[ficklejade]

I.8 Freelander Serengeti 5 door petrol/lpg Nov.2003. Driving on petrol at time of problem.

Had fright yesterday pm coming home when the hill descent light came on and engine revved to 3000 just as road went to single track and I was preparing to turn right. I was doing under 20mph when this kicked in! Very lucky no-one was oncoming as I had only 25yards between it happening and the turn and start of STR! Managed to control car using brakes/clutch and got the additional 200 yards home into my drive. After 15 minutes, went and started car again - straight up to 3000rpm and hill descent light on. Rang garage and the ominous acronym ECU came up.

Rang RAC and booked them for At Home this am. Moved the car to accommodate the wagon and had same light and revs situation. When RAC agent came and tested it, no hill descent warning but was revving to 2000 and then starting hunting before settling on 3000rpm. Got them to deliver to local garage quarter of a mile away as there was no way I was driving down 1:4/5 hill with loads of visitors' vehicles not knowing where to go and pedestrians wandering all over the highway to get there - could have killed someone!!

Electronics are way beyond me, so, if diagnostics show its just a couple of sensors awry, how quick is the job? If the whole unit has gone, how quickly can it be replaced? (I don't want to think about the cost, but it is vital as a carer for a disabled person, I have a car that they can use.) We have an appointment off island a week on Friday and will have to make an urgent decision as soon as the diagnostics give an answer.

Sorry for long screed; any help appreciated.

[Hometune]

I don't know anything about the hill descent (HDC) on your car but try this site for some help.

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/.../freel...ics-21672.html

Looking in a lot of forums most faults are caused by broken wires at the switch under the gear lever gaiter. Maybe a good place to start? There is no mention of over revving but that is usually down to a vacuum leak on the inlet side of the engine. Perhaps a split pipe or similar.

[ficklejade]

Thanks, Hometune, passing info on - I quite often get hill descent light coming on (lot of bad hills on roads round and about) plus had same problem on previous freelander - just need to feed as much info through as poss! Am going to phone LR tomorrow to discuss and get them onto garage - nearest LR one over 100 miles away!!

Cheers, FJ.

[ficklejade]

Thankfully, problem solved without huge expense - except for labour time finding the problem! Garage checked all obvious physical options and all diagnostics were fine; each sensor checked out perfectly so I gather a little dismantling ensued and the culprit was a miniscule bit of plastic - wrong colour to have come off anything under the bonnet of my car so it had come off the road - had got its way in to jam the throttle.

Bill was for 3.5hours of labour - thank the Lord I wasn't using a dealership! :eek:

[MrDanno]

Originally Posted by ficklejade

Thankfully, problem solved without huge expense - except for labour time finding the problem! Garage checked all obvious physical options and all diagnostics were fine; each sensor checked out perfectly so I gather a little dismantling ensued and the culprit was a miniscule bit of plastic - wrong colour to have come off anything under the bonnet of my car so it had come off the road - had got its way in to jam the throttle.

Bill was for 3.5hours of labour - thank the Lord I wasn't using a dealership! :eek:

So there was nothing wrong with the Hill descent after all! still great news it was sorted quickly.

The Throttle being jammed open should have shown in Live data!

[Hometune]

Eh? If it didn't come from the Freelander, can anyone explain how, whatever it was, managed to pass through a 2" thick AIR FILTER?
As Mr Danno says, the diagnostic should have shown the throttle reading about 2.5 volts instead of 0.6 volts.
And 3.5 hours labour??? :eek:
Sorry Ficklejade, I won't be moving to your island. Well I might but I don't think I'll be using your garage.

[Rolebama]

Unfortunately, with the advent of the ECU, basic problem solving seems to be coming a thing of the past.