Noisy fuel pump and cutting out

Bimblewagon · May 16, 2023

Hi all,

New round here and looking for some advice please! I inherited my dads beloved td5 a few years ago. Up until now she’s been a very reliable lass. She’s had one issue with a relay, that presented like the infamous injector wiring loom issue so I replaced that 2 years ago. But otherwise all good.

Anyway the fuel pump started making a whining noise during the ignition sequence and since then it’s all gone a bit downhill. Initially it was taking her a long time to fire up and she needed a bit of throttle to get going but once running all was fine. Then she lost power and cut out when idling down to a junction.

Got her home, hoped I might be one of the lucky ones that could just change the fuel filter and see improvements. Even though she had a full service at the garage earlier in the year.

Fuel filter was stupidly tight, but got it off put the new one on, ran the purge cycle a few times just to be sure. She started a treat but didn’t drive her out and about as it was bank holiday and didn’t want to be waiting ages if we needed rescuing. Started perfectly again the following day, was cautiously optimistic. Took her for a drive, all good until about 10 miles from home. Up a slight incline at low revs (normally not a problem) and she starts to sound less happy, changed down and revved a bit and she seemed ok. Until another t junction where she cut out when on the idle just before turning. Came straight back home and she did the same thing at another t junction. The dropping back to idle seems to be the issue.

Any suggestions?

My thoughts so far are to change the air bleed valve by the filter first as it’s easy.

Then the injector washers, although I can’t say the idea of taking the engine apart fills me with joy. I’m sure I can do it I’m just not confident, and it’s something I would previously have done with my dad but can’t anymore. So I’ll have to use YouTube as my guide.

If none of that works I guess it will be a new fuel pump. Are these easier to access with the rear cross member off? She’s going to need a new one of those soon anyway so if it’s easier to do then I’ll do them together. Although I won’t be doing any welding, she will be off to see someone else for that!

I can’t see any fuel leaks or anything looking obviously wrong with the fuel lines but I haven’t had a good look at the engine end just up to the engine bay.

Thanks!

tottot · May 16, 2023

Helo Bimblewaggon , As the fuel pump sounds different from before, start there. More likely that's the problem than the engine. Use search bar for info on Td5 pump access and issues.

lynall · May 16, 2023

My old td5 pump used to get noisy when the pump filters started to block up, remove pump assy, remove mesh panels, strip clean and carry on, but I was running on some free crap fuel.

Brown · May 17, 2023

There are various other things that can cause similar issues in TD5s. There could be oil in the injector loom - it's worth unplugging at the multiplug where the wires go into the cylinder head and checking that it's dry. As the Defender's ECU is under the seat, a long way from the engine bay it takes oil a long time to migrate there, but looking at the plug in the cylinder head gets you a bit of early warning. Another thing that goes wrong with TD5s is the wiring loom. Land Rover seem to have suffered from a batch of wire that is prone to become brittle and the insulation is apt to wear through or flake off. There can be some deterioration between the accelerator and the ECU which can cause intermittent faults. I've also seen fuel filters where the filter medium has wadded up and restricted the fuel flow (on a Britpart filter, naturally. Surely even Britpart can't mess up on the simple business of stuffing a can with fluff? Oh yes they can!). Another source of poor running and patchy throttle response is the filter head itself. They're made out of a rather brittle alloy which is apt to become porous or even crack.

If you haven't done so already, some sort of fault code reader compatible with the TD5 is a good idea because otherwise you're fencing in the dark. The Nanocom is quite well thought of by people on here. There's also the Britpart Lynx system which has the advantage of running on a PC so you actually get a decent screen and can interact with it using a keyboard. There used to be a device called a Hawkeye but I don't think you can get them any more.

Oh, and ECU failures are becoming more common as they get older. Whilst this can manifest as a complete failure to start, alternatively it can show up as intermittent poor running.

These are all faults I've had in 11 years and 150,000 of TD5 ownership or have seen on friends' vehicles. I'm sure there are many more, but that's just a small selection of what can go wrong.

Bimblewagon · May 24, 2023

Thanks all, I’ll get doing some fault finding.

KISSMYAURA · Jul 10, 2023

start with the cheap stuff, fuel filter housing has on return valve, check that replace.
if its a new pump, search on here plenty of how to easier to cut hole in floorthan drop the tank etc ots not a hard job just a bit scary at first oh yea make sure you get a genuine vdo pump, NOTHING ELSE....

firedamper · Apr 8, 2024

Bimblewagon said:
Hi all,

New round here and looking for some advice please! I inherited my dads beloved td5 a few years ago. Up until now she’s been a very reliable lass. She’s had one issue with a relay, that presented like the infamous injector wiring loom issue so I replaced that 2 years ago. But otherwise all good.

Anyway the fuel pump started making a whining noise during the ignition sequence and since then it’s all gone a bit downhill. Initially it was taking her a long time to fire up and she needed a bit of throttle to get going but once running all was fine. Then she lost power and cut out when idling down to a junction.

Got her home, hoped I might be one of the lucky ones that could just change the fuel filter and see improvements. Even though she had a full service at the garage earlier in the year.

Fuel filter was stupidly tight, but got it off put the new one on, ran the purge cycle a few times just to be sure. She started a treat but didn’t drive her out and about as it was bank holiday and didn’t want to be waiting ages if we needed rescuing. Started perfectly again the following day, was cautiously optimistic. Took her for a drive, all good until about 10 miles from home. Up a slight incline at low revs (normally not a problem) and she starts to sound less happy, changed down and revved a bit and she seemed ok. Until another t junction where she cut out when on the idle just before turning. Came straight back home and she did the same thing at another t junction. The dropping back to idle seems to be the issue.

Any suggestions?

My thoughts so far are to change the air bleed valve by the filter first as it’s easy.

Then the injector washers, although I can’t say the idea of taking the engine apart fills me with joy. I’m sure I can do it I’m just not confident, and it’s something I would previously have done with my dad but can’t anymore. So I’ll have to use YouTube as my guide.

If none of that works I guess it will be a new fuel pump. Are these easier to access with the rear cross member off? She’s going to need a new one of those soon anyway so if it’s easier to do then I’ll do them together. Although I won’t be doing any welding, she will be off to see someone else for that!

I can’t see any fuel leaks or anything looking obviously wrong with the fuel lines but I haven’t had a good look at the engine end just up to the engine bay.

Thanks!

firedamper · Apr 8, 2024

Hi. Did you resolve this? If so what was it? Sounds like a similar problem for me too

Noisy fuel pump and cutting out

Bimblewagon

New Member

tottot

Well-Known Member

lynall

Well-Known Member

Brown

Well-Known Member

Bimblewagon

New Member

KISSMYAURA

Well-Known Member

firedamper

Member

firedamper

Member

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