Freelander Td4 - Hard starting and Emerging smoke

Hi All,

I purchased a Freelander Td4 - 2003 with 60 000km's. Still under warrenty till August 2006 iby Landrover South Africa.
Problem Encountered:
When trying to start in the morning it struggles (Hard Starts) When it eventually takes it Bellows a huge amount of smoke out and runs unevenlly for a while (almost the same effect as a petrol vehicle that was flooded and then took). Once started it start easily after that in the day again unless it has stood for less than 3 - 4 hours. otherwise the same.It has now been 4 months and the dealer cannot sort this problem out.
They have replaced a low pressure diesel pump ; replaced all 4 injectors.
Re-calabrated the engine tuning on the computer etc. to no avail.
I have noticed some of the following which I don't know could have something to do with the problem or might give a leed.

1. I was told by the dealer that the Glo plug light on the instrument panel only comes on when the temp. is below 5 degrees C. This does happen in S.AFRICA but very seldom have Temp below 5 Deg. It then starts easy.

2. The smell ommitted from the exaust is aufull and always smells like this. not only after standing for a while.

3. Is it normal for the Turbo charger to make a whistling noise(very audible) and piching higher and llower as you put your foot on and take it off the eecelerator

4. While driving on a slight descent on a recent long trip and reaching =/- 150kmh the power cut away while foot on exelarator even though I pushed down. Getting back to +/- 130kmh it returned power. This happened on one occasion only

Could somebody please help as the Dealer has now advised me they are waiting for a CD Disk from the Uk to calabrate the vehicles computer(Don't know what that means )

Thanks

Denniss

tarting, soulds like glow plugs. Wer have 2 diesel vehicles (not the Freelander, that is a V6) and if we do not let the glo plugs warm up ffirst, then the engine takes on your charactoristics. Following is frommthe handbook for the TD4

3. Insert the starter key and turn the switch
to position ‘II’. Wait until the glow plug
warning light extinguishes.
NOTE: The waiting time will vary
according to the engine coolant
temperature (when the engine is hot, the
glow plug warning light will extinguish
almost immediately).
4. Turn the key to position ‘III’ to operate the
starter motor. DO NOT press the
accelerator pedal while starting. RELEASE
THE KEY as soon as the engine is running.

From this, I would expect the Glo plugs to operate at whatever the ambient tempurate is.

Also from the RAVE CD, there is the following statement

In the event of a glow plug failure any of the following symptoms may be observed:
l Difficult starting.
l Excessive smoke emissions after engine start.

The dealer need to study the RAVE CD me thinks.

Thanx for your input. Will ask dealer to check out glow plugs!
Must just mention that the glow plug light never comes on above 5 deg C. But when it has been cold here in winter (below 5 deg) it did come on and started like a charm. Could be that it somehow needs to be activated in warmer temperatures too, which looks like is not happening. But Dealer here seams to have no clue when one mentions these things to them.
Maybe somebody can confirm the problem

Regards
Denniss

Denniss you are correct in that the glow plug dash light doesnt light above 5 deg,on my wifes 02 TD4 it comes on for split second sometimes but not always even of a morning.
I however have no starting problems, i did when i got the car think something wasnt right with the glowplug light as i had never seen it on for the first few weeks.

Have you tried moving the key to position 2 several times before actually starting it, even though the plug light doesnt come on.

Zippy

Zippy, yes have beealso been told to do this but to no avail.

Thanx for the response and advice in any case. Will take any advise to sort the problem out in any case

Regards

Denniss

im sure you have resolved the problem by now , i have a freelander with similar symptoms and have been told to replace fuel hand primer . mine is faulty . there is a non return valve in the primer to keep fuel from returning to the tank if this doesnt work it creates an air lock.

Hi did you ever resolve this problem? I have the exact same symptoms i have allso changes the injectors with no improvements,

Many thanks

Chris

From my experience this maybe due to premature cylinder wear due to low quality fuel used in markets such South Africa, Central/South America etc. I would suggest a compression check. Compressions must not be below 27bar (392psi) or have 2bar (29psi) variance between cylinders. If they are out of spec its head off and the bores will need to be re-honed and piston rings renewed.

