1998 freelander 1.8 not starting. what can it be?

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jda070504

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As per the title, my freelanders a none starter.
-Fuel pump is good, primes as it should.
-Fuel line good, checked by puling out the inlet fuel rail and turned over.
-Spark plugs wet when removed.
-Starter is good and engine tries turning but not firing.
-If left for a day and started, it'll fire up to 2k and die straight away.
-Battery is good.

Since I've had this issue I have changed the inlet manifold & throttle body. Ecu & immob. Drivers fuse box. Starter, fuel pump and filter. All relays and checked all fuses. New leads, bk6re plugs and cap. All this has made no difference at all to how it behaves

Just can't seem to find the problem. Advice would be appreciated. Thanks
 
hi there

have you checked the crank shaft sensor? i have a 1.8 vvc kseries in a classic mini ,for ages i could not get it to start ,in end i traced it to that ,if thats not working ie when the flywheel marker passes it it will never run as will not tell the ecu to send spark

have you pulled a plug out to see if its sparking and if its a nice strong spark

griff

ps its at the back of the engine,or was on mine,#### to see if you not no where it is.
 
Cheers, Crankshaft sensor was my next thinking. I've been cheap (which I know I shouldn't) and have a parts mule next to this freelander so the plugs, leads and dizzy came off that which started on the button so I doubt it's those. Might check the spark when it goes dark.
 
Did the fault just happen one day or were you working at anything else? A bit of history to the fault will help diagnosing it.
 
if you leave 1 day and start will it run at fullish throttle?

Had a peugot 205 that would stall once it got hot and never restart. the temp sensor in the water circuit was gone and it was 'full choke' all the time.

You could run it at 3000 rpm plus but once below that it was dogmeat

that sorta **** should show up with a code read tho.
 
Alibro said:
Did the fault just happen one day or were you working at anything else? A bit of history to the fault will help diagnosing it.
Click to expand...

I bought the freelander a month back off ebya. It had an electrical fault with all the windows and doors clicking like mad leading to the rear door popping open. Because of this known fault i got the hippo delivered and wasnt told of any starting issues.

It had to be jump started off the back of the trailor which i expected if the electrics had been going haywire. The day after this i started the hippo up, had to use full throttle for it to stumble into life and idled like a bag of sh!te gradually getting better over 15-20 minutes until it idled fine. I switched it off and ever since it has refused to start.

I managed to sort the door electrics and decided to swap some parts over from my parts mule which started and ran perfectly (written off). So the fuel pump and filter got changed, fuel lines got checked and are clear, changed the inlet and injector rail so that covers the fuel side of things.
Ignition side of things i've changed the relay, denso unit, cap, arm, leads, plugs.
Also starter and TB changed, ecu and immob tested on the other freelander and works perfectly. Drivers side fusebox changed, all fuses checked, all relays swapped with those from the donor vehicle. I've got 3 batteries fully charged at any one point so its not a weak battery. All earth points cleaned.

All of this has made absolutely no difference to it starting, zero, ziltch!!!

A couple of people have suggested CTS and obviously Crank sensor. Will get these changed and if that doesn't work, god knows what i'll do, nothing left as far as i know.
 
lenny1234 said:
if you leave 1 day and start will it run at fullish throttle?
Click to expand...
No, if i hold the accelerator pedal to the floor on the first start up of a day, once the key is turned to crank the engine, it fires up to 2k or so and immediately cuts out and carries on trying to crank until the battery is dead. The only time i have made it start was the day after i got it, and it did the same as above, but just about stayed above 2k for 5-10 seconds which let the engine start to idle on its own. Tried many many times since, never done it again.
 
jda070504 said:
The day after this i started the hippo up, had to use full throttle for it to stumble into life and idled like a bag of sh!te gradually getting better over 15-20 minutes until it idled fine.
Click to expand...

My son's 2.0 Turbo T Series, or is it O Series, is a bit like this when cold. Its almost 100% certain to be the temp sensor as once warm it starts and idles fine.

If its really cold it won't fire for ages, then coughs for a few starts, then splutters for a few starts, then it'll fire and idle low and rough but as soon as you dab the throttle it'll die, then it'll cough as you dab the throttle etc etc gradually warming up. Height of summer, it'll start and run first pop all-be-it rough at first.

Its been like it for the 18 months he's had it and he can't be t****d to change the sensor. Its on the inlet manifold - there's 2 temp sensors and the one for the ECU is on the top - or is it the one on the end - its one of them anyway !
 
