Defender 90 TD5 - Remapped. Power issues beyond 65mph

Hi there,

I'm new to the Forum.

I have a Defender 90 TD5 that I got Remapped last week. Great performance now. However, before the remap I had Issues getting past 60mph without the engine getting very loud and everything vibrating like crazy through the pedals etc. I was hoping that the Remap would solve this issue. Now I have had it mapped I am very pleased with the performance under 65mph. so smooth with a nice 'Hiss' to the engine. But if I am to accelerate beyond 60mph It has the same issue. I tried shortening the Wast-gate a few millimetres, it helped a little bit. but, not really. My radiator and ****ty intercooler are very old and basically leaking, bending and flaky as hell. I mention this because I feel like the engine isn't getting enough air when reaching higher speeds???? Im thinking of trying a new MAF also. PLEASE SOMEONE POINT ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!!!!. Im stressed thinking about it. Thanks!.

did the re map company not do a diagnostic check before re mapping

Im not sure, it was all very quick really. I drove 2 hours to get there then I went off for lunch pretty much s soon as I got there. I didn't explain anything about the current performance of the car to the man. What would this show? please excuse my ignorance.

Diagnostic checks would show if the cars systems were working correctly.
Such as maf and map sensors also any stored fault codes

Surely a remap will improve a healthy engine, make a well maintained vehicle a pleasure to drive. But my view on it is that having a remap on any vehicle that is not in a good condition and already has an underlying fault on it ( including engine, transmission, incl. pipework / ancillaries etc.) , is a potential waste of money.

Did you try to diagnose what was causing the issues on the vehicle before the remap was done?

Can you get someone local to run the vehicle on live running diagnostics ?nanocom / hawkeye?

Cheers

The Re-Map did improve the engine running significantly. It made it very smooth and quieter through all the gears not to mention to huge increase in torque and acceleration. I had the vehicle fully serviced just 3 weeks ago. It was in no sense a waste of money. I think the issue causing the rough running at speeds of 65 onwards are a cause of lack of air flow.

I did not diagnose anything before the vehicle went in for a remap. As I was under the impression the remap would solve the issue. Now I understand that a remap won't increase top speed but make the normal running more pleasurable, which It did.

Please what are your thoughts on replacing my radiator and ****ty intercooler (that are leaking, flaking and warped.) I just can't imagine they're supplying the engine with a good source of oxygen considering their condition?. And thoughts on MAP and MAF please?.

Thank you for your quick responses!

Surely when they did a remap the garage would run the engine through its entire rev range? (Forgive me I've never had it done)
The revs used at 65 should be the same as the revs at lower speeds in different gears so it would should up it you floored it in all gears whilst accelerating if it were air flow issues it would show up? Drop it into fourth at 65 and see what happens but if it's not doing in all gears at the same rev piont then I'd start looking at transmission and drive train for something worn

Got some pics of the intercooler and rad? So we can see how bad they are?

MAF is the sensor that sits just infront of the airbox, has a connector on the left side. Only replace with genuine or Siemens units.

MAP is the sensor in the middle of the inlet manifold on the left of the engine. Two bolts to remove it then carefully clean it with some brake cleaner.

Both can cause rough running.

Are all of your boost hoses in condition and not split/delaminating?

Any smoke when underload?

Still got the EGR fitted?

Is there any soot or black around the exhaust manifold? If so could be warped and leaking.

Where are you based? If youre local of got a Nanocom (diagnostics) I can plug in check.it.for you?

Marmaduke - When the company did the remap I think to test the drive afterwards he literally took it for a spin. The road he went down (the one I walked down to get lunch) had a top speed of 50mph so I doubt he would have experienced what its like up at 65-70mph. I will try what you said and drop down into 4th when going 65mph. There is a point in all gears if I recall correctly where I feel I need to change gear cos its become a little more rough and louder aka the smooth hiss is over ridden by engine noise. I will report back what happens when i drop to 4th.

Bankz5152 - I will take some pictures today. I have to go to work soon so I will do that soon. I will clean the MAP sensor this weekend, report back and then look into a MAF sensor too. Will also check boost hoses. No smoke that I know of?, where is the Exhaust manifold?. EGR still in place.


Thanks

Exhaust manifold is on the right of the engine inbetween the turbo and the engine itself. If you still have the acoustic cover fitted you will need to remove it to check most things.

While youre checking things I would have a look for oil in the ECU red plug. Easy to do, pull the drivers seat base up, remove the seatbox cover/lid. Youll find the ECU in there, make sure the engine is off, carefully pull the red plug out. If there is oil you need a new injector harness. Pretty easy to do.

