Land Rover Repair: P38 abs/parking brake/tc lights no brakes, power brakes, fluid leaks

Question
hello john:
well today in the morning  after putting the car in reverse(96 RR 4.0se)the brake pedal went almost to the floor with very little to no brakes as i was pulling out of my drive way
the three amigos did not go away and stay on with no power brakes, i use the parking brake to stop from going into the street.
then i shut the engine off.  then check under the truck for brake fluid leaks and under the hood and there was no leaks
i got back in turn the the truck on waited for a the lights to turn off like always and drove away
brakes working a few block later the three amigos came back and no power brakes once again used the parking brake to stop drove back home
I GOOGLE: P38 the three amigos and no brakes
some blogs point to the ABS pump and accumulator others to the modulator (master cylinder)
my question is how can i find out what the problem is and be able to fix it with out having to take it to a brake specialist or LR dealer

thanks for taking the time to pass your knowledge

Answer
If you look on top of the driver wheel arch (under the hood) you will see a black ball.  That is the brake accumulator.  It holds fluid under pressure for the power brakes.  Next to the ball there is an electric pump that charges it up.  When you turn the key on the pump should run briefly, and it should come on when the brakes are operated to recharge.  If that pump does not run the car won't stop.  Check to see if there is power - if there is, replace it.  

I know you don't want to go to a specialist but guessing on the brakes is both potentially danger and costly

If it was my truck, I'd find someone who really know what they were doing and entrust the testing to them. That said, if you look in the workshop manual it does show how to test and change it.  Roughly a 1.5-2 hour job