Defender TD5 won't start

try bump starting it behind another car. my starter motor died and it wouldn't fire up but was turning over fine. The starter was sending out magnetic spikes which was effecting the crank position sensor and the thing wouldn't fire up. Went straight away every time it was towed/bumped.
New starter motor later and its 1st time every time

tried bumping it today, went up and down road a few times. tried with starter relay in situ and also when removed. No joy.

Hello again, been busy so not done anything toward fixing this thing for awhile, but i've just spent a few minutes messing around and noticed this plug is full of oil, i didn't know it was even there till now, as it was out of sight under seat box. As previously stated ecu plugs are clean, but this one has black oil in it. can this affect ecu or injectors or anything that would stop the old girl from starting? Also this plug has foam glued to it (obviously to protect it) and that seems to be holding the oil.

You are talking about the blue plug George?

Cheers

yeah that one labelled c0294.

There was supposed to be a guy coming out to put a test ecu on from dealership and see if that worked, however he can't make it for some reason. So i'm thinking of getting a secondhand ecu and a nanocom, programming s/h ecu and selling nanocom. It's the cheapest way i can think of doing it even if ecu isn't the problem. I've no way of moving her, nearest dealership is miles away and don't want to go to dealer anyway.

Have you looked on the LZIR map to see if anyone is close to you that has a nanocom, they may be nice and pop over to give a hand.

It could be the Crank Sensor, ( CPS).

Cheers

@screerun or @johnlad is closest, but dont hold yo breath.

Thanks for the reply guys, don't want to put anyone out, and i think the crankshaft sensor would have shown up on snap on scanner. just been messing about with her in rain and darkness again, getting fed up now, might run over her with tractor and claim insurance.

I haven't looked in on this thread for a while but I'm pleased to hear of progress. It is sounding to me like a problem with either the ECU itself or with something shorting in the loom. Not the injector loom, but the big one that goes from various items in the engine bay to the red plug. I think you can rule out a starter motor problem or a crank position sensor problem.

The wiring looms in Land Rovers of that vintage are not good quality. Land Rover seems to have had a load of wire that is brittle and whose insulation is apt to deteriorate. That happened to mine and I got a new main loom - I think it was around the £300 mark. The new wires are much more supple. I'm speculating here but I wonder if oil has got into your main loom from a previous injector harness problem and that has combined with some chafing and intermittent breaks in the copper in the main loom to create the symptoms you describe.

Thanks brown,That's another logical suggestion to investigate. How did you discover the loom was the problem with yours? The thing is, i don't want to throw money at parts and it doesn't fix it. That's why i haven't taken it to a garage, they're too keen on part swapping around here. If i'd replaced all the parts that are usual suspects i'd be £100's in by now. Is there anyway to start it without ecu connected?

And does anyone have any idea what this blue plug is for and if it can affect starting?

If anyone's interested, fella came out today from dealership with a test ecu, coded it for injectors and immobilizer and it started straight up no probs.

So its a new ecu or get this one repaired i'm afraid.

int there someone on here that repairs them?

The Mad Hat Man said:

int there someone on here that repairs them?

Click to expand...

Did not @raywin have his repaired?

Cheers

http://www.ecutesting.com/land_rover_common_ecu_failures.html
offer a test repair and guarantee the ECU for life????????

neilly said:

Did not @raywin have his repaired?

Cheers

Click to expand...

Mine had the injector faults and the top side switching fault, I messed about for ages trying to start it.
I sent the ECU away to a company who repairs them, they checked it first and told me it was fine with no problems, then wanted to repair it and charge me quite a bit, they didn't fill me with confidence.
It left me a bit confused, especially when I put it back in and the dam thing fired up straightaway. It ran fine for a while but later cut out a couple of times while I was driving which was a problem.
Since then I have bought a second hand ECU and programmed it and it seems fine now, I intend to upgrade my loom at some time in the future to make sure I can rely on it.

The Mad Hat Man said:

http://www.ecutesting.com/land_rover_common_ecu_failures.html
offer a test repair and guarantee the ECU for life????????

Click to expand...

That's the one I sent it to.
It would not be fair to comment on their repairs as I did not have the work done, but it cost me about £60 to test it

Just to add another bit of information to this thread, I broke down back in October and sent my ECU to ECU Testing and they did indeed repair it. It had effectively 'bricked' - no communication wit Nanocom, no engine check light, no fuel purge sequence. Oh, and the engine wouldn't start either. They took about six days and sent me loads of emails about how it was progressing through the workshops. I'm not sure about the lifetime warranty as it has been less than a year, but so far I'm a happy customer.

If I find myself with £300 or so spare I might send them my old one and see if they can fix that.Then I can carry a spare. In five years of ownership I have had two major ECU faults and one flat tyre, so at this rate it would be more useful than a spare wheel.

Mine had the top side switching fault took months to get to the bottom of it turned out to be dodgy wiring for the immobiliser