300tdi no power, 2k limiter, White smoke

Hi guys,
I recently brought a 1994 Disco 300TDI and for a few weeks all was well (granted it only came out three times in the two weeks, and only one of those was off road) the car boosted well, no real smoke coming out the exhaust, started first time everytime. When I purchased the car I changed all the filters and oils just to make sure everything was as it should be. Yesterday the car wouldn't start, would crank but no ignition at all. Eventually figured out the stop solenoid wasn't getting any power so I connected a power cable to the solenoid and the battery and it started fine. The car revs fine, however there is a fair bit of white smoke now coming out the exhaust. You can drive the car for 50 metres or so then suddenly everything changes - The car will only rev to 2k (sometimes upto 3k) then feels like theres nothing there and won't go past this point. Read somewhere about the fuel filter so changed this again (still no luck!).

Any ideas?

Buy yourself a Delphi diesel lift pump, under £30 on ebay also it is wise to introduce yourself...

Hi Swisstoe, do you think the lift pump is causing the issue? Hi, my names Tom, I've got a 1994 Disco 1 300 TDI, 3" lift kit, snorkel, front winch, it's my first of hopefully many land rovers as I plunge into the depths of offroading! Any help would be very much appreciated

Yes Tom sounds like lift pump is worn or clogged, not hard to change, inlet and outlet fuel pipes and two bolts holding it to the block...

Ah ok I'll give that a try! Do you think it could be the injection pump that's failed rather than the lift pump?

I would'nt worry about the FIP until you change the lift pump, if its still the same then it needs further investigation...

Ok cheers dude, I'll order and fit that and see how we get on from there!

Just make sure you don't get the thingy with the pad on the pump behind the cam on the shaft instead of on the front, otherwise you'll need yet another one! Guess how I know, though I don't think it was on a Landy! Turn the crank by hand and spanner until you can feel the cam is away from you, then put it on and do up the bolts.

and like @swisstoe said, make sure it is a Delphi and not a chinese one. in some cases on an early Disco you have to fit a spacer because the cam wears the pump. You can work that out the other way round, give it a full spin and see whether the lever operates correctly. LAst but not least.. did you fir a decent fuel filter, Copper, Mahle, Knecht or some chinese Brickpart? those can also clog up your system

Hi guys, the lift pump was fitted today (Delphi) - seems to idle a little better, but the power issue remains. The fuel filter was changed a week ago for a bosche one. Any ideas??

I think I'd go for a check on the spray pattern of the injectors. Getting that tested isn't usually expensive. Maybe some carp has got in somewhere. Also a compression check on all cylinders. If compression is OK and spray patternis ok, then I'd want to know where the white smoke is coming from. white is usually water vapour or sometimes oil being burnt, which I would have thought you'd have covered with what has been mentioned so far. But do check your oil level hasn't either risen or fallen.
Has your temp gauge gone up? Has your water level gone down?
Hate to say it but it may be head gasket time, but compression test should show this without needing to take the head off, also you can test the coolant for the presence of diesel, I believe.

Hi guys, the garage where its at are checking all the fuel lines for any blockages.How long should this take? they are saying it could take 5-10 hours!! Weird and maybe unrelated, issue, in the back of my mind I've got that the stop solinoid could intermittently be playing up which I guess could cause this issue?

On other diesels, I have sometimes been forced to take the stop solenoid out altogether and put it back together without it. All it meant was that to stop the engine I had to stick it in top gear, on tick over then raise the clutch to stall it. If you can do this it would be a rather crude way of seeing whether you are right about this solenoid. I am surprised the garage cannot think of another way of going about things. Have they done the other tests I suggested? Much quicker than an alleged 5 to 10 hours checking for blocked fuel lines. They could change them all in that time!, Or blow them through with an airline. Did anyone recommend this garage to you? I cannot see how a blocked fuel line would lead to white smoke.

Stop solenoid would just stop the engine, surely?
I had white smoke on startup with our lorry, that turned out to be the cold start mechanism wasn't working - the fuel pump wasn't advancing and the air heater wasn't, er, heating. Not sure if the D1 has the latter though.

The stop solenoid works as follows.
When you turn on the "ignition" which of course it isn't as a diesel ignites throught the heat generated via compression in the cylinders, it actuates a solenoid valve in the fuel line which opens to allow fuel into the engine one way or another.
When you turn off the "ignition" the solenoid is no longer energized and the spring in it returns it to the "closed" position.
If you disconnect the electrical connection to it, the engine cannot get fuel so it cannot start. In many older diesel cars, this was the anti theft device.
But, if you take the solenoid away from the valve and remove its spring, it stays open all the time, hence you can start the car but have to stop it by stalling it. In the old days of diesels there used to be a thing like a choke control in the cab you used to pull and hang onto until the engine stopped. Or as a farmer friend of mine used to say "Pull his cock and make him stop!"