I will check the compresion, but I find this hard to believe as the engine only smokes a little bit when first started cold the main problem is that you have to crank it over for at least 7 seconds before it will start if you switch it off it will start back in a flash but leave it for about 3 hours and it will hard start again.

I believe that your glow plug system is operating correctly. Any very high pressure common rail diesel system should need very little glow plug assistance. The most likely fault is a lack of high pressure fuel after the vehicle has been standing for some time the delay in starting is because the system has to restore lost pressure somewhere in the fuel system each time the vehicle has been left idle for some hours.

Dann said:

I believe that your glow plug system is operating correctly. Any very high pressure common rail diesel system should need very little glow plug assistance. The most likely fault is a lack of high pressure fuel after the vehicle has been standing for some time the delay in starting is because the system has to restore lost pressure somewhere in the fuel system each time the vehicle has been left idle for some hours.

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if I manualy heat the engine by using rovercom the engine starts in a flash. So I dont think it is a fuel preasure problem. we have a average temperature of 90 F and the glow plug light does not iluminate, I am tempted to install a 300tdi glow plug timer
I have just done a compresion test and the resuls are 1 380psi 2 360psi 3 350psi 4 350psi
Replacing the injectors has vastley improved the smoking but the hard starting is still there.

i have the same problem wiv my 02 td4. it just wont start i had to use quickstart for it to start, once it starts it runs well. its been at the dealer for two months now. they can't find the fault. wot is it wiv these cars?

Do what we did - SELL IT QUICK - best thing we ever did. Once our Freelander was out of warrenty, we could not keep up with the bills to keep it going. We bought a 5 year old Rangie, now it is 10 years old, it is going down the road as it has suddenly started to get expensive to keep fixed. We will have a bill for many 1,000 of $$ tomorrow for the air suspension, we have been quoted $500 for the interior, $1,200 to fix the climate control, ball joints are all failing, it is using BUT NOT leaking water, etc.

I am sorry to say this about Landrover products BUT we love the vehicles but our pockets are not deep enought to keep them fixed. Our Japenese Landcruiser just keeps on going, 7 years and virtually nothing spent on it, our Nissan Mistral 6 years and NO repairs so we will be all Japanese soon.

Stevesub

hi all it sounds like the problem i have had with my 53plate td4 months of in and out the garage but to no avail . had new injectors new fuel pressure sensor and harness and countless other things. i have just had a friend look at it ( diy mechanic not a garage mechanic!!!) and he found the problem in 10 minutes it was a pin hole in the rubber outlet hose directly from the compressor side of the turbo. try this hose mine was on top of the bend. new hose from quickco £37.00 and a 6pack for my mate

I have the exact same problem with starting, is there an answer? Glow plug light on in morning and starts, but never again for rest of the day and won't start even after 3-4 cooling in winter 2'c outside!

Hi there, i have the same problem, my Land rover freelander 1 TD4 struggles to start. its fine in the mornings, but if left for couple hours at work, it chucks out a massive load of smoke out of the exhust, and it sounds like it struggling. after it has that tantrum, its fine and runs like a charm again.
1.) would that be a head gasket failure?
2.) is it a fuel pump or filter?
3.) Would an electrical cable do this?
hope you guys can help with this.
Harry.

Unlikely to be a head gasket.
It could be the cam position sensor, low pressure fuel pump, or high pressure rail sensor and/or harness or even the high pressure fuel pump regulator O ring.
When was the fuel filter last changed? What fuel has been used? Has a decent fuel system cleaner been used regularly?

Nodge68 said:

Unlikely to be a head gasket.
It could be the cam position sensor, low pressure fuel pump, or high pressure rail sensor and/or harness or even the high pressure fuel pump regulator O ring.
When was the fuel filter last changed? What fuel has been used? Has a decent fuel system cleaner been used regularly?

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I have only had the land rover for about a month now, so im not sure about if the fuel system has been clean. its now going in to a garage soon this week.thanks for the help, will check it all over first.