Disco td5 fuel starvation

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V8bobtail

Member
Posts
27
Location
Wisbech
Hi Folks
I’ve just brought a Td5 disco she’s a 04 landmark with 145k on the clock. I brought online from a farm auction without viewing (cardinal sin I know!) went to collect and there was a problem with the alarm/ central locking which I have now sorted by fitting a new receiver in the roof, when we got it started it took a long while turning over before it fired which I thought wasn’t right. So 20 miles home all fine, drives quite nicely in fact! Been out in it a few times with no issues apart from starting, I was on my way to town to get some fuel when coincidentally the fuel light came on, dropped in put half a tank in and continued on my way, after a couple of stops I’d done my jobs and it was starting ok (which it had been after it had been run), went to start to come home and the M and S lights on the dash started flashing, drove the 4 miles home (almost) lifted foot off the loud pedal to turn into end of road and it cut out!!! Quick shift into neutral and just had enough momentum to get into drive way! After a little mucking around got it restarted and parked it up eventually got it started today with a jump and got it round to workshop, had a good look round but in this wet weather it’s a little tricky to see any leaks. I had a filter on the shelf so thought I might as well change that but now it will sit there idling for ages with no issues but take it down the road and after a few minutes starts to splutter and dies, it will eventually restart but will do the same again, sometimes after a short period sometimes longer and now when turned off is a pig to start! What am I missing???? Any help would be much appreciated thank you.
 
That’s what I was thinking, can I blow the pipes back to the tank without damaging anything?
There was a thread on here recently where a garage offered and maybe DID clean out the whole fuel system and even found a stone in the fuel tank, but then it ran fine. If you search you may well find it. In the meanwhile the OP on the thread spent money on new fuel pumps etc, so read mark learn and inwardly digest. If I can find the thread I'll post a link to it but in the meantime you may well be able to find it.
I don't know at what point blowing stuff through would damage stuff or worse just shove the sh1t back to apoint where it can still do harm!
I'd be more tempted to disconnect fuel lines one at a time at both ends and then blow each line through individually. I'd also ensure the water separator and filter(s) are all cleaned and changed if nec. The tank may benefit from a draining and cleaning.
TO TEST this theory, run the engine from a tank of fuel, either gravity or pump fed. This was advocated by both myself and another member and was shown to have been a way in which the OP could have saved money.
Best of luck
 
Turn ignition to II push the throttle 5 times consecutively then wait for the EML to stop flashing(about 3 minutes) then crank it ...if it starts right away the issue is probably with leaking injector washers.... is the pump noisy ?
 
Turn ignition to II push the throttle 5 times consecutively then wait for the EML to stop flashing(about 3 minutes) then crank it ...if it starts right away the issue is probably with leaking injector washers.... is the pump noisy ?
Not overly noisy I wouldn’t say no, just a faint hum. I took the pipe off the fuel cooler/heater and it pushes a lot of diesel out. I have ordered new washers but didn’t realise I needed a tool to get injectors out!! I did read there is a strainer behind the pressure regulator but didn’t have time to tackle that today
 
Though if that 5 pedal purge doesn't help the problem is not with the washers and thinking twice as you said the EML was on once it can be a crank sensor signal issue too
 
There was a thread on here recently where a garage offered and maybe DID clean out the whole fuel system and even found a stone in the fuel tank, but then it ran fine. If you search you may well find it. In the meanwhile the OP on the thread spent money on new fuel pumps etc, so read mark learn and inwardly digest. If I can find the thread I'll post a link to it but in the meantime you may well be able to find it.
I don't know at what point blowing stuff through would damage stuff or worse just shove the sh1t back to apoint where it can still do harm!
I'd be more tempted to disconnect fuel lines one at a time at both ends and then blow each line through individually. I'd also ensure the water separator and filter(s) are all cleaned and changed if nec. The tank may benefit from a draining and cleaning.
TO TEST this theory, run the engine from a tank of fuel, either gravity or pump fed. This was advocated by both myself and another member and was shown to have been a way in which the OP could have saved money.
Best of luck
Is there still a water separator
Though if that 5 pedal purge doesn't help the problem is not with the washers and thinking twice as you said the EML was on once it can be a crank sensor signal issue too
its definitely fuel starvation of some sort as it starts loosing power then splutters for 20/30 seconds, just enough time to get to the side of the road apart from the last time when I was sat at traffic lights!! Fuel tank breather had also crossed my mind, I’m hoping it was just coincidence that this problem started after putting half a tank of diesel in.
 
So coming home from town I thought I’d try it with the fuel cap loosened, I thought for a start we’d cracked it but no!!!! Just as I’m turning across a busy road she dies on me!!! . We eventually got home after stopping another 3 times, luckily this time I had a little warning so could get to a safe place and wait for it to restart. I think it’s going to be injectors out over xmas and try to drain the tank. Is there still a separate water separator on these??
 
So, purged it this morning, turned over for a long while before it started, left it running while I did a couple of little jobs but when I came back out she had stopped and now will not restart!!!
 
When the M&S lights flashed did the MIL come on as well? If not you might want to check the battery and the alternator output as you could have a low voltage issue.
If the ECU does not receive enough current it will not fire the injectors. Unusual to get this with the engine running as the voltage has to be below 9V to trigger the M&S lights, but if the alternator is sufficiently crap...
 
I had limp mode issues, m and s lights etc. Sump was full of diesel that had got past washers. New washers cured one, new battery cured lights
 
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