I would also look into blanking off the EGR but thats for another day, lets sort this first.

Okay so I will remove this, what am i checking for exactly? and what will issues be causing?.
Ah ha, I actually replaced the injector harness back in summer only a few weeks after buying the vehicle. Did it myself and all went well, I was still cleaning the Reg plug occasionally but looked the other day and there was still oil. I cleaned it and will do so again next week. think this could be causing me issues?.

Okay about EGR. yes we will revert back to this once this is sorted.

Tanks, P.s I will get pics later - the radiator and intercooler are very ****. just to warn you beforehand haha

Looking for black soot/smoke around where the manifold meets the head.

Strange that there is oil after changing the harness, once I did mine there was never any more oil...

It is possible or it could be a collection of small issues, work through and tick them off one by one. Should eventually solve it that way

bankz5152 said:

Strange that there is oil after changing the harness, once I did mine there was never any more oil...

Click to expand...

Not uncommon for oil to still leach out of the wire harness connected to the red plug, as it still holds some oil even after the injector harness has been changed, Although obviously it should stop at some point. We hope....

Cheers

Guess i was lucky!

Right so I have attached two images that i quickly took showing you why I refer to the radiator and inter cooler as ****ty. They undoubtably need replacing soon but I want your opinions of whether this could be causing me the issues. I drove to work and noticed that actually in every gear once hitting a certain rpm I have the same effect. I usually change gears pretty swiftly and tend to sit in 5th so hadn't noticed beforehand. It's nice and smooth with a 'hiss' until that rpm limit then it's louder less hiss and slight vibrations. If you could, would you be able to configure a list of all the little things it could be with a rough price of each and then i could tick them off (starting with cheapest) and report back on this thread?. I'm only 20 with not a great amount of money expesially around Christmas so it might take a while!!.


Thanks everyone

Quite right that intercooler is shagged!!

Don't worry I started with my Td5 when I was a poor 20 year old student working part time so I know the feeling!

MAF is the sensor that sits just infront of the airbox, has a connector on the left side. Only replace with genuine or Siemens units.
- New unit is about £80 you can test for free with Diagnostics or a multimeter

MAP is the sensor in the middle of the inlet manifold on the left of the engine. Two bolts to remove it then carefully clean it with some brake cleaner.
- Free to clean, easy to clean, unlikely this has failed

Boost hoses, if delaminated or split you'll have a boost leak which would reduce power. Should be able to squeeze em around see their condition. Test boost pressure via diagnostics or a boost gauge. Should be 14psi from standard.
- New hoses about £70

Exhaust Manifold - If there is a lot of soot/black around it then it could be warped, only solution is a new one or have it skimmed at a machine shop. There are some decent standard, de-webbed, de-stressed manifolds on ebay which should prevent it happening again.
- £65 - £170 depending

Intercooler, if it is leaking, split or generally ****ed you'll need a new one as it will be leaking boost pressure (diagnostics/boost gauge to check pressure), which will drop performance. I have got a standard one you can have if you collect it/pay for postage. Pretty easy to change, if not larger units Britpart (afaik rebranded Serck) is about £380.

To be honest it sounds a fair bit like what my 90 was like when I first got it, didnt like going above 60 and if I did it felt like it was going to fall apart. However now it will happily pull through to 100

Glad you agree about inter cooler. The radiator is actually just as bad!.
What do you suggest? A larger performance once or a standard one? Will the standard one allow me to (if I address all the other possible issues) allow me to drive smoothly past 65 / 70??. If so, how much would postage cost? Or where about are you based?.

Yes being 20 with a keen interest in doing up a Landy leads to frustration.

Think I will start with replacing the MAF and clean the MAP.

That sounds exactly like mine. Just feel very uncomfortable going past 65mph. What did you do to yours over time to get that great performance? I'd like to do exactly the same.

Thanks you so much

Vast majority of what I did is here. South London/North Kent if you want to collect, ill look up postage over the weekend for you.

I really couldnt say if it will solve your issues or not, best bet is to slowly work through what the problems are. Personally it doesn't sound like its drive train related but I could be wrong.

As for the intercooler, utterly depends on what you want to do with it and how much cash you have to spend!

jsut randomly replacing parts at a guess of what is wrong is an expensive way of going about it imo

google how to tet the MAF etc before jsut randomly changing

flat said:

jsut randomly replacing parts at a guess of what is wrong is an expensive way of going about it imo

google how to tet the MAF etc before jsut randomly changing

Click to expand...

I did include a link on how to test it with a voltmeter