FL. TD4 - no starts, lumpy idle & erratic power

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TheGPMG

Member
Posts
11
Location
East Lancashire
Ey up gang,

First of all, apologies if this is boring repetition to some of you. I have had a good read through other threads and nothing exactly matches my problem so I'm resorting to posting a fresh thread.
Okay so my beloved Freelander 2004 TD4, just turned 150k. And 3 problems have all manifested in the same month so I'm assuming they are connected somehow. Here we go . . . (in order of appearance).

1. When the engine is at full temperature, and idling in neutral, the revs will start to dip and recover. At first the needle's just a little wobbly but given time it will start to dip by 2-300 rpm, almost stalling, before bouncing back. I've watched this from cold start, flat steady rpm to lumpy bouncy after about 15 mins. Very rarely, (3 times in same month) coming up to junctions the engine has cut out. Fun!

2. On the motorway, again only when the engine is warm, I get an occasional dip in power. It's feels like hitting a head-wind gust. Maybe lose a couple of mph. When it does this I check but don't see any puffs or belches of smoke of any colour from the exhaust. Once, at 70mph the engine warning light came on for 5 seconds before clearing again. Generally needs to be driving for at least 30minutes before this starts to happen. Most noticeable in 5th gear. Smooth as a smooth thing from stone cold, even at the same speeds.

3. And now the bothersome bit. Failing to start occasionally. Turns over quite happily but doesn't fire. The first time it did this, I could hear a gurgling from the engine bay whilst the LP fuel pump was running. No fuel leaking. I've had the LP fuel pump replaced last week as a precaution (almost as old as the original was when that failed 7 years ago). I definitely don't get the gurgling any more but occasionally it just doesn't want to fire, when normally it fires up in under a second of crank. I've been getting it going by resetting the ignition to zero 3-5 times before eventually going for crank, i.e. stopping and restarting the fuel pump.

So, recent changes:
LP fuel pump new.
Full 12k interval service last month, including fuel filter and 3 new glow-plugs (4th wants to stay where it is).
HP fuel pump replaced about 15 months ago.
All injectors replaced 6 years ago.
EGR blanked off yonks ago.

I really don't want to call time on it just yet, especially if it's just a perished turbo/vacuum pipe, but I can't see why this would cause the failures to start.

My mechanic mate is going to run it this week with the gizmo plugged in, so hopefully will have so diagnostic info soon, but still would appreciate any sage advice and suggestions on possible/probable causes.

Ta muchly.
 
Yeh, you need to get diagnostic on it. You may find some stored codes in there, and they'd probably be relevant but might be old/unrelated. You'd want to clear the codes and check again after the EML light's been back on I recon. However, the live diagnostics will probably give you good data while the engine is hunting - if you know what you're looking for! I can't help with that, maybe others can - I'm sure I've seen threads on here saying what the live data should look like on idle.

The problem is probably related to an O Ring on the HP pump fuel pressure regulator or the loom connector to the fuel pressure sensor on the injection rail - that's going by previous threads.
 
I had a similar problem with mine which showed a low pressure fuel problem code on one of them gizmos has the loom connector to the fuel pressure sensor,But like GG it can be a few things.
 
Thanks all so far.
Update: The errors codes read by the gizmo relate to the fuel pressure sensor.
Homing in ....

The fuel rail pressure sensor is a known problem, suffering from corrosion on the contacts and the harness has issues too. There's a replacement overlay harness available that's designed to eliminate the problem.
 
Last edited:
Ey up,

Firstly thanks for all your info and pointers.

An update:
  1. Turbo control vacuum pipe found to have rubbed on gearbox. Damaged section cut away, and pipe re-seated.

  2. Fuel rail pressure sensor and wiring inspected. Slight corrosion found on contacts. Everything else checked out ok. Mechanic is a proven (to my work) electrics specialist so his word is good. Landy then became his van for a couple of days work, clocking up 75 miles. No fault codes at all on the gizmo. So nothing tangible to pin it on but assumed that disturbing the connection has broken down whatever was the cause.
When I got it back I gave it a long solid test run, 'worked hard' on some of our hilly motorways, definitely up to temperature. Not a single flutter. No lumpy idle

Most importantly, and the reason I was fretting, it started perfectly on Monday morning after not moving for at least 36 hours. Was fully frosted over at -2°C. And then it sat in the train station car park for 2 days, starting perfectly when I returned to it. Happy Bear.

Of course I'm more paranoid now of every slight imperfection but I just have to tell myself, it's a 14 year old Land Rover. o_O

Ta muchly you lot.
 
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