Engine want start

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Edward kaczorowski

New Member
Posts
7
Location
Gainsborough
I am a new owner of a 2000 Deisel Freelander and whilst driving home it lost power and no matter how much I put my foot on the accelerator the engine did not rev and began to loos power. All of a sudden the vehicle picked up speed and drove as normal. After two miles it stopped. There's £30 of Deisel in the tank. Each time I turn the key the engine turns but will not start. Has anyone any idea?
 
Assuming hypothetically that the problems are occurring, it will either be fuel supply related or there's a couple of electrical things it might be.

If its fuel supply, it might be a simple as a blocked fuel filter (back right in the engine bay), but might be the actual pump has packed a sad. Could also be the belt driving the pump has gone or jumped a tooth or 2 (although I wouldn't expect it to come back to life if that's the case).

Electrical issues might be the connections from ECU to the fuel pump or maybe the crank position sensor has packed a sad.

Sure there's some other possibilities as well.
 
Thank you. As I said earlier I was driving and noticed that the engine kept losing power. In order to keep it going I had to put my foot on the accelerator and drop down a gear and when it picked up move up a gear. Eventually the engine lost power and no matter how far my foot went on the accelerator nothing happened and the car stopped. All I can do is turn the key and the engine tries to turn and tries to fire up but just doesn't seem to have enough fuel to ignite it into life.

I've just been towed back by the RAC and they just emailed me their report stating "suspect fuel pump faulty". The RAC man tried manually pumping fuel from the engine compartment and from below at the rear and front but eventually gave up and towed me home.
 
Cheap fuel from Tesco's shouldn't be a problem in the L Series, its better than the stuff from fish & chip shops, although its probably not much than the Canola oil they sell inside. You might want to give them a call though to make sure there haven't been any problems.
 
Definitely put diesel in

Thanks
I've seen this kind of thing many times before. It's definitely worth double and tripple checking what fuel went in. Petrol in the tank will give you the same symptoms as you have. I have come across petrol in the diesel pump more than once.
To test. Drain a small amount of fuel out of the filter or pump some out into an old tin, using the primer bulb. Then with the tin away from the car and anything else flammable, try to light the fuel at arms length. Petrol will burn but diesel won't.
 
The other thing to consider - IF you definitely put in Diesel ! - is to do as nodge says, firstly into a glass jar or a household glass, let it settle and check for water in the fuel - tesco have been known to put the wrong fuel in the wrong tank - also to have water leaking into their tanks.
Water in fuel will block the filter PDQ !.

I would be 99.99999 % certain that the issue is fuel related - problems arising as you describe after a 'fill up' is text book 'petrol in diesel'.
I would therefore go with either incorrect fuel (petrol) or water contamination. A glass will show any water in the fuel as small bubbles or even a layer of water at the bottom. As nodge says, petrol will burn with a lit taper or similar - diesel will not - you can drop a lighted match into a pool of diesel and it will simply go out.
In either case, considerable damage can be done to the engine, fuel pump, injectors etc.
Extremely unlikely to be the pump on an L series which is virtually bomb proof so I would rule that out until fuel type, water content and filter condition are eliminated.
Joe
 
The other thing to consider - IF you definitely put in Diesel ! - is to do as nodge says, firstly into a glass jar or a household glass, let it settle and check for water in the fuel - tesco have been known to put the wrong fuel in the wrong tank - also to have water leaking into their tanks.
Water in fuel will block the filter PDQ !.

I would be 99.99999 % certain that the issue is fuel related - problems arising as you describe after a 'fill up' is text book 'petrol in diesel'.
I would therefore go with either incorrect fuel (petrol) or water contamination. A glass will show any water in the fuel as small bubbles or even a layer of water at the bottom. As nodge says, petrol will burn with a lit taper or similar - diesel will not - you can drop a lighted match into a pool of diesel and it will simply go out.
In either case, considerable damage can be done to the engine, fuel pump, injectors etc.
Extremely unlikely to be the pump on an L series which is virtually bomb proof so I would rule that out until fuel type, water content and filter condition are eliminated.
Joe

When I was on breakdown duty at the garage I worked at. Breakdowns just after filling the tank were always down to putting the wrong fuel in.
A diesel engine really won't run if petrol has been put in the tank.
A petrol engine with diesel in it will run, just. But it will make its own invisible smoke screen!!
It's so easy to misfill the tank with a diesel engine vehicle, it's untrue. My wife managed it a couple of years back. It's not good putting 50Ltrs of petrol in a diesel Vauxhall Astra GTC. Luckily she managed to get it home, just. I then had to pump out the entire tank contents then refill with diesel. It ran like a bag of spanners for a couple of tanks of fuel. It also had a pile of codes logged too. However it never went bang afterwards, but it's now made way for the Kuga, so I don't know if there were any lasting effects on the HP pump.
 
When I was on breakdown duty at the garage I worked at. Breakdowns just after filling the tank were always down to putting the wrong fuel in.
A diesel engine really won't run if petrol has been put in the tank.
A petrol engine with diesel in it will run, just. But it will make its own invisible smoke screen!!
It's so easy to misfill the tank with a diesel engine vehicle, it's untrue. My wife managed it a couple of years back. It's not good putting 50Ltrs of petrol in a diesel Vauxhall Astra GTC. Luckily she managed to get it home, just. I then had to pump out the entire tank contents then refill with diesel. It ran like a bag of spanners for a couple of tanks of fuel. It also had a pile of codes logged too. However it never went bang afterwards, but it's now made way for the Kuga, so I don't know if there were any lasting effects on the HP pump.
Yup, spot on !.. another side effect of the incredibly often petrol in diesel is severe damage to the catalytic converter that can take from days to a month or so to manifest. Almost always the 'cat' is captain cooked. My wife is also guilty of petrol in her Citroen AX Diesel. :( .... how long the problem takes to manifest after the actual filling is proportional to the amount of diesel in the tank prior to filling. (she parked over a grate near the kerb when it finally 'died' I was extremely environmentally friendly cough cough - and the drain allowed a convenient place to get rid of a tankful of petrol..... don't tell the tree huggers ! - needs must etc etc....
For the OP,
The specific gravity of the various fluids are in order (heaviest to lightest) water - diesel - petrol
IN a perfect still situation with water, diesel and petrol in a tank - water would be at the bottom, then the diesel, then the petrol, however, what happens in reality is a churned mixture of diesel / petrol with water being more often in the form of 'bubbles' or globules. Most fuel is returned to the tank in a constant circulation leading to gasoil / gasoline mix./
The big danger as well is that the diesel HPFP(VP37) on the L series is lubricated BY diesel (as are all diesel pumps!), as are the injectors, also the cylinder bores rely on diesel for 90% of their lubrication. The far far higher pressures of a compression ignition engine (diesel) when petrol is mixed with diesel can cause explosive HGF also - as well as damage to the other lubricated components.

Yes, there is a minute possibility that 'something else' occurred -

However - in most things automotive - Occams Razor is a good guide to follow :) it has served me well over the years.
Joe
 
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