I have not taken it in yet because I will change all four pads and rotors. The rotors do have a lip and some light grooves, and the pads are getting low. Also, another post on hear metion cleaning the ABS sensors? What type of solvent hsould I clean them with. Also, bleeding the breaks was recommended with the change, does anyone recommend a specific procedure and tool to buy to assist with doing so.

I have read almost 100 post regarding these three lights and all has been helpful. My cars symptons seem to have all of the atributes of rotors, pads and dirty sensors, but I am not an expert, nor close to one.

Any parts suggestions and directions will be greatly apprecated.

Chris

 

[joey]

Dirty sensors, normally the front ones will get rust or dirt on them. unscrew and remove... clean with just soapy water and if need a light bristol pad.

Brake fluid can only be change by either the dealer or someone with a TESTBOOK LR specific computer, or a royal pain via a batter and some jumper cables (small jumper cables, not battery to battery type).

I would start with ABS sensor cleaning.

 

[jmrivera]

Chris,

I also suggest cleaning the entire brake assembly... I have an '03 Disco. that I got about 8 months ago and the wheels were covered in brake dust (I guess the previous owner never heard of a high-pressure car wash)... I tried to scrub the innner wheel wells with a stiff brush, but had to resort to a paint scraper to get 80% off (it was about 1/16th of an inch thick) and used the brush to remove another 10%, but there is still some...

I then went to work on the brake/hub assembly because it looked pretty bad also... I sprayed the assemly with a concentrated degreaser and scrubbed with a tooth brush... Needless to say, they were pretty coated with road grime and brake dust... I got most of the areas clean and I try to maintain them with a weekly hand car wash, or at least a trip the to the high-pressure spray to clean the brakes/wheels...

Joey, I have read on other forums that the brake fluid can successfully be flushed via the caliper bleeder while the ignition key is "On" and replenshing the reservoir immediately after finishing one brake assembly... Have you heard of this? This is how I normally flush my other vehicles, but since this is a Land Rover, I'm a tad hesistant...

 

[joey]

I would agree with you on most other vehicles and even on my D1, but on the D2 and newer RR's, they have a different ABS modulator which can be a royal Pain in the *** to flush.

 

[Chongo]

just an interesting find

Every now and then my wife calls me to tell me the three amigos came on, and I tell her to just turn the ignition key on and off 3 times consecutively, and the lights go off every time. What I found out is it was doing this through the drive through or parking lots where slow wheel sensor speeds are used by the processors. { In most vehicles the wheel or speed sensors don’t activate until 3 mph where as Rovers activate at 0.00 mph. } This is largely why rovers get these codes at low vehicle speeds, as the sensors aren’t designed and can not accurately sense vehicle speeds under 3 mph, especially in tight maneuvers or turns. It really means nothing, just a programming glitch in the processor, and to fix it, just turn the ignition key to run and then off again for several cycles and this should clear the trouble code. If it doesn’t, you probably have another issue.

Hope this helps………… Chongo

 

[TRD4ME]

Hello to all,

I have just recently purchsed a 99 Discovery II with 58K on it. Well kept with all records etc....The previous owner had the brakes replaced 4 years ago. The Rover was immaculate, except for the rims, they were dusty, extreimly dusty. Needless to say the brakes are extreimly dusty and they do make a sqeeking noises when stopping. I washed the rims and tires on my first wash really good one night and a few days later the lights came on. I am not sure if this is just a coincidence or what but I thought I would metion it.

The lights did not come on all at once, first the ABS/TC light came on when I made a U turn "not very sharp". Then it went off after restarting the Rover, then they came back on at a turn into the driveway. Then two days later the Hill decent light cam on as well with the other two.

AS sugggested from "Mike" on another post, I went on a gravel road a checked the ABS and it worked as it should. I have not taken it in yet because I will change all four pads and rotors. The rotors do have a lip and some light grooves, and the pads are getting low. Also, another post on hear metion cleaning the ABS sensors? What type of solvent hsould I clean them with. Also, bleeding the breaks was recommended with the change, does anyone recommend a specific procedure and tool to buy to assist with doing so.

I have read almost 100 post regarding these three lights and all has been helpful. My cars symptons seem to have all of the atributes of rotors, pads and dirty sensors, but I am not an expert, nor close to one.

Any parts suggestions and directions will be greatly apprecated.

Chris

Check if the brake parts installed are factory Rover parts. It is very common for aftermarket brake pads and rotors to trigger the TC/ ABS lights. The ABS sensor picks up the high frequency squeal the cheap brakes produce and in turn the vehicle identifies it as a slipping wheel. It is also possible that the brake dust you described in either built up on the toner ring or the sensor itself. In that case, cleaning either of the two will solve your problem.

 

[ravensfan1996]

I had the 3 amigos about a year ago, took it to the dealer and they said was the abs and brakes lines....$$$$$$ later it all went away...

Now just this week they come...turn engine off...turn back on they are gone....keeps going on and off. Ill asume its just dirty. Not being a car guy....where are the sensors and how do you clean them? and accessible without removing the wheels? any sites with photos of what they look like? thanks for any info!

 

[jmrivera]

Here is an image from RAVE... The sensor is on the end of the wire, mounted to the hub...

You MUST remove the wheel to clean the hubs correctly... The laziest way to do it use a car wash gun, but I don't suggest it as a substitute for a good cleaning, only as maintenance after a thorough scrubbing...

Did the dealer replace the ABS module, brake pads, rotors, sensors, lines and brake fluid???

 

[bird]

ive had the three amigos for about a month or two. my guys told me that i needed to replace the hub assembly. but said that i could wait a little while since it was sumer and the need for ABS wasn't so high. now, that was as i was pulling away from dropping $$$ on cables and plugs, and a gasket seal leak, oh yeah and the starter (why it was even there) is it possible that the lamps could only be really dirty?
it's a 99 disco II with 108 on her. i had a bearing go on the pass side and that was done by my old local guy... never again
could the bad hub assembly be causing this or is there a way around it

 

[joey]

ABS in a D2 is important in my opinion, but it could just be as simple as the shuttle valve, this is what normally causes the Three Amigos. I just posted a link about this yesterday if I recall correctly.