L series, engine management lght, low revs .Turbo ?

3 miles from home last week, the engine management light came on. Other than the light on there were no other symptoms .I drove it 20 miles the next day ,light was off and had no problems .I drove a few short (1 or 2 mile ) journeys for the past few days ,no problems .

Yesterday I drove 2 miles ,got out and when I came back after a few mins ,the light came on and was very low on power 1.5-2k revs.I drove it another 20 miles ,because I had to collect my kids .

I checked turbo hoses ,air filter ,unplugged maf metre and drove at top speed of 50mph ,because I was late .I did a search and found http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/engine-management-light-169002.html .I disconnected what I think is my oil temp/pressure sensor but not sure its not the coolant sensor .The engine light now comes on and stays on after turn of the key .

I think it might be a knackered turbo ?
I would like some suggestions , I left my haynes manual elsewhere .

Thanx if anyone takes the time to read that long winded story .



This is an edit on 8th of February :
It turned out , the black/white wire to the fuel cut off solenoid on the fuel pump ,had broken . I hastily fixed it ,but not good enough . This morning I removed the loom from the end to the fuel pump and checked for bad connections . I stripped the wire and reopened the connector ring, cleaned and re-crimped the wire .
Took it for a test drive and it seems okay .
Thanx for the help and interest from Chaser and NewcyBoots .


28/02/2012 Final EDIT : turned out to be a broken MAP sensor .

Apart from checking for obvious problems with any of the sensor connections and checking the injector pump harness connection there's not much point in guessing and you should get fault codes read from the ECM.

Thanks Chaser .
Will one of these £20 fault code readers do the job ?land rover fault code reader | eBay
Should I be able to pick one up in my local motor factors ,when they open in the morning ?

I wouldn't stick my neck out and say anything will definitely work. The problem is the older the vehicle the less compliant they are with anything other than LRs own 'Testbook'.

There are other professional code readers may well work but the price dictates only pro's can afford them.

A Hawkeye for freelander might work.

I can only suggest you check everything like wiring to sensors and pump. If you are prepared to spend a little on a best guess then the ECT sensor as in the thread you linked to is as good a place as any to start.

BTW that coolant sensor is the one in the coolant elbow with 2 wires......I think it's blue...

I gave the maf sensor a good shot of contact cleaner ,no change .
I got my son to rev it up to 3k revs and watched to see if the turbo actuator opened ,it didn't.Should it open while it sitting stationary ?

I asked in motor factors about a diagnostic reader and they reckon they could get me one of these Sealey .If I thought I was definitely ever going to buy another land rover I might consider a hawkeye .

I have not been able to collect my haynes yet but I might have found the cause of my troubles . There's a cable with a brown and grey wire into a grey connector coming out from under the fuel pump ,and a black/white wire coming from the connector but broken from something .I can't see where the black/white wire came from ,but I have a spare pump back home and should be able to find where it goes .I will poke around and see if I can find a mirror to get a good look under the fitted pump .

Hiya Wulf,

the link you have to the engine management ligh thread was started by me.

Mine came on like yours back in November time. However with mine, it only came on when the engine was warm (even if only just slightly) If you started from cold (or if it had been sitting for a few hours), the light stayed off until you started it again til warm..

I took it to my local indy who instantly said "i dont need to plug it in, i bet its your MAF"

What a load of bollocks that was.. He plugged it in (when i left it there) rung me up later and said, "yeah mate, its your MAF".. And charged me £30..

I delayed in buying the MAF, buried my head in the haines manual, and realised that it could only be what the manual describes as "engine management sensor K" which was my coolant temperature sensor.. As engine heat was the link between the light coming on all the time, i GUESSED it was this, and splashed out a whopping £6.20 at euro car parts.. 10 mins with a spanner later, new sensor installed and presto.. problem solved..

