Defender TD5 Wont start - Gremlins?

Hi recently purchased a 2001 td5 110. Started great when i purchased the vehicle, drove fine but as soon as i turned it off after 20 miles of driving home the problems started.
Firstly went to start it back up and twice it fired but cut out then nothing at all when i turned the key ot even a click from the starter.
Dis-connected the battery for 30 mins, re-connected and it started on the button and drove fine the rest of the 180 miles home. As soon as i turned it off at home and tieid to re-start it wouldnt crank, no clicking from starter either.
Following day tried cranking and it fires for 2 seconds and cuts out, but only when the heater plug light is illuminated before cranking, if this doesnt comes on then it just turns over with no attempt at firing.

So far ive changed Crank shaft sensor, didnt make a difference. Changed injector loom and cleaned red ecu plug as there was oil present, still nothing. So left battery dis-connected and ecu for 2 days went back and it started first time ont the button, left running for 30 mins turned off and on several times without issue then bang, nothing just cranking and not firing. Leave it a few minutes until i turn ignition back on with heater light present it will fire then cut out after 2 seconds, no heater plug with ignition and it just cranks no attempt at firing.

Help please as i think i've been tucked up by the seller and a few grand in the hole on a vehicle i cant even use.

Cheers in advance

Well, l bet your engine is OK. It sounds to me like an immobiliser or electronics fault.
l am sure somebody on here will know what exactly is going on. You may do well to get a code reader plugged in which will reveal any stored fault codes.
lf oil has got into the wiring loom it may have also got in to the ECU which can cause all sorts of issues.

Have you tried bump starting it? Td5 starters can fail in weird and wonderful ways

Discodevon said:

Have you tried bump starting it? Td5 starters can fail in weird and wonderful ways

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Yes ive tried that, also taken the starter off to be checked and its working fine on the testers bench.

Tis strange, got any access to diagnostics?

bankz5152 said:

Tis strange, got any access to diagnostics?

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Yes tried a delphi and snap on diagnostic but only codes i got were maf on delphi and fuel pump open circuit

Next time it wont start connect a boost cable direct from the battery earth to the engine block and see if it solves the problem. If so its defo an earth fault which is common on the TD5. Check the main engine and gearbox earth strap connections are clean and tight. Take them off and clean with emery cloth then tighten with a little copper grease or Vaseline. Also trace the main earth from the ECU back to its earthing point and make sure its clean and tight. If the engine runs well then you have a good engine.

Shifty1962 said:

Next time it wont start connect a boost cable direct from the battery earth to the engine block and see if it solves the problem. If so its defo an earth fault which is common on the TD5. Check the main engine and gearbox earth strap connections are clean and tight. Take them off and clean with emery cloth then tighten with a little copper grease or Vaseline. Also trace the main earth from the ECU back to its earthing point and make sure its clean and tight. If the engine runs well then you have a good engine.

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Ok cheers mate i will try and have a look at this today, if not then it be early next week and i will let you know how i get off

Shifty1962 said:

Next time it wont start connect a boost cable direct from the battery earth to the engine block and see if it solves the problem. If so its defo an earth fault which is common on the TD5. Check the main engine and gearbox earth strap connections are clean and tight. Take them off and clean with emery cloth then tighten with a little copper grease or Vaseline. Also trace the main earth from the ECU back to its earthing point and make sure its clean and tight. If the engine runs well then you have a good engine.

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I'm having similar problems with my 2001 TD5 but it's just won't start, can you tell me where the earth straps are located ? I have tried all sorts but as the starter spins fine I was assuming the earth must be able to cope with the high current and would be OK . But I'm getting desperate now want to get this sorted.

I know when they play up it can be a right pain in the ass but sure this will turn out to be some silly problem. Sometimes it can be difficult because a lot of things are wrong or about to go wrong at the same time, happens with old landrovers, I had an alternator, starter motor and tank lift pump all go in the space of a month with the fuel pump taking a few weeks to go from being a bit weak to finally dying on me. Led to loads of starting problems, conking out, flat battery issues all at the same time. Was a bit of a nightmare and I almost sold the b thing.

Agree with shifty re checking earth straps. Think you should also try starting with jump leads or bump starting it to see what happens. You say the starter is ok on the bench but your initial symptoms ( no turnover or click sometimes and starting other times) sound like something I had when the little connector on the side of the starter wasn't getting a proper contact because of all the oil and crap that had got in there. Was that contact good when you took the starter off?