So far the garage have replaced the lift pump, then the found an air leak in a pipe which they replaced - This didn't resolve the issue. Now they want to check all the fuel lines and sedimenter. 5-10 hours seems a ridiculous amount of time! The garage is called APB Trading Limited, based locally to me. Came with decent reviews online and the specialise in Land Rovers.

Lorries are different, wait till @kevstar jumps on, he will know.
But all the Disco has to help it start on a really cold day is the glowplugs which are heated by the battery and look a bit like sparkplugs, they glow red hot and heat the air in the cylinders so that on and for a while after startup the air coming into the cylinders is heated and therefore has expanded a bit, this helps to vaporize the fuel vapour and make it ignite.
(Unless I am wrong in which case others will jump on to tell me.)
Of course there is also the thermostat which keeps the coolant flowing around the engine to help warm it, until the engine temp rises to a point where further coolant must be allowed to flow around the engine and cool it! And the viscous fan which is supposed to only cool the engine once it gets hot enough to need it.
Still waiting to hear about the results of the other tests I mentioned particularly the compression test.
Such a fussy thing isn't it the infernal combustion engine! Though, apart from the injection pump, it's a lot less fussy than a petrol engine and needs fewer bits!

Tomperks said:

So far the garage have replaced the lift pump, then the found an air leak in a pipe which they replaced - This didn't resolve the issue. Now they want to check all the fuel lines and sedimenter. 5-10 hours seems a ridiculous amount of time! The garage is called APB Trading Limited, based locally to me. Came with decent reviews online and the specialise in Land Rovers.

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REALLY cannot see why they are not doing a compression test, seems so obvious and relatively quick and easy.
Did you run our of fuel with it at any time?
Have they tried jury-rigging a gravity fuel tank direct to the FIP and testing it like that? That would rule out fuel pipes, sedimenter, filters the lot, really quickly.
The only other thing I can think of is that the governor is playing up and causing the motor not to rev properly. Could be sticking and thus preventing proper fuelling, see this https://www.lrukforums.com/resources/repairing-jammed-or-under-fuelling-300tdi-injector-pump.9/ and this which is often out of focus but explains things well. So you could fix it yourself and not be charged ridiculous amounts for a new FIP! To see if it is this, you should only need to undo the 4 screws on the top of the fuel control device.

Read up on this if necessary, but if you can undo the 4 screws and lift the diaphragm away you should be able to see the horizontal thingy that comes into the cylindrical space that moves to affect the boost pin. you'll have seen this in the video. If you cannot get the diaphragm to lift free, then you know you have got a problem and more work will be necessary to free everything off and get it all working as it should. don't forget to mark the postions of stuff before you undo them so you can put them back exactly as they were. Once done, then engine may not run exactly right but at least you will have a datum point to work from to get things to where they should be.

kevstar said:

How do @Stanleysteamer as if ive not got enough to think about

Firstly id be smelling the exhaust gases, if it smelt like diesel or antifreeze.
Also rewinding to the op first post he said it didn't smoke much ?? so it was smoking what colour.
Id be looking at a compression test could be a crack on the head...exhaust port putting water down
into the exhaust or unburn fuel.. injector or fuel delivery problem. A leak off test next & check all the
pipes for air leaks, if the lift pump fails the injection pump will still pull enough fuel to run the engine
but it wont pour smoke out.
Id use a gallon can & use a outboard primer straight onto the IP
5 to 10 hours to check fuel lines fk off get your motor out of there
Usually when you mess about with the IP you get a load of black smoke not white
My money is on the heads cracked but seams strange that he needed to put a direct feed to the
solenoid.
Im really interested what the garage do in that amount of hours.​

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Hello @kevstar !!!!
I did think about sniffing the exhaust but somehow while posting, or eating me tea, I forgot. Also forgot that of course the IP would be able to pump up enough fuel, so lift pump not really the issue.
He said it smoked "white" hence my worries about water vapour so gasket or worse cracked head methinks, also my Qs about coolant and oil levels.
Looks like we both are thinking along the same lines.
Be interesting to see what happens with these monkeys who know how to rack up the hours for nothing!!! Or maybe OP'll get it out of there!