This post is really more informational (As we both felt rather foolish after the event!) for those who have just come across the ABS lamp function of the Land Rover Freelander 1 – MY2002.  A friend of mine rang the other day to say that the ABS lamp on his recent purchase was illuminated and could I go over and take a look.  I went over, code reader in hand and plugged in to the diagnostic socket on the lower left footwell behind the centre console.  Reading the ABS controller returned no fault codes and reported all was well.  A little research revealed that the illuminated ABS lamp was perfectly ‘normal’ until the vehicle maintained a 5 mph road speed, then it would extinguish.  Turning the Freelander ignition on and starting it stationary on the drive results (as we now know!) in the following ABS lamp sequence.

Position 2 of the ignition brings on the ABS lamp, it then almost immediately  blinks off and on again, holding an illuminated state until the vehicle is driven above 7 klm/hr or 5 mph, when it will extinguish. This is the normal self check sequence and not a fault as neither he or I realised until we ‘read’ a little.  This information is mentioned in the handbook (owners operating manual) but I thought this post may be useful to those new to the Freelander 1 as nothing appeared informative in a general Freelander ABS light search – most of the returned results were from a Freelander 2 (different system) and others were describing genuine fault conditions.  Little was mentioned for those ‘not in the know’ about the ABS light sequence on starting of the Freelander 1.

Below is the relevant section outlining the correct ABS lamp sequence on start-up.

Additionally here is a link to download a .pdf of the Land Rover Freelander 1 Owners Handbook that you may find useful if yours is missing.