Member Since: 15 Jan 2007
Location: Scotland
Posts: 51
HDC warning, special programs disabled
Almost every morning when starting, just happened since the temperature has dropped, i get the warning bong, and a quick message about HDC fault, that quickly changes to something along the lines of special programs dissabled, then info display changes to normal readout.
Every thing seems to work ok after that, and continues to be ok until first start next morning, where it usually happens again.
This tends to lead me to thinking it could be power related, as in battery possibly getting low.
Reason I am thinking this is the battery will be suffering from the extreme cold overnight and maybe loosing some of its power, but during the day temp comes up and battery can cope,
Any one came across this before I book into dealers, as a few other issues I need looked at under warranty.
Cheers,
Gordon
25th Nov 2007 5:13 pm
lee01277
Member Since: 06 May 2005
Location: Shed
Posts: 821
I had teh HDC & SP warnings for ages ( 4 months ? ) . HDC & SP working fine though. Dealer had a a few looks and didn't resolve it, so I just lived with it ..........
Until I had to have an LRA chap come out to the car one Sunday. The fix for that problem was a complete "reboot" and s/w re-squirt, (or cancel each of the 290 odd alarms in the system which would have taken ages and ages and ages ... ) ... and the HDC and SP warnings never came back ..
Mentioned to the dealer on next visit but I guess that was that...............Somewhere in-between my old D3 and what's to come next .........
Now then I too had a LRA bloke out some months ago - very good he was too unlike some others I have encountered.
In talkin 2 him about lots of issues (well when you get someone who has knowledge you go for it!!)I had or have had he mentioned that quite often if the battery voltage falls below threshold then error message city breaks out!!! and D3 starts telling u all sorts of erronious things which go away when the voltage level goes back to normal. He claimed that each week he has to cope with at least 10 instances where this happens,often it is when the vehicle has done short runs (i.e the school run!!) and the battery is not getting back what it is expected to give out.
Hope this helps
25th Nov 2007 7:37 pm
WOODY179
Member Since: 01 Jun 2005
Location: Chesterfield
Posts: 3639
My D3 was at the dealers last week, one of the problems being that I kept getting the same error messages as above, they told me the battery needed charging which they did and two days later the messages are back again .I'm waiting for a new bluetooth unit to be fitted and when they do this I'm going to ask them to take another look at why I keep getting these messages. Suppose it could be that the battery is not holding its charge but I'm already on the second battery. 1996 Discovery 1 300TDI ES Biarritz Blue, sold
1999 Discovery 2 TD5 ES Rioja Red, sold
2002 Discovery 2 TD5 ES Buckingham Blue, sold
2005 Discovery 3 TDV6 HSE Adriatic Blue, sold
2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 HSE Zambezi Silver, sold
2011 Discovery 4 SDV6 HSE Nara Bronze, sold
2016 Volvo XC60 D5 AWD Lux Nav Twilight Bronze, sold
2020 Range Rover Evoque P250 First Edition, Nolita grey, sold
2023 Range Rover Evoque P300e Autobiography, Carpathian grey
This is an old chestnut, and is certainly partly power related. There is a fix.
Thanks to everyone for the replies.
I searched for this problem, although finding a few posts, didn't find the thread above Winger, so thanks for bringing this to my attention.
Looks like another trip to the dealers it will go.
G
25th Nov 2007 11:07 pm
WOODY179
Member Since: 01 Jun 2005
Location: Chesterfield
Posts: 3639
started to get the HDC fault and occasionally the special programs off message during the Christmas break. The messages usually came within minutes of the car being started but occasionally 10 -15 minutes into a journey and the fault would clear within seconds. Just got the car back from the dealer and they found the messages were due to the battery being faulty. My D3 is now on its 3rd battery and it's only 27 months old!
1996 Discovery 1 300TDI ES Biarritz Blue, sold
1999 Discovery 2 TD5 ES Rioja Red, sold
2002 Discovery 2 TD5 ES Buckingham Blue, sold
2005 Discovery 3 TDV6 HSE Adriatic Blue, sold
2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 HSE Zambezi Silver, sold
2011 Discovery 4 SDV6 HSE Nara Bronze, sold
2016 Volvo XC60 D5 AWD Lux Nav Twilight Bronze, sold
2020 Range Rover Evoque P250 First Edition, Nolita grey, sold
2023 Range Rover Evoque P300e Autobiography, Carpathian grey
Last edited by WOODY179 on 9th Jan 2008 12:42 am. Edited 2 times in total
I recently went through this with the dealer. After the 3rd battery, they finally replaced the alternator. At low battery level, every fault/failure light went crazy. Simple charging issue. Thank God for warranties!!2006 D3 Tonga Green
275/65/18 GY DuraTracs - ARB w/ EP9.0 - Sasquatch Rods
8th Jan 2008 8:06 pm
character
Member Since: 01 Jan 2008
Location: wiltshire
Posts: 5781
Does the message say "HDC Fault System not Available" come up for only a few seconds as you turn the key in the ignition?
