Engine cut out and idle

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M

MGTFDJM

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We have a 2000 1.8l Freelander and it has recently started having an issue.
Basic background is she is pretty old and not brilliantlyu maintained -minimal servicing etc - but passed her MOT a couple of weeks back with no advisaries, so not too bad.

Last week however, she suddenly started cutting out when coming to a halt. Going down the gears and de-clutching to halt she just drops to 0 revs and dies. Happens only when the engine has warmed up. Generally starts straight away and can continue to drive, but it's a real problem as the missus has to get through traffic to get to and from work.

We have had the odd occurence of engine revs suddenly rising and dropping to near zero then just about recovering.

Any ideas?
 
Maintainance and service have nothing to do with an MOT.

I'd rather buy a regularly serviced vehicle with no mot than the opposite.

And I'd never buy a Freelander.

Apart from that, congratulations.
 
juiceyv8 said:
'ere we go:doh::doh::doh:
Click to expand...

storm99 said:
Maintainance and service have nothing to do with an MOT.

I'd rather buy a regularly serviced vehicle with no mot than the opposite.

And I'd never buy a Freelander.

Apart from that, congratulations.
Click to expand...
Well thank you for your really helpful and informative posts. I'll take those on board and I'm sure they will help me fix the problem :(. I remember now why I left this forum before.

Still just in case there are some helpful members, I'll expand a tad.

We've had the Freebie since new and it has been a great and reliable car. Had LR continued in that vein we would have long ago traded in for a new one, but the FL2 is impractical, stupidly expensive and less good looking.

Storm99 I wasn't asking you to buy it, just help diagnose the problem. And, the reason for mentioning the MOT is to perhaps rule out cat issues - since you would expect those to show up on the emissions test. Sorry that connection was too complex for you

I've searched the web and aside from the bulletin, which I beilieve is outside my range I can find nothing specific to check. The car has been minimally maintained - not zero maintenance - but a yearly basic service and work when required. The last work was replacement of the inlet manifold gasket and general check by one of the pre-eminent K series experts in the country.

The plugs are fine, the leads are fine, the coils appear to be fine, and anyway the way the cut out exhibits itself is not symptomatic of HT related issues.

I wondered about the IACV but havent had a chance to look at that yet. I guess possible ECU or leads to ECU issues are possible.
The reason of course for posting is if it is common - or someone has had this issue previously - it might help and/or make my diagnostics quicker. The sort of thing I thought these forums were about
 
The Mad Hat Man said:
wot did the "pre-eminent K series expert" check?
Click to expand...
He did a general service including hooking up to testbook. At the time he did the check over he said pretty much what we knew. It was oldish, a little tired, but generally OK and had plenty of miles left if we wanted to run it into the ground.

If your question is related to him perhaps causing the current issue, I doubt it as it was about 9 months ago and the car has been running fine. If the suggestion was that he wasn't as good as he or I was making him out to be, well he is very well known in the industry. Generally more on the MG Rover side which is how I know of him, but he specialises in K-series. I would take the Freebie to him in a flash, but he lives 150 miles away andnot just around the corner.
 
Had a simmilar 'sudden' apperance of the stopping syndrome;
Any or all of the following;
Stcky or distorted throttle body.
Sticky of maladjusted throttle cable.
Faulty throttle pedal sensor. (on throttle body in Rover)
Stcky AICV or not returning to calibration properly when engine turned off (ECU control).
Dying ignition leads or coil (or has yours got coil packs?)
Have you got a rotor arm and dizzy cap (as above)
Slack timing belt.
Had a simmilar elusive problem on my Rover K16 - tried all of the above over extended period.
Ended up as a porous head - replacement head cured the problem.
Well you did ask! :p:p:p:p
 
Last edited:
yeah - I was going to suggest looking at the throttle body - they are known to wear and cause weird probs. If you do change it, dont use a plastic one - go for a metal body.
 
