FL1 TD4 cranking for ages before start

Hi, long story short . My gf had a freelander 1 td4 (lovely car, literally mint inside and out) we sold it on with a long crank issue (buyer aware)

however we saw it up for sale and I fancied a project so I bought it back for something to do.

I’ve just swapped the injectors for 4 tested ones and it’s exactly the same.

symtoms -

Cold start - cranks for about 20/30 seconds then starts with white smoke

Hot start - starts instantly if turned off and back on within 5 minutes otherwise it’s a bugger again

General running ok but I’d say it’s down on power slightly

Any pointers chaps?

Check high and low fuel pressure when cranking and when running and report back.

It's always worth changing the pressure regulator solenoid O rings for starting issues.
Also is it cranking over at the correct speed? It should spin over at about 200 RPM, which is just visible on the rev counter. The slower it cranks, the longer it takes to get the fuel rail up to pressure, so the longer it take to inject fuel cleanly.

Hi,

For starting issue, for me there is a fuel leak somewhere in the fuel line :
HP fuel pump can leak from one cover ( it has 3, you need to look under ).
Fuel line can let air pass in, ... cheking the fuel line for grassy pipes, cracked pipes ... if not enought putting some air presure in the fuel to see where it leaks ...

Will take some readings and report back.

Not likely to be the pump itself nodge? Will change the o rings and see what happens.

Theres no leaks anywhere it’s been left running before for ages in shed and never seen anything underneath

Matt BB said:

Not likely to be the pump itself nodge? Will change the o rings and see what happens.

Click to expand...

It's possible, but normally the HP pump has more than enough capacity to supply all the fuel required, and still manage to leak too.
Just a thought. Does it have 2 LP pumps, or just the rear one?

Haha that reminds me actually, my old man’s td4 pump use to leak and it went like a rocket still so your spot on there.

just the one lp pump , it makes a racket but it was a cheap new one off eBay back along so I’m not sure that is the problem as I’m pretty sure it was changed to try to cure the problem.

Matt BB said:

just the one lp pump , it makes a racket but it was a cheap new one off eBay back along so I’m not sure that is the problem as I’m pretty sure it was changed to try to cure the problem.

Click to expand...

Could be the issue. Cheap ebay pumps are known to supply less than optimal fuel pressure, which can starve the HP pump, effecting starting and full power production.
Best get a live data read, and make sure the LP pump is putting out more than 300 kPa, preferably over 350 kPa

Right….. Got some readings here if they help.

Without engine running (just lp pump priming the low supply was 49psi)

while cranking the lp supply stayed at 49psi the high pressure rail was at 6000psi

once started and running the lp is the same (a touch higher at 51) the high pressure rail is at 4130psi

if you rev to 3k the high pressure jumps to 15000psi the lp falls to 45psi

any clues lads?

Didn't see glow plugs mentioned yet ?

Matt BB said:

Right….. Got some readings here if they help.

Without engine running (just lp pump priming the low supply was 49psi)

while cranking the lp supply stayed at 49psi the high pressure rail was at 6000psi

once started and running the lp is the same (a touch higher at 51) the high pressure rail is at 4130psi

if you rev to 3k the high pressure jumps to 15000psi the lp falls to 45psi

any clues lads?

Click to expand...

For the HP pump you should have between 6000 psi and 20 000 psi on a new HP pump ...
For the LP pump 49 psi is a good reading ...

Look for a small leak in hp pump, cracked or greassy pipes in the fuel line,
most of the time you will not have fuel dripping under the engine.

Then after you can look for the injectors leaking back, and the HP pump regulator ...

Ok
Will have a look for leaks, in theory though my readings are ok then for the hp pump?

I did think glow plugs but was always told they don’t really do a lot anyway