Freelander 1 2002 TD4 Refuses to start

Back again with more issues...
The Freelander refuses to start at all and I have spent almost three weeks trying different things and now I'm stuck..
The history is I drove the vehicle one hundered miles with no issues stopped left the car for several hours, then drove another hundred miles home, pulled into my parking spot and turned the engine off. I decided to turn it back on again as I wasnt correctly aligned in the space and it refused to start at all.
I drove through a serious puddle two miles from home and I thought I perhaps heard a change in engine noise afterwards.....but since it wouldnt start I cant be 100% certain..

What I have done so far!

I have checked that there is fuel getting the injectors and there is also power to them as well (3.5 volts variable on my meter).
The pumps seem to prime and make a noise when you turn on the ignition.

I pulled the injectors and the first two (going left to right looking at the engine from the front to the back of the car) seemed to eject fuel vapour. The third and fourth did not. So I made the assumption that the injectors were faulty and ordered two working ones. I have fitted the new ones but there still didnt appear to be any fuel vapour when I tested them...

I have no way to test that there is pressure from the pumps (as far as I am aware), but there is definetly fuel coming through the pipes as my road will attest to....

The car wouldnt fire on 'easy start' although it did make a three second 'hiccup'.

Could this be a pump issue?? An immobiliser issue?? or something else completely?

I have replaced the entire ECU and it solved all my electrical issues, I also had to change my ignition and immobiliser relays etc as well. The car worked perfectly after that. I have also put the original one back in to see if it was that which was at fault but it would start. The original electrical faults were with the doors and windows, the replacement ecu sorted all that out.

Help please!! Where do I go from here??

Have you changed the high pressure fuel pump regulator O rings? For the £10 a kit costs, it's worth doing.

Which ecus did you replace and have you changed the transponders in the keys, immobilisation ecu and engine ecu as a matched set from a good working car?

I think an immob error would prevent cranking, so it's probably not that.

Sounds less like a fuel/injector issue and more of a crank/cam sensor issue. Get a scan tool on it.

Not sure about the two injectors spraying and two not - if the cam/crank sensors aren't working then no pulse should be sent. Maybe the two non-sprayers you replaced were actually working correctly, and the two sprayers were leaking.

I find easystart a bit variable on modern engines. You have to spray it right into the intake, right at the EGR valve. There's so much turbo hosing I think it gets lost.

usually if the cam sensor is playing up it will not start when the engine is hot and will start when cold

Thank you so much everybody, I really appreciate your help. I dont think that get said often enough!!

Ok. I will order a High Pressure O ring kit now and get it fitted, it wont do any harm.

The ECU that were replaced was the main one under the bonnet (Big silver box). The body control box (Back of the fuse box). The Immobiliser unit (Inside dashboard and a total f'r to do). The ignition was also replaced and various sender and receiver units as well. It was a kit from a breakers and evrything worked fine for three weeks prior to this. The keys came with the replacement parts. However I have yet to change the door locks and have both keys from the same key ring, so I will remove it and give it a try in case its getting confused.

I couldnt get a diagnostic computer to work with the freelander, one unit (Generic but with Landrover software) wouldnt recognise it was attached to the vehicle and the second unit (Generic) would only give real time data and it said there were no faults recorded or in the history. I should state that the first unit wouldnt recognise the vehicle with either the old cpu or the replacement.

Would it be worth changing the second pump just to be sure??

Nodge68 said:

Have you changed the high pressure fuel pump regulator O rings? For the £10 a kit costs, it's worth doing.

Click to expand...

Hi Nodge,
Was this kit your were meaning? If so, does this mean taking the high pressure fuel pump off? If thats the case, where does this part live?
I couldnt see it on the diagrams. Thanks for your help!!

Guys, do you know if there is a place on the engine or fuel system where you can plug in a pressure tester (gauge)??
I dont see one in the manuals.....
Thank you

Keatek said:

Hi Nodge,
Was this kit your were meaning? If so, does this mean taking the high pressure fuel pump off? If thats the case, where does this part live?
I couldnt see it on the diagrams. Thanks for your help!!
View attachment 120372 View attachment 120372

Click to expand...

You don't remove the whole pump, just the regulator part. I believe you have to remove something (is it the starter?) to get the regulator out. What ever, its a lot easier than removing the pump.

Removing the starter just gives you better access. You need to remove the regulator from the end of the fuel pump, 2 torx screws and 1 electrical connector to remove.

Ok... Just to confuse issues...

I flattened the battery the other day when trying to start the freelander after said injector change...
So I put the re charged battery into it today and low and behold it started!
Wee bit of smoke, took it for a run and it appears to be ok.... should I take it and get a diagnostic test done?? actually see whats going on..

is this because the car was without a battery for three days and would have allowed the ECU to completely reset itself??

Also can anyone recommend a cheap diagnostic tool which will work with a freelander 1?? I have tried three so far. Two wouldnt recognise being attached to the vehicle and one would only give me real time data.. any thoughts would be great.

Finally, I am still going to change the low pressure pump and filter along with replacing the regulator seal. Just to be on the safe side..

Again, thank you all for your help, it is greatly appreciated.

Ok... I changed out the fuel filter and low pressure pump, I'd bought it so thought I'd may as well change it..
Now it's a part from bearmach.
I had no real hassles getting it done and changed, about an hour all in and I fired it up fine.
However, the original pump used to prime then turn itself off. Now it just stays on???which is confusing me.
Should I do a reset on the ecu??

I've also noticed this pump is quite a bit louder than the one I took out.

I could also swear the car is running slightly better, engine sounds a bit healthier and I seem to have more torque...

What the hell is going on????

After market fuel pumps are often noisy by comparison to factory pumps.
Have you checked out the live data?

For diagnostics, I have the pscan.eu. About £150 and needs a windows laptop to run it. Others, I think, have had success with the icarsoft i930.

I have the Icarsoft I930. It works ok on my 05 SE. I've no idea if it works on an 02 though. The sales stuff implies it will though.

The only problem I can remember with the i930 is that it doesn't work on the Teves Mk20 ABS ECUs used between 2000 and 2001. Might they have also been used in 2002?

GrumpyGel said:

The only problem I can remember with the i930 is that it doesn't work on the Teves Mk20 ABS ECUs used between 2000 and 2001. Might they have also been used in 2002?

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The I930 isn't perfect. It refuses to communicate with my box TCM, or Ipac ECU. It seems to pick up the ABS ECU ok, but can't test it, just read codes.
I'd prefer a more comprehensive diag tool, but none are vary good in my price range.

I chose the Pscan because it works on my Td5 Defender as well. Very few devices do.