Fresh out of ideas!

Greetings one and all, I'm in need of advice concerning my 2002 TD5 Es
I have had an on going problem for about the last 3 years and have exhausted my local garages and 'specialists' in search of a solution.
Driving the car (at any speed) tootling along and suddenly the engine dies, no coughing, spluttering just pffft.. dead - the yellow engine warning light showing. If I try to re-start the car immediately, the engine just turns over, the yellow light staying on. However, if you turn the ignition off completely and wait 30 seconds, it starts straight away and continues as if nothing happened.
The car can drive without a problem for 4,5,6 months, then it happens twice in one week!

So far - new fuel pump, new diesel pressure regulator, crankshaft sensor, wiring harness (the old one had oil contamination) full diagnostics at an official dealership - no errors (2 days, 350 euros and.. yep, the engine cut on the way home from the dealership!
I seem to be throwing money at 'guesses' from garages - any ideas??
oh, and I live in Brittany which isn't ground zero for Landies!

Sounds like it is electrical.
Maybe a dry joint on a circuit board or a broken wire in a harness that touches enough for a while but then separates.
I take it you have done the basics like ensuring the battery is fully operational and all connections to it are sound and tight.
Then explore all around all fuseboxes and relay carriers to see if there is water ingress.
Looks like a long game of hide and seek until you find the intermittent fault.
In France it would be difficult but it might be an idea to try and find a second hand full harness and swop them over, to try and eliminate the dodgy connection. I am aware you have replaced at least part of it, but have you replaced all of it, or at least all that would have an effect on the running of the engine?
But I am no genius with electrickery.
If a pukka LR place cannot find a fault then I doubt it is a major part of an ECU or whatever. Just a friggin annoyin connection that makes and breaks and appears to be temperature sensitive.
Someone with more knowledge than me will come on, meanwhile i wish you all the best of luck in sorting it.

Crank Position Sensor?

DanClarke said:

Crank Position Sensor?

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He said he'd already changed it.

Stanleysteamer said:

He said he'd already changed it.

Click to expand...

My bad, sorry.

It happens in all types of weather and on any type of road surface from the billiard table smooth to one of those French roads that are a collection of pot holes connected together with lumps!
The battery was replaced a year ago (and upgraded) and I have checked every bit of wiring that I can actually see. The main problem about the err.. problem is that there is no rhyme or reason to it!
The car runs great for a few months then for a few weeks it happens every other day, it's consistent in its inconsistency! It has happened on a long motorway run and turning the car around on the driveway at our house which would suggest it's not a temperature related issue. I have suggested that a hand grenade would solve it, but dearbeloved is a bit anti on that front. I really am completely lost, which is chuffin' annoying as the car has just sailed through it's controle technique with nothing more than an advisory on surface rust but it's getting to the worrying stage of if it dies in potentially a dangerous situation.

Hi first of all you need to plug in a dedicated diagnostic tool to see the fault codes eventualy to read RPM input when the symptom occurs, the EML warning on a Td5 can come on only for 3 reasons, crank sensor(RPM) input failure, TPS input failure(this one would let the engine run at idle not stop it) or ECU fault(or electrical/wiring issue which affects it's power feed) nothing else. Without proper tester it's just a guessing game though the crank sensor wiring/plug is a common fault

Tried another ecu?

If it was a p38 I'd say a bad fuse box. Do they have similar issues in the disco?

Thanks for the ideas people.... As I stated on my original post, I've replaced the crank sensor (I haven't checked the actual wiring associated with it- I will get on that one) Now, forgive me if I sound like a complete knuckle head and pardon my automotive ignorance (I'm MUCH better with motorbikes!) but I would have hoped that a full diagnostics run at an Official Land Rover dealership would have picked up any ECU problems or electrical faults associated with it?? It took them 2 days to run and they hit me with a 350 euro bill and happily told me that they hadn't found a thing wrong!

It happened again today, driving through the village and zzzzzzzup... dead engine, yellow light on. Turn off ignition completely.. wait 30 seconds and brrrummmm - off we go!!

My feeling is that something gets its knickers in a twist, spits it's dummy out and needs to re-set - which, if I'm correct, suggests computers / sensors. If it's broken wiring / bad connection, I would have thought that driving over the local lumps and bumps would cause the fault to happen, but it doesn't and how come a bad connection can repair itself if left for 30 seconds?

So I guess my question is (if only three things can get the engine warning light on) if it is the ECU, how can that not show on a full diagnostic test?? If there is a logical reason and a change of ECU is the best route to run, does anyone have any ideas where new ones can be obtained or has the age of the vehicle made it a search for second hand / reconditioned? (Not that finding one local in the depths of the French countryside is high)

Once again, thanks for the ideas!

Isn't it always an earth somewhere that's gone HR or intermittent and knocks something out or a cascade of things?
I never, ever found the cause of my P38 just dying for a split second then picking up again immediately but people all said "Earths matey".

I'd be programming a spare ECU to it to rule that out, there is some reported issues with big capicitors inside the ECU, which could in theory account for the 30 second malarky.

First thing is you will need Nanocom, read the Injector Codings from the Engine ECU fitted to the vehicle and write them down, 1 to 5.

Now plug in a good used unit, you need to buy one with the same 3 letters at the start i.e either MSB or NNN, and then either Manual Trans or Auto trans depending what is in your Vehicle, the actual numbers don't really matter, but if you can get identical, then great

Once plugged in, Ignition On, relearn security in Engine ECU to synch the immobiliser with BCM.
Program the Injector Codings.
Program the Throttle to whatever one is fitted, 2 track or 3 track, I'm not certain exactly what the changeover year was for them, but if you get it wrong you will be able to start but no response when pressing the pedal, and flashing transmission lights if Auto, so then try the other setting Youll do no harm if you set 3 track and its a 2, or vice versa.

When it's correct you can use the Nanocom to clear the Throttle Codes (Driver Demand), in the Motor ECU and the Transmission.

If you haven't got Nanocom, Testbook, or Lynx Legacy then forget it you won't be able to do it.

Once done you will then have 2 ECU's that can be plugged into your vehicle any time and will run it, but obviously the original one may have the cutting out fault

HTH