Cold start nightmare!?...

That is how I start it now although only once so I will try it three times and see what happens, thankyou.
I've never experienced delayed start or further cranking at all. When I push the button it either starts or it doesn't nothing different experienced?

Colin Higgins said:

That is how I start it now although only once so I will try it three times and see what happens, thankyou.
I've never experienced delayed start or further cranking at all. When I push the button it either starts or it doesn't nothing different experienced?

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hi colin are you still having same problem, mine seems to be doing same,
was gonna go down plug route but changed mind due to your thread.have ordered temp sensor will fit when arrives.
just wondered if u managed to sort yours.cheers

Hi All,
Firstly to answer your suggestion Hippo of three times turning on the ignition: tried it this morning as it was really cold and no luck what so ever! In fact it's now starting even worse than before and this is with brand new plugs in!
Ian Mitchell, I think this answers your question also. It wasn't the plugs!! £172+ down the pan!!
this morning it was flipping awful, not sure if this was as I hadn't driven it for a couple of days combined with the colder weather? I had to crank it over for several minutes before it started up and it filled the street with smoke which is always embarrassing! I'm sure it's just burning of the excess fuel from continued cranking as it's always fine afterwards and in fact once warm drives with no problems!
I think I'm getting to the stage of getting a land Rover 'specialist' to look at it now. Without going direct to Land Rover I have been recommended an independent specialist based in the Fishponds area of Bristol called 'M&D Services', does anyone have any experience or knowledge of this garage?
Cheers
Higgy

LR main dealers provide a non intrusive diagnostic/inspection for about £100+vat. I know it's eggspensive but yer can always ask them and walk away afterwards knowing what they tell yer. If yer stuck and can't get yer hands on yer own diagnostic to read the computers then it's an option.

That could be an option but I'm hoping that this independent specialist that my mate has recommended will be cheaper, I do know that they have spent the £20,000.00 on the proper Land Rover diagnostics software that most garages just can't afford! I think it's this 'deep' diagnostics which is the key now and I hope will determine a fault.
I'll let you know how I get on and of course how much it costs! (gulp!)

Any luck getting the problem diagnosed and fixed?

Hi Hippo,

Apologies for the delay in replying and updating this thread, I seem to have been extremely busy recently but I do have some in-roads on the Cold Start problem to report to you and anyone else who may be suffering similar problems....

Firstly a quick update of what we tried before now: We changed Air-flow temp sensor and although the vehicle ran better it didn't help the non start issue. We then changed all glow plugs and again no help. We double earthed the engine and although this didn't assist with the issue the car ran much smoother after, in fact, my mate also double earthed his own 'newer' FL2 and suggested that his ran much better with gear changes that were much more sharper and smoother which is very interesting for anyone who has a LR2.

So with the problem still occurring and actually getting worse from any temperature below 4 degrees I felt it was time to spend a wedge and have a full analysis on the vehicle. Although my local garage had looked they didn't have the equipment or software to get right into it so I set about finding a LR specialist in my area and happened across 'Steve Hill Land Rover' based in Brislington, Bristol. I booked the car in for a full analysis and was assured that he had the latest equipment and software to get right in and do a deep diagnostic test on the vehicle and if necessary single components as required.

The diagnostics weren't cheap and ran in at about £100 but they did turn up two faults that none of the other three testers had picked up, and these were 'Cam Sensor' and a 'Sticking Throttle Body' faults.

Between this and the car going in to be fixed today we had the snow and the problem was so bad that I really struggled to start the vehicle and in fact yesterday it took me 40 minutes of continued trying before it eventually started. Interestingly the car would start but immediately stall (split second) and thinking about it with the grey smoke out the back when it did eventually start could point towards the throttle body (fuel mixture) fault but it never flagged up before!?

Today was warmer and it only took about 20 minutes to start it but I was starting to find it all a bit tiresome by then!!

This afternoon I picked the vehicle up from Steve and it ran beautifully on the way home but I suppose that tomorrow morning's cold start and then a few after will be the real test but I'm optimistic that we may have found the real fault and 'hey' if nothing else I have loads of nice new parts that shouldn't need changing for a while!! LOL

I'll update again after a few weeks to see if we do have a permanent fix!

I will also report finding Steve Hill Land Rover very professional and providing an extremely slick and knowledgeable service, I would recommend them for anyone in the Bristol area from my first two experiences with them. the car also came back very well cleaned inside and out which is always a nice touch.

Cheers

Higgy

Hi Higgy.
So the garage have changed the throttle body? and the cam sensor? did they actually pin down which part was to blame ? or are they saying it is both.

Arctic2 said:

Hi Higgy.
So the garage have changed the throttle body? and the can sensor? did they actually pin down which part was to blame ? or are they saying it is both.

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Hi Arctic, nice to speak with you again.
Yes we did replace both parts as both showed faults however he felt it was the throttle body sticking that was most likely to be causing this fault. Simply due to the exact symptoms. Basically the car would fire, start but immediately cut out within a split second of starting. When started a large cloud of whitish/greyish smoke would come out of the exhaust. he felt this signalled towards a fuel / fuel mixture problem which would indicate the throttle body over the cam sensor. As you can probably tell I'm no expert but that's basically how it was explained to me. I suppose the only way to find out definitively would have to been to repair one item at a time and see what works but I wasn't going to get into that as I've been living with this for about 18 months and just needed it sorted.
The bit I'm annoyed about is that I bought the car from an 'AA' ranked garage with this fault on it. they kept having the car back and 'fixing' it only for it to be returned not fixed! When the warranty expired they then refused my calls! If they had done proper deep diagnostics back then I probably wouldn't of had to go through all this! But nothing I can do about this now I suppose..
Best regards
Higgy

Hi, Colin Higgins,
Seems like you have a wide experience on cold start problem...
I've faced same issue last winter.. Exactly same symptoms: first it wouldn't start 20-40 minutes than easily start with a cloud..
I'm going to list what I have done maybe you would recommend smth...
Changed
1) camshaft sensor change
2) all 4 injectors
3) hose for reverse diesel flow (LR008711)
Checked
1) CSP sensor
2) Timing chain mechanism installed properly
3) all wires
4) fuel not freezing
5) pressure in cylinder, injector, pump
6) spark (glow) plugs are OK - each tested
7) alarm system no influence
8) battery OK
9) no mistakes with computer diagnostics

Recently I had one more issue is TEMPERATURE sensor - sometimes goes UP reducing the energy but if restart goes to normal temp.... =(
Currently it is quite warm (+10 and more) so no issue with start.......

ANY HELP appreciated!
(Freelander 2, manuf end of 2009, model of 2010, original market GERMANY)

Hi Colin

I was wondering if you had sorted out the cold start and if it was the throttle body?

Thanks