Td5 Starting problem!!

Hi all I am new to the forum cause my land rover finally made me join with many problems, but this one has stumped me!
As you all no the td5 fires up fairly fast, but mine is sometimes is turning over 10 times before it starts! all starter motor wiring etc, looks ok! I have cleaned the ECU and replaced the loom! sometimes it does not even start at all not even that click ! But will go with a bump start!!
So i am thinking its diesel related possibly!! So if you have the bonnet up and turn the ignition on there is a hissing sound coming from the back end of the cylinder head, then when is turning over smoke/steam comes out the back of the cylinder head. Then obviously when running the steam/smoke is coming out!!! All oil and water levels are checked daily!!!
engine is a 2002 with bout 90,000!!
Any help would be great thanks!!

injector seals need replacing possibly

i forgot to add I done them!!! Its starting to annoy me haha!!!

Hicap110 said:

i forgot to add I done them!!! Its starting to annoy me haha!!!

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did you use genuine land rover parts, and were injector seats clean

Yes and yes!!
The thing I find wired though is, my 1999 engine blew up cause I did not know bout the stupid oil pump bolt on the bottom there!! Anyway when I was running the 1999 engine it had the starting problem! So I thought by putting the 2002 engine might have solved it (it has not!!) So therefore could it be the pump on top of the diesel tank??? I changed the filter on the back end of the chassis to!! And whats with the smoke coming out the back of the head any ideas?
Thanks!!!!

Hicap110 said:

Yes and yes!!
The thing I find wired though is, my 1999 engine blew up cause I did not know bout the stupid oil pump bolt on the bottom there!! Anyway when I was running the 1999 engine it had the starting problem! So I thought by putting the 2002 engine might have solved it (it has not!!) So therefore could it be the pump on top of the diesel tank??? I changed the filter on the back end of the chassis to!! And whats with the smoke coming out the back of the head any ideas?
Thanks!!!!

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if there is smoke coming out the back of the head, it sounds like your head gasket has gone at the very least,
check any smoke aint coming out of the exhaust joints

Well that would be the obvious but like i said water and oil levels get checked daily and no levels seem to be dropping!! the heater still remains hot when engine is idling!!
i will take that plastic cover n have a look later!! what you reckon the hissing noise is when you turn the ignition on??

Check the fuel pressure regulator is not leaking, same side as the dip stick right at the back of the head, mine was peeing out of there and the fuel contaminated my crankshaft position sensor causing it not to start. If you take a look underneath on the drivers side, if it's leaking fuel you will see it all down that side,

One of the blokes on her told me that hissing was normal but that was during the fuel purging process? But I think you can assume as soon as the ignition is turned on the fuel pump will run this cycle??

Recently had a starting prob with Betsy ( TD5 Defender 04) ..turned the key and she'd turn and turn but not fire up ..changed the injector harness , we didn't change the rocker gasket , but i think it's wise to , anyway we still had probs after that so got her plugged into diagnostics and it turned out to be a couple of relays ..had no issues since . We did think fuel pump at first , but you can hear the fuel pump working when you turn the ignition on , a fuel pump fault code did come up , but i think thats an old code from a fuel pressure valve failure a while ago. Hope you get it sorted.
And welcome to LZ :5bseeya:

Muds said:

Recently had a starting prob with Betsy ( TD5 Defender 04) ..turned the key and she'd turn and turn but not fire up ..changed the injector harness , we didn't change the rocker gasket , but i think it's wise to , anyway we still had probs after that so got her plugged into diagnostics and it turned out to be a couple of relays ..had no issues since . We did think fuel pump at first , but you can hear the fuel pump working when you turn the ignition on , a fuel pump fault code did come up , but i think thats an old code from a fuel pressure valve failure a while ago. Hope you get it sorted.
And welcome to LZ :5bseeya:

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Td5 dont have any diagnostic info on fuel pump or fuel pressure unfortunately,

Ideal thanks everyone!!!
I suppose the hissing noise could be normal cause you never normaly have the bonnet open before starting! but yes when it EVENTUALLY starts the hissing does stop!! but then it goes all smokey!!
definitely the same side as the old dipstick there! will go n have a look in a min to see if its leaking down the side! Think my ECU is to old cause my mate has the diagnostic's computer and it would not read it, being a 1999! (please correct me if I am wrong)
did you ever have the problem where it did not turn over at all?? not even a click am going to assume that is the same problem? Could it drip diesel on the starter?? shorting something out dunno!

No it always turned over, just the engine did not fire up, due to a knackered Crank sensor which I believe was caused by fuel leaking from the pressure regulator on to it. The leaking regulator threw me out because the fuel pump got very noisy due to air in the system.

Hicap110 said:

Ideal thanks everyone!!!
I suppose the hissing noise could be normal cause you never normaly have the bonnet open before starting! but yes when it EVENTUALLY starts the hissing does stop!! but then it goes all smokey!!
definitely the same side as the old dipstick there! will go n have a look in a min to see if its leaking down the side! Think my ECU is to old cause my mate has the diagnostic's computer and it would not read it, being a 1999! (please correct me if I am wrong)
did you ever have the problem where it did not turn over at all?? not even a click am going to assume that is the same problem? Could it drip diesel on the starter?? shorting something out dunno!

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all td5 can be read with a compatable LR code reader, but they are not OBDII
compatable, and thats where a lot of false codes come from

Ahh right on, mine always fires up but can take a while, up to 10 turns sometimes!! It has been doing it for 7 months so be about 20,000 miles!!
Right I have had a look and there is leaking coming down on to the starter, but it does not smell like diesel?? more oil!! Also when I did the engine I put a brand new pressure regulator in cause of the 2002 one is different to the 1999! (holes are different on the block)
I have to admit my fuel pump is not noisy at all! Did you have to replace the regulator? and the crank sensor?
I reckon my old regulator was leaking so the sensor, got contaminated and I did not change the sensor!!
interesting bout the computer!!

No only replaced the CPS and the gasket on the regulator

It's sounding very head-gaskety to me. However, I think you may have some other problems such as a leak from the rocker cover gasket or fuel pressure regulator, and as has been said above, crank position sensors can be sensitive to oil contamination. If I was you I'd get the plastic cover off and clean as much of the mess up as possible so you can see a bit more precisely where it's all coming out of.

I cant see that its the head gasket, if the water levels and oil levels are staying the same!! no oil on top of the water, and definetly no chuffing noises come from the block!! Which is what I had on an old 200tdi of mine when I get the next day off I will rip the old girl apart n see what I can find!!! And I will let ya all know!!!!

Hello all!! Thanks for everyones replies!! For future reference, it was the starter motor, the smoke coming from the back of the engine was a leaking rocker cover gasket! And the turning over problem there was a leak in the pipes near the regulator! just letting a bit of air in!! All done in an afternoon!!! Nothing to do with the crank shaft censor!! Once again thanks speak to ya all soon!!!!

Glad to hear you're making some headway. Have you fitted a whole new starter motor?

Yee done the whole motor took 20 mins!! although firstly I noticed that some of the wires were loose, turned over first time! but then after that, just went back to the clicking!!