Hey guys, I've been trying to trouble-shoot a problem for a couple days now. My HDC warning fault light comes on whenever I turn the ignition to ON or whenever the engine is running. But my other similar fault lights, such as ABS or TC, do NOT come on. Every thread I've tried to search and read includes issues with the three amigos, but mine doesn't involve those.

I read through some online service manual I found googling and for some reason it says when only the HDC light is illuminated it means a fault with the brake lamps relay? Not sure why a problem with brake lights would cause that, but thats what the manual says. I had a friend press the brake pedal and they all seem to light up correctly. What else could be causing this fault to light up?


To sum it up. The lower HDC fault light is constantly illuminated whenever ignition is ON (The upper HDC light is not on). My TC and ABS lights do NOT come on.

 

It gets a signal from a brake press, so that it doesn't try to fight you for control of the brakes. If you press the pedal it says, "ok, you're in charge, i'll stop trying"

 

I'm confused what you mean by your response. I am aware that when HDC is ENGAGED and you press the brake pedal it recognizes that and cancels HDC. But my HDC never engages, the fault (exclamation mark) HDC light comes on and stays on whenever I am driving the car. Trying to engage HDC just makes the car ding three times.

Are you describing what the relay does? If so, I would assume that my brake lights would also not get the signal and would not come on. But all the brake lights work correctly.

 

Hdc will only work in low range. As for your fault, you may need to see if there are any codes stored.

 

X2 on what jafir wrote and I would also like to add HDC Fade-out, page 110, Owner's Handbook: Land Rover Owner Information (prs01736) "HDC ‘failure’ light - AMBER The light illuminates briefly as a bulb and system check when the starter switch is turned to position ‘II’. If the light illuminates at any other time, either a fault has occurred which affects the functionality of the system, or over-use of the system has been detected, in which case HDC may ‘fade out’."

IMO, quit using Google and start using the Official Owner's Handbook above and the RAVE, LR shop manual here: land rover service factory manual RAVE download land rover resource, service manual, workshop factory manual, download, rave, vehicles including discovery, series, defender, range rover, freelander, LR3, Handbooks, Catalog, Catalogue, Land Rover Inte

 

So I did a little more investigating and it turns out that I think the TC and ABS fault lights are both SUPPOSED to be on, but looks like the bulbs are burnt out or something. I noticed that those two do not come on when I first turn the key, like all the other dash lights. Also, I drove through some grass and found I have no ABS (or mostly none, it seems to kick in slightly here and there), and also I got one wheel off the ground and tried to drive, nothing happened except spinning that wheel, so I guess TC doesn't work either.

I just bought the car a few days ago. It doesn't seem likely that these lights just happened to go bad, is it possible a previous owner did this purposely to better sell the car?

 

Yes it is possible. Some have posted that kind of thing before.

 

Buy or rent an ABS code reader (NOT OBDII), pull the codes and start here: https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...s-fault-26847/

Until then, all of this is simply an exercise in futility.

 

I'm pretty sure those are LEDs, so its even less likely that they "went bad".

Since this is such a typical issue on these trucks, I wouldn't be surprised if you got scumbagged on it.

It's fixable, but (as already mentioned) you need a proper scanner (not OBD II) and need to properly interpret the results - not just throw parts at it. Search for 3 Amigos. Everything that can be said on the subject has already been said.

 

I have the same exact problem with my series II. Took it to a LR dealership and the mechanic told ME that it could just be faulty wiring. I'm not calling him wrong but that still seems somewhat odd to me because no other lights are on. I bought mine from a used car dealership a month ago and mine came on two weeks later. Just the warning light. Nothing else. Seems to been running fine for me tho. Still something I need to dive further into.