I hastily wrote it down when this happened yesterday morning, a cold night again... and vehicle not driven at all the day before....mentioned it to the stealer who says that they will look at it next week when it has the new drivers seat base put in!!
8th Jan 2008 8:28 pm
WOODY179
Member Since: 01 Jun 2005
Location: Chesterfield
Posts: 3639
When it first started, the message did only appear for a few seconds after I started the engine (I do wait for the software checks and the bong before starting the engine), but after a while the message started to come up briefly even during journeys (again only appeared for a few seconds).1996 Discovery 1 300TDI ES Biarritz Blue, sold
1999 Discovery 2 TD5 ES Rioja Red, sold
2002 Discovery 2 TD5 ES Buckingham Blue, sold
2005 Discovery 3 TDV6 HSE Adriatic Blue, sold
2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 HSE Zambezi Silver, sold
2011 Discovery 4 SDV6 HSE Nara Bronze, sold
2016 Volvo XC60 D5 AWD Lux Nav Twilight Bronze, sold
2020 Range Rover Evoque P250 First Edition, Nolita grey, sold
2023 Range Rover Evoque P300e Autobiography, Carpathian grey
8th Jan 2008 8:31 pm
10forcash
Member Since: 09 Jun 2005
Location: Ubique
Posts: 16534
Just be aware that the charge voltage shown on the sat-nav. diag sceen only increments in 0.5V steps so can be somewhat misleading.... if you need to check charge voltage always use a known good (accurate) voltmeter on the battery terminals, not the terminal clamps!
8th Jan 2008 10:05 pm
WOODY179
Member Since: 01 Jun 2005
Location: Chesterfield
Posts: 3639
Just found I've now got a new style battery, not sure what the difference is though apart from it not being a sealed battery 1996 Discovery 1 300TDI ES Biarritz Blue, sold
1999 Discovery 2 TD5 ES Rioja Red, sold
2002 Discovery 2 TD5 ES Buckingham Blue, sold
2005 Discovery 3 TDV6 HSE Adriatic Blue, sold
2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 HSE Zambezi Silver, sold
2011 Discovery 4 SDV6 HSE Nara Bronze, sold
2016 Volvo XC60 D5 AWD Lux Nav Twilight Bronze, sold
2020 Range Rover Evoque P250 First Edition, Nolita grey, sold
2023 Range Rover Evoque P300e Autobiography, Carpathian grey
9th Jan 2008 4:10 pm
npinks
Member Since: 31 Jan 2008
Location: Leeds
Posts: 1943
I am getting the HDC fault on my Freelander 2
Both times its been after a very cold night, and coincided with the Glow Plugs coming on when when i press the start button and a long pause and lots of cranking before the engine starts
The car did not store any fault on the system Is there any diagnostic to check my battery or how do i get the dealer to investigate further?
A Faults a fault, and they seemed to dismiss it as nothing was stored
28th Feb 2008 10:49 pm
gilesb
Member Since: 01 Sep 2010
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 1
HDC Warning, Special programs disabled, suspension lowered
Thank you everyone for your suggestions. This was an intermittent problem that went away when I had the Disco3 in for a service, and then the car was plauged again with the HDC errors and the suspension automaticaly lowering and all the electrics concerning the special programs and suspension shutting down. Very disconcerting.
With your reports, I saved myself many thousands of dollars of mechanics systematicaly replacing my entire systems. They suggested starting by replacing the compressor that feeds the air suspension for $1,000 to $2,000.
I fully charged the battery and checked the terminals. All GOOD and fully charged. Not the cause of my problem. I then saw the report that one member got the fault whenever they applied the brakes. Same with me. As per the suggestion, I followed the brake pedal upwards to under the dash to see a small electric switch where the piston extends to touch the brake pedal lever that extends whenever you apply pressure to the brake pedal. As suggested, I applied a thin grease to piston that extends from the switch. I didn't think that it would solve the problem, but it did. I couldn't drive anywhere without getting the errors multiple times and had to shut down the car and restart just to get the errors again. Now I had no HDC errors for the next week. Fantastic. The problem came back though so I followed the instructions to the letter and applied lip balm to the piston that operates the switch. The problem was instantly solved again and no HDC errors fr the past 4 days. Looks like I'll need the switch replaced at teh next service, but that will be a cheap repair instead of mechanics replacing half the car and still not having a clue. I am now a member of this wonderful site.
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.I'm waiting for a new bluetooth unit to be fitted and when they do this I'm going to ask them to take another look at why I keep getting these messages. Suppose it could be that the battery is not holding its charge but I'm already on the second battery. 
and it's only 27 months old!
Is there any diagnostic to check my battery or how do i get the dealer to investigate further?
