2003 Freelander TD4 Leaking Engine Fuel Pump

Hi,

Just after some advice here. My Wife's Freelander 1 TD4 cut out whilst driving on Monday. The garage has said that the fuel pump on the engine is leaking diesel and this is most likely causing the pressure to be too low for the injectors which explains why it won't start.

What I want to know is whether this is a common fault and one that is pretty easy to rectify or a real bugger of a job that will cost a significant amount of cash to rectify.

Landrover and one other garage over the phone have already given ball park figures of ~ £1000 + to replace the pump. I just wondered whether it could just be a knackered gasket.

Any pointers welcomed as this piece of junk is costing us a fortune in repair bills recently.

Thanks

It is common mate. I rang a diesel injection specialist at beamish and just bought a Bosch fuel pump service kit. It's a pain in the arse to get the pump out, but once it's out it's a piece of cake to change the seals.

mick 1986 said:

It is common mate. I rang a diesel injection specialist at beamish and just bought a Bosch fuel pump service kit. It's a pain in the arse to get the pump out, but once it's out it's a piece of cake to change the seals.

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Easy job for a novice who can follow a manual or does it require special tools, eg winches, ramps ...?

How much was the fuel pump service kit?

Thanks

flanagaj said:

Easy job for a novice who can follow a manual or does it require special tools, eg winches, ramps ...?

How much was the fuel pump service kit?

Thanks

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I'm an electrical engineer by trade, and a self taught mechanic on the weekends. It's easy following a Haynes manual, but once you done it you wouldn't need the manual again.

Yes you do need a special tool, it's a fuel pump sprocket holder (I can't remember it's proper name), but it can e bought from ebay for about £35-40. The seal kit was about £10-15 posted.

One of the members did a how to when he did his......see below

index

mjrimmer said:

One of the members did a how to when he did his......see below

index

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The only problem I found with this description was the bit about the starter motor removal, it's not necessary at all. Other than that it's all good info.

mjrimmer said:

One of the members did a how to when he did his......see below

index

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Having had a good read of this I think I need a manual as well. I think I need more than a 4 pictures and a few words if I am going to do this myself :-(

flanagaj said:

Having had a good read of this I think I need a manual as well. I think I need more than a 4 pictures and a few words if I am going to do this myself :-(

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Where do you live mate? If your close to me I wouldn't mind doing it.

Your wifes freelander maybe a piece of junk , mine most certainly IS NOT, I recently had to replace my hp injector pump , due to a leak , took it to a bosch service centre , cost £207 for a fully recon pump with a years warranty plus labour , did you see the schematic drawing of the pump , put one seal in the wrong way and you are back to square one , good luck

Ian jones said:

Your wifes freelander maybe a piece of junk , mine most certainly IS NOT, I recently had to replace my hp injector pump , due to a leak , took it to a bosch service centre , cost £207 for a fully recon pump with a years warranty plus labour , did you see the schematic drawing of the pump , put one seal in the wrong way and you are back to square one , good luck

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It's not rocket science mate. The guys who tell you it is, are the numpties trying to get your hard earned cash for something you can do yourself! The only seals that are even remotely possible to get wrong are the small metal ones, all the rubber ones doesn't make a difference if they are upside down.

mick 1986 said:

Where do you live mate? If your close to me I wouldn't mind doing it.

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I am based down in Dorset. Blandford Forum

My only concern is that the garage tried to us easy start and were unable to get it fireing. I drove it recently and it was very sluggish and one garage said it could also be that the turbo has seized

mick 1986 said:

It's not rocket science mate. The guys who tell you it is, are the numpties trying to get your hard earned cash for something you can do yourself! The only seals that are even remotely possible to get wrong are the small metal ones, all the rubber ones doesn't make a difference if they are upside down.

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I noticed the leak last oct/nov and looked on ere , one chap did it over a weekend , another tried with the seal kit , but when all fitted back into the car ,it still leaked I did toy with doing it my self but geting the two tools required for the timing chain/extractor put me off i would have taken you up on your offer !

flanagaj said:

I am based down in Dorset. Blandford Forum

My only concern is that the garage tried to us easy start and were unable to get it fireing. I drove it recently and it was very sluggish and one garage said it could also be that the turbo has seized

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Can you see/smell diesel under the car? If that pump leaks, you know about it mate! I had a puddle of diesel under mine within a few seconds of it dieing and trying to crank it.

Ian jones said:

I noticed the leak last oct/nov and looked on ere , one chap did it over a weekend , another tried with the seal kit , but when all fitted back into the car ,it still leaked I did toy with doing it my self but geting the two tools required for the timing chain/extractor put me off i would have taken you up on your offer !

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To be honest it's not a hard job, so I would advise anyone to get the tools and try it.

If it still leaks after the seal kit has been done, I would suspect lack of cleaning on the oring seats. I spent almost as long cleaning and rebuilding mine as it took to refit it.

I will openly admit I was a little nervous while extracting the pump from the sprocket with the special tool.

mick 1986 said:

Can you see/smell diesel under the car? If that pump leaks, you know about it mate! I had a puddle of diesel under mine within a few seconds of it dieing and trying to crank it.

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I am going to get the car trailer'd back from the garage who don't know what to do it and then I will know more, but the garage said you can see the diesel leaking out from he said was a gasket. So it would suggest that it is the seals that have gone.

I am going to get a manual and the tool and have a bash at it myself. We just cannot afford to keep shelling out the garage fees anymore. In the last year we have had

rear fuel pump and expansion bottle - £580
new clutch - £1200

Makes me shudder looking at those numbers

Ok, so the big day has arrived and I am going to tackle the removal and servicing of the high pressure diesel pump on the TD4. The pump overhaul kit has arrived from Diesel Bob's along with the special tool for removing the pump.

The only remaining question is that the Rave manual shows removal of the hydramount using a special tool LRT-12-169 now I assume that I can ignore this point as the reason for removing the engine mount is to gain access to the diesel pump?

You can remove just the top part mate, and leave the rest in place. You can remove the starter motor aswel, but I wouldn't bother.

mick 1986 said:

You can remove just the top part mate, and leave the rest in place. You can remove the starter motor aswel, but I wouldn't bother.

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Many thanks for your help here Mick. Most appreciated

Not a problem mate. If you get stuck with anything drop me a PM with a contact number and I will give you a ring and talk you through it mate.

Last piece of advice before you start, check the small metal seal, it looks like a cross between a tiny washer and an oring, make sure your eye sight and lights are good enough to determine which side has the chamfer on it, then remeber which way it comes out. It's piece of cake once you got it out mate.

Mick, that is most kind of you and that is what makes forums like this worth there weight in gold!

A quick update on progress. Have just started trying to remove the diesel pump, but seem to be fighting compression when trying to undo the nut that is located inside the crankcase. I have the vehicle in gear, but it won't undo even though the socket is turning.

The manual does not say anything about this, so any pointers (sorry to ask) would be most appreciated.

I am actually enjoying doing this