GrumpyGel said:
My son's 2.0 Turbo T Series, or is it O Series, is a bit like this when cold. Its almost 100% certain to be the temp sensor as once warm it starts and idles fine.
Its been like it for the 18 months he's had it and he can't be t****d to change the sensor. Its on the inlet manifold - there's 2 temp sensors and the one for the ECU is on the top - or is it the one on the end - its one of them anyway !
Click to expand...

Cheers, will have to pull the ones off the other one to see if that makes a difference.

He'll have a T series engine. That's where my soft spot lies. Rover 220 coupe turbos. Currently fixing up a track project along side trying to get this on the road. Not fun with 2 projects on the go. This is my Coupe in its former glory. And the V reg hippo is the parts mule for the other....


 
That's a smashing looking 220 Coupe.

Bit better nick than my boy's. Mind you his isn't that bad, some niggly bits, a leaking crank seal (that got worse when it was replaced!) and a poor paint job - but the motor, transmission and body are in good nick. Shame he can't be bothered to maintain it.

This is from last year, he was in Queenstown with his mates and I met him 1/2 way for some fishing at Lake Benmore.

BenMore2.jpg
 
jda070504 said:
I bought the freelander a month back off ebya. It had an electrical fault with all the windows and doors clicking like mad leading to the rear door popping open. Because of this known fault i got the hippo delivered and wasnt told of any starting issues.

It had to be jump started off the back of the trailor which i expected if the electrics had been going haywire. The day after this i started the hippo up, had to use full throttle for it to stumble into life and idled like a bag of sh!te gradually getting better over 15-20 minutes until it idled fine. I switched it off and ever since it has refused to start.

I managed to sort the door electrics and decided to swap some parts over from my parts mule which started and ran perfectly (written off). So the fuel pump and filter got changed, fuel lines got checked and are clear, changed the inlet and injector rail so that covers the fuel side of things.
Ignition side of things i've changed the relay, denso unit, cap, arm, leads, plugs.
Also starter and TB changed, ecu and immob tested on the other freelander and works perfectly. Drivers side fusebox changed, all fuses checked, all relays swapped with those from the donor vehicle. I've got 3 batteries fully charged at any one point so its not a weak battery. All earth points cleaned.

All of this has made absolutely no difference to it starting, zero, ziltch!!!

A couple of people have suggested CTS and obviously Crank sensor. Will get these changed and if that doesn't work, god knows what i'll do, nothing left as far as i know.
Click to expand...

CTS makes only minor mixture adjustments so that can be discounted. No spark would mean checking the ignition system. If you are getting wet plugs, the CPS is working. The ECU will inhibit fuel delivery if no crank signal is present. I'd be checking the rotor arm ;)
 
I've swapped the rotor arm out for a known working one from the other freelander with the cap it was used with. It's nearly new so should work. Doesn't even try to fire once after the initial turn of the key.

So if the CPS was faulty it would cut fuel to the plugs. Didn't know that. Can a dead alternator cause it?
 
jda070504 said:
I've swapped the rotor arm out for a known working one from the other freelander with the cap it was used with. It's nearly new so should work. Doesn't even try to fire once after the initial turn of the key.

So if the CPS was faulty it would cut fuel to the plugs. Didn't know that. Can a dead alternator cause it?
Click to expand...

From memory, MEMS inhibits fuel until a valid CPS signal is received. So wet plugs would mean fuel is being supplied. If you have proved that there is no spark? The ignition system is the place to look ;)
 
I would personally check it isn't flooding.

Reving up until it leans off,

Check air and engine coolant temperature with scanner
 
Yep. My best guess is the dizzy cap now. Of all the things not to check, the contacts for the arm in the cap are worn down to the plastic. Didn't even think to check inside it when I swapped it over.

Hasn't been a wasted exercise. In doing this I've found out my camshaft seals aren't seated properly. My coolant is water. The expansion tank cap leaked, the fuel pump was on its way out. The starter was worn, battery on its last legs.

Just need to get the leads, plugs, cap & arm swapped out and I can take it for the first test drive since I've had it.

Then it's the knocking suspension, cam seals and interior to sort as well as fitting the bull bars. Spots and tow bar. The joys :)
 
Last edited:
Could it have had a head gasket changed and not started since? Might be a timing issue which would still give a spark but it wouldn't run. I did a stupid thing last time I did mine and fitted the cam pulleys wrongly giving a similar issue. If you remove the bolts holding them the centre hole is elongated with a pin which should be at EX for the exhaust cam and IN for the Inlet cam. they are easy to fit wrong if you don't know about it.
Probably not that if it starts at all but something else to check.
 
More petrol and a bigger spark make sure you splash copious amounts on the seat and the carpets. Then I usually take a sheet of newspaper fold it in half then roll it into a long tapered shape light that with matches and when well lit throw into the gaylander. Works every time without fail..
 
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