TD John said:
Had a simmilar 'sudden' apperance of the stopping syndrome;
Any or all of the following;
Stcky or distorted throttle body.
Sticky of maladjusted throttle cable.
Faulty throttle pedal sensor. (on throttle body in Rover)
Stcky AICV or not returning to calibration properly when engine turned off (ECU control).
Dying ignition leads or coil (or has yours got coil packs?)
Have you got a rotor arm and dizzy cap (as above)
Slack timing belt.
Had a simmilar elusive problem on my Rover K16 - tried all of the above over extended period.
Ended up as a porous head - replacement head cured the problem.
Well you did ask! :p:p:p:p
Click to expand...

The Mad Hat Man said:
yeah - I was going to suggest looking at the throttle body - they are known to wear and cause weird probs. If you do change it, dont use a plastic one - go for a metal body.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the replies. A number of things I had not thought of.

I guess I knew it would be most of the same problems on the MG :(

It's old enough for a plastic SU TB. I'll check it at the weekend.
I sort of hope it's as simple as the AICV being dirty, but I doubt I'll be that lucky
The HT leads aren't new, but don't arc or tap so hopefully OK. I have a spare set of plugs in the garage so I'll try that, but it really doesn't feel HT like the way it cuts out.

Doesn't have the coil packs unfortunately as I have a spare which I could have tried :(

When the HG was done it was checked for pourosity and the full MLS gasket and oil rail fitted, so I hope it's not that :eek:

Looks like a busy weekend.
 
just to throw a real doozie into the equation. I had a prob where car would cut out when driving, then restart and be ok fora random time - it was corrosion under engine fuse box contacts. Doesnt sound like yo prob, but you never know???
 
All ideas welcome. Thanks.
My gut feel is some sort of LT electronics or sensors. She runs perfectly OK when cold including slowing down and idling.
But when at working temp she starts playing up. Very specific in the way it exhibits itself and pretty predictable. Car drives OK and pulls ok. But when slowing and after de-clutch to change down is when the problem starts. Revs plummet like a stone and generally doesn't recover. Occasionally, if bliped in time it may recover and then will idle if a little uneven. But mostly it just dies.
Turn ignition off and then restart she starts immediatly and can be driven off as normal.

What we need probably is blues and twos so she doesn't have to stop until she gets home :lol:
 
Certainly worth checking the IACV, a friends MGF had almost identical symptoms and a new IACV sorted it out.

Worth checking also that the engine air inlet hose/ducting is properly fitted and has no splits as this will cause idling problems.

(as posted on .org;))
 
Had a quick look this morning just to see if there was anything obvious, but sadly no.

- no arcing on HT leads when running ( granted engine was cold so need recheck when hot)
- no obvious leaks showing and engine bay clean and tidy (for a car of it's age)
- wiring loom from bulletin 0007 is OK and the plugs are firmly connected (didn't have time to take apart and clean, but the seem well fitting)
- follwed the basic checks from bulletin 008
- Check that all engine management vacuum pipes arebeen fitted correctly and not leaking.
- throttle cable is not kinked or has no sharp curves along its length.
- primary throttle lever mechanism has free travel and not fouling.
- that the correct air intake duct to throttle body clip is fitted. The correct clip is a spring band type. The throttle body looks in good shape

Guess I need to have a closer look :(
 
Hi have you done a compression test on the engine? These symptoms can be caused by low compression in one or more of the cylinders.
 
c9mdr said:
Hi have you done a compression test on the engine? These symptoms can be caused by low compression in one or more of the cylinders.
Click to expand...
No, but she still pulls well in all gears and up hills so does not appear to have lost power. There are no visible leaks - oil or water - and no mayo. So whilst compression loss is possible, I suspect its electrical, sensors or fuel related. Thanks for the suggestion though
 
Decided to clean the IACV and check all the connectors before changing anything. That way I could remove one thing from the equation getting the engine hot while going out to buy a temp sensor. Took her for about an hours drive including motorway, normal urban, stationary traffic and most in between.

The idle was not perfect, but not a single stall or attempt at stall. If anything it held a bit high before dropping to normal. So either the IAVC was not seated properly and leaking air, there was an electrical connection not perfect, or there is a wire which is partially damamged and it shows up only under certain conditions. Or of course the IACV or Temp sensor are US and they are playijng with me today
lol.gif


I'll let SWMBO drive it for a few days and see what happens.
Thanks for the suggestions
 
Did you give the plunger part of the IACV a good clean so it moves in and out freely, it might need to be replaced to work properly though
 
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