The 3 Amigos revisited
Here you go (please see attached).
This appears to be a useful video:
This appears to be a useful video:
Last edited by acg; Sep 10, 2025 at 06:52 PM.
Beautiful! It's easy to tell you've shown this one some love! I have the same model year, with 123,000 on her... Chawton White as well. I've been restoring her over time. If you ever are looking for a good new home for this beauty, please let me know!
I'm actually going through this fix now, and found that it was getting hard to find the guides... I'm working on creating an updated one and would appreciate help and feedback on it. I just created a thread on that here: https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...58/#post937991
I'm also hoping someone can tell me if I should still do the external wire, even if I've gotten a new SW0500030 Wabco switch. I'm seeing contradicting information.
Thanks!
I'm also hoping someone can tell me if I should still do the external wire, even if I've gotten a new SW0500030 Wabco switch. I'm seeing contradicting information.
Thanks!
Nothing productive to add regarding an update of Option B procedures as I thought I’d downloaded a copy of them years ago. Looks like I need to grab one of the links and save it.
If the OP is still looking, a key in addressing the Amigos is a a few fold and might seem daunting, but is actually one of the easiest things to diagnose in the D2. Based on the OP’s question regarding traction control, it seems prudent to define the “3 Amigos”. The D2 was somewhat sophisticated at launch and there are 3 system in the vehicle that rely on the ABS pump:
- ABS itself
- Traction control (the wheel speed sensors determine and difference in speed between wheels and will apply the brakes to only the wheel that is rotating faster than the others)
- Hill Descent Control (this is much like traction control, and is to help when going down a steep hill in low range by keeping wheels from sliding too much)
The 3 Amigos are a play off the movie where it’s one for all and all for one. Meaning: if one stops working, you lose all 3 systems. This is reflected on the dash with the…. 3 lights (one for ABS, one for traction control, and one for Hill Descent Control)
So then, getting back to the original question of traction control. In detailing it’s function better, the way a differential in the axles (the round thing kinda in the middle) works is to allow the inner and outer wheels to rotate at different speeds when going around a corner. There is also a differential in the transfer case, which is what allows the vehicle to be full time 4 wheel drive.
This is great for driving on the street, but a bad thing when off road because power ends up following the path of least resistance. That is, if you are off road and one wheel starts to spin, power will continue to go to it and not the one that has traction. So enter the traction control system. The “computer” will recognize different speeds of wheels (when you are applying the throttle) and in order to try and help get power to go to the wheel that has traction, the computer will tell only the caliper (brake) to engage, which slows down the spinning wheel. This in turn effectively slows the spinning wheel down and allows more power to go to the wheel with traction, which can in many cases allow you to get through a slippy situation.
The same principles apply to the other 2 systems and is how they all work together (again, thus the 3 amigos). These principles are not proprietary to Land Rover and are used in basically every vehicle produced.
In terms of fixing the 3 amigos, the best course of action is proper diagnosis. Getting to my original statement about it being easy, assuming you have properly diagnosed (it’s necessary to use a D2 diagnostic tool) the fix falls into these categories:
- Wheel speed sensors (either plug and play, or a re-wire all the way to the SLABS- ABS computer- under the dash)
- Wheel hub (this is what the wheel attaches to and has the “teeth” used by the wheel speed sensor to determine how fast each wheel is rotating)
- Shuttle valve (this is the the thing under the ABS pump that “flutters” to allow for the “pumping” of the brakes)
The shuttle valve is where Option B comes into play. Simply doing Option B isn’t a bad thing, but it might also not address the core issue. This is why proper diagnosis is important, so you actually fix the issue, not just throw parts at it.
This is a stupid long post, but hopefully it helps someone in understanding the system(s).
If the OP is still looking, a key in addressing the Amigos is a a few fold and might seem daunting, but is actually one of the easiest things to diagnose in the D2. Based on the OP’s question regarding traction control, it seems prudent to define the “3 Amigos”. The D2 was somewhat sophisticated at launch and there are 3 system in the vehicle that rely on the ABS pump:
- ABS itself
- Traction control (the wheel speed sensors determine and difference in speed between wheels and will apply the brakes to only the wheel that is rotating faster than the others)
- Hill Descent Control (this is much like traction control, and is to help when going down a steep hill in low range by keeping wheels from sliding too much)
The 3 Amigos are a play off the movie where it’s one for all and all for one. Meaning: if one stops working, you lose all 3 systems. This is reflected on the dash with the…. 3 lights (one for ABS, one for traction control, and one for Hill Descent Control)
So then, getting back to the original question of traction control. In detailing it’s function better, the way a differential in the axles (the round thing kinda in the middle) works is to allow the inner and outer wheels to rotate at different speeds when going around a corner. There is also a differential in the transfer case, which is what allows the vehicle to be full time 4 wheel drive.
This is great for driving on the street, but a bad thing when off road because power ends up following the path of least resistance. That is, if you are off road and one wheel starts to spin, power will continue to go to it and not the one that has traction. So enter the traction control system. The “computer” will recognize different speeds of wheels (when you are applying the throttle) and in order to try and help get power to go to the wheel that has traction, the computer will tell only the caliper (brake) to engage, which slows down the spinning wheel. This in turn effectively slows the spinning wheel down and allows more power to go to the wheel with traction, which can in many cases allow you to get through a slippy situation.
The same principles apply to the other 2 systems and is how they all work together (again, thus the 3 amigos). These principles are not proprietary to Land Rover and are used in basically every vehicle produced.
In terms of fixing the 3 amigos, the best course of action is proper diagnosis. Getting to my original statement about it being easy, assuming you have properly diagnosed (it’s necessary to use a D2 diagnostic tool) the fix falls into these categories:
- Wheel speed sensors (either plug and play, or a re-wire all the way to the SLABS- ABS computer- under the dash)
- Wheel hub (this is what the wheel attaches to and has the “teeth” used by the wheel speed sensor to determine how fast each wheel is rotating)
- Shuttle valve (this is the the thing under the ABS pump that “flutters” to allow for the “pumping” of the brakes)
The shuttle valve is where Option B comes into play. Simply doing Option B isn’t a bad thing, but it might also not address the core issue. This is why proper diagnosis is important, so you actually fix the issue, not just throw parts at it.
This is a stupid long post, but hopefully it helps someone in understanding the system(s).
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