I'd like to start off by saying that I just purchased my first Land Rover Discovery on Saturday afternoon so I am new to the Land Rover family. Been wanting to join for a long time, but finally got the deal and money to line up.

With that said....

I have a 2004 SE w/ 50,000 miles. I purchased it down in Atlanta,GA on Saturday, and drove it back to Indiana where I live that night. The drive home was roughly 600 miles. I had no issues with anything what so ever. Sunday night the wife and I went to a friends to watch Sunday night football. As we pulled out of the drive and came to a gradual stop, we both noticed the brake pads squealled a little bit. Again, a little bit, not loud or super annoying. We went on about the night with no problems. Coming home, a stop light changed from green to red quickly and we came to a quick hard stop. Immediately the TC, BRAKE, and ABS lights all came on. The lights stayed illuminated the rest of the way home, roughly 5 miles. When we pulled into the drive way, I cycled the ignition, allowing the Rover to sit for a minute or two before tunring the ignition on. When I fired it back up, the BRAKE and TC lights went out, but the ABS light stayed illuminated. The ABS light was still on this morning when I came work.....

So, I do the first obvious thing and search the internet and see that this is a common issue. However, just about every single posting I see about this, sometimes called "the three amigos," it refers to the TC, ABS, and HDC lights, not the BRAKE light. I do have HDC, and that indicator light never comes on. The Disco does not have self leveling suspension.

I've noticed there are several responses to the issue...ABS Modulator, Wheel Sensor, Brake pads, or just yanking the fuse to the ABS in general (something I do not want to do) seem to be the common ones. Need some advice here on where to start and how to resolve this. Who other than a Rover dealer would have the scan tool to check the codes? My gut says the typical auto zone/O'Reilly wont have it....Preciate the help....

 

HDC is hill descent control... not SLS self leveling suspension. ABS readers can be expensive and no autozone wont scan it for free like they will your main ecu. It is most likely your brakes that are causing it. It could be brake dust or the squaling. You can take them off and spray them with sound deadening for now but you will most likely need new brakes sooner or later. don't go to the dealer to get the abs codes read it will cost you nearly as much as a set of brakes.

 

get the codes read,,, i still have yet to do this on my 04. i just drive the pig and off road it anyways.

but a normal auto store WILL NOT have the scan tool for our ABS. you must go to a dealer or to a independent rover shop. also most small shops that advertise EURO cars cannot do our trucks. they all go "LAND ROVER!!!!! NO NO NO. that equipment costs $20K!!!"

if the brakes are squealing then its a good chance that new pads and rotors will help. but with these things its a good chance that it is something else completely.

but the good news is that you can drive all you want with the lights on and just be annoyed by them like i am hahahaha

 

With 3 amigos on your ABS is either disabled or turned down in sensitivity.

Check your brake fluid level and do a full quart bleed also clean your rotors and pads and put anti-squeal gunk on the back of your pads. Yours is a version of the 3 amigos could be caused by the squeal or brake dust or maybe a sensor going bad. Just the ABS light is caused by a rough road fault that is tripped when you get the amigos. You need an ABS scanner to read the ABS faults in history and clear your codes including the rough road ODBII code.

The ABS amigo is $200, hawkeye is $650 both will do ABS codes. Also any ABS scanner will read and clear your ABS codes.

 

If your brakes squeak, that needs to be fixed prior to paying the BIG $$$$'s to get the codes read. Take care of the brakes either by using sound deadening spray or replacing them with good Rover proven pads, then go have the codes read. Try to stay away from the dealer because of their high charges for this inspection and because they won't clear the codes even if the squeaks are gone.
By the way, if you throw a panic stop from 30 MPH on a loose surface, can you feel the ABS pulsate thru the brake pedal?

 

New bit of info to the subject. Driving home from work, ABS light goes off. Has stayed off so far. Brakes still squeal some but no indicator lights. I am able to feel the ABS kick in, so it seems to be working.

 

You may have a sensor going bad, that's what mine did. Had intermittent 3 amigos until one day it was solid. I would still do a brake fluid flush and clean your brakes in case that is setting off the amigos.

 

So deal with your squeaking brakes, TODAY, before they set a hard code, the 3 Amigos will stay on full time at that point and will need to be reset at a cost of $100 plus.
You can save that expense if you stop the squeaks now.

 

Mike~

Sounds good to me. Is there a pad that is preferred for the SE Disco II? Would like to find something in the area so I can do this ASAP instead of having to order online and wait till they show up....

 

where are you located? places like Atlantic British will have it to your door in 3 days with regular shipping. they have warehouses on both coasts