The problem you are having now, turning over but won't start, sounds a bit like when the lift pump in the tank has packed in. Sometimes they can just go and that's it, sometimes they will get a bit weak leading to bad starting, sometimes they just get noisy, sometimes they do the old conking out and not starting again then being ok for a while before they die completely. You should listen to see if you can hear the pump when you turn the ignition. If you can't or if it sounds very noisy then it might be the culprit. When the Landrover was running did it feel a bit gutless? That can tell you pump is about to die. Maybe ask the seller if he has ever changed the lift pump? My Landrover is younger than yours and I'm on lift pump number 4.

ditto the pump thing... My td5 is on its 3rd. But my 1st two were destroyed by knackered injector seals (common problem) but mine needed the fuel purge sequence to see start.
When my starter was dead though it would turn over fine but would never start. It turned out it was upsetting the crank sensor, but if yours won't bump start I can't see it being that.

As far as I'm aware no other sensors will stop a td5.
So I would be looking at the ecu and immobiliser, maybe even the cut out on the bulkhead just above and behind the engine.The earth strap to the chassis under the battery box next to the gearbox would be something else I would clean as mine went right doo lally when it went

w13rms said:

it will fire then cut out after 2 seconds, no heater plug with ignition and it just cranks no attempt at firing.

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Don't know much about this model but , does it have a fuel pump relay? We had a Merc once with the same type of issue, turned out to be a bad connection on the fuel pump relay, sadly it cost $700 for our local Merc stealer to work it out.
Also, starter only relies on earths from battery to engine block, all the other gear needs good earths from battery/engine to body, these can open circuit or become "fuzzy" giving sporadic problems.

raywin said:

I'm having similar problems with my 2001 TD5 but it's just won't start, can you tell me where the earth straps are located ? I have tried all sorts but as the starter spins fine I was assuming the earth must be able to cope with the high current and would be OK . But I'm getting desperate now want to get this sorted.

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raywin said:

I'm having similar problems with my 2001 TD5 but it's just won't start, can you tell me where the earth straps are located ? I have tried all sorts but as the starter spins fine I was assuming the earth must be able to cope with the high current and would be OK . But I'm getting desperate now want to get this sorted.

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If starter spins and easily cranks the engine then I'd be looking at the ECU earth as the engine earth is probably OK. The ECUs are in different places depending on Disco or Defender. My Defender ECU earth point was on the chassis under the driver seatbox. The Disco ECU is under the bonnet and the earth point will be somewhere close. I ran a separate dedicated ECU earth direct from the battery so it did not have to use the chassis and body circuit. I also have a separate earth for the headlamps which increased the light output noticably.

Well had a play around today and im only getting ignition lights now, try cranking engine but nothing. No clicking from starter. So run a wire from starter solenoid to feed and got cranking but still fires for 2 seconds and cuts out.
Started looking at wiring and came across this

Still being powered when ifnition is turned on so decided to remove it. Aftermarket immobiliser wired to fuel pump relay and ignition.
Also came across this connected to pipe coming off fuel pressure regulator so getting a new pipe made up to bypass it, so hopefully this will be my fuelling issue. Looks like a fuel stop soloneid of some kind which was wired to immobiliser. Dont think its a standard landrover part

Still scratching my head, ecu sent for testing and its fine, changed main relay under seat but still got same issue. Anyone with nanocom close to swansea please!

Hiya, I’m new here but did you ever solve this? I have the exact same issue on my 1998 disco 2 td5 and it’s driving me nuts!! Any help much appreciated! Thanks

What exactly are your symptoms?
Do you have access to Land Rover diagnostics - Nanocom, Hawkeye?
What have you checked so far and with what result?
TD5 starting issues can take time, patience and a logical, methodical approach. The trick is to eliminate what isn't the problem until you are left with the culprit.

Well the truck will start up and run for a few seconds, then it cuts out and won't restart for about a minute.then it will start up and do the same again, the bcu under the glove box looked damp so i had that out and cleaned it and it fixed the problem, started and ran all day long.after a few days of being left in the shed it goes back to how it was, starts up few seconds and cuts out again. Again clean bcu and it would be fine for a few days. Now it seems to of gone completely, had the bcu out a few times and makes no difference. I don't know if its a bcu fault? Wiring fault or fusebox possibly?

I dont have either of the diagnostic machines you mentioned, but i do have my own snap on diagnostic machine. It dosent like to be read tbh, ive just really scratching my head with it.

Any help greatfully received,

Regards simon

TD5s are not OBDII compliant, so you will not have any joy with a non-dedicated diagnostic reader. Your post obviously suggests that your BCU is water damaged and giving you an immobiliser issue. A Nanocom or Hawkeye could read BCU faults and if necessary disable the passive immobilisation while you get it fixed. OTOH the fault might be something completely unrelated.
What battery charge do you have for instance? Is your alternator giving a strong charge? If the voltage is too low the ECU will not fire the injectors and the symptoms you give could suggest a struggling battery and alternator. Check the easy things first.