All i will say is, yes, it is the blue topped sensor on the nuckle so chaser is right, yes, only testbook or hawkeye will work on it, and no, dont waste your money on some scanner off the web, it prob wont work cos an L series aint OBDII compliant..

Good luck!

Well , I found the place for that white/black wire ,(top left of the fuel pump as I looked in at it ) ,so I fixed it ,turned the key and engine light went off as it should ,so I started it .Then the light came on again after 20ish seconds ,so I disconnected the coolant sensor and reconnected it and hey presto .Now I need to get it back on the road .

Chaser said:

Apart from checking for obvious problems with any of the sensor connections and checking the injector pump harness connection

Click to expand...

your a flippin genius Chazzer .I really thought it was my turbo :doh: .

newcyboots said:

Hiya Wulf,

the link you have to the engine management ligh thread was started by me .

All i will say is, yes, it is the blue topped sensor on the nuckle so chaser is right, yes, only testbook or hawkeye will work on it, and no, dont waste your money on some scanner off the web, it prob wont work cos an L series aint OBDII compliant..

Good luck!

Click to expand...

Thanks NewcyB ,I didn't add to your thread because, I didn't think it was the cause of my problem. Its nice to know them diagnostic thingys wont work on my simple little Lseries .

I got a few hundred metres down the road and the light came back on . I went and picked up my haynes manual, a spare set of injectors and a full wiring loom .


I hope I can fix this thing myself ,without forking out .

bummer......i think you must have touched on something though for the light to go out.

You don't have any injector symptoms so don't think there will be much piont in changing all of them, just check the needle lift sensor wiring to number 1 and/or change it if you have the same spare. This is the most likely thing along with the pump wiring to give the kind of symptoms you describe.

Also check wiring to MAP and IAT sensors.

Any of the above can light the MIL. ECT sensor also but don't think it's failure would cause such drastic power loss, but would make it a bit smokey when warm.

Have you changed any bulbs or got any light faults?
Incorrect bulbs are able to cause weird running issues when lights on or braking? (strange but true)

Failing all that it's back to the need for codes....

Thanks Chaser . I will have a better poke around tomorrow .I rang the local dealer today and they reckon €50+vat(@ 23%) ,so he said €75 to you :crazy:.I rang another nearer garage and he reckoned his reader will find the fault ,for €20 .I suspect it might be the MAP sensor ,only because its the only lekky thing directly connected to the turbo .
I might clear out the back and check the fuel sender .

Not fixed yet .
After cleaning the MAF sensor , the engine light comes on intermittently but stays on constantly when driving for any length of time.It might be time for a new MAF .

I took off the turbo hose and oil dripped out of the hose and turbo.Haynes says :"If the exhaust or induction passages are oil contaminated ,the turbo shaft oil seals have probably failed ".
That happened on my last engine ,exact same symptoms as I have now .Last time it happened I was 80 miles from home and 40 from where was going and late on a friday night so I drove on and the next day the engine nearly blew up on a runaway turbo .
That black/white wire was for the fuel cut off solenoid .I have a feeling it might have been broken for some time ,causing a problem elsewhere .

Fixed .
It turned out , the black/white wire to the fuel cut off solenoid on the fuel pump ,had broken . I hastily fixed it ,but not good enough . This morning I removed the loom from the end to the fuel pump and checked for bad connections . I stripped the wire and reopened the connector ring, cleaned and re-crimped the wire .
Took it for a test drive and it seems okay .
Thanx for the help and interest from Chaser and NewcyBoots .

I posted that as an edit in my OP ,but I thought I should finish the thread for anyone following my tale of woe and ignorance .This thread from Newcy and the helpful advice from BDBailey and Chaser made me decide to strip and examine the loom properly . http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/alternatives-bosch-maf-l-series-diesel-175918.html
I have had a bit of a flu since Saturday ,so I couldn't do much ,up to now .

had a hunch it was something you previously touched...........

It wasn't actually fixed .A few hundred metres down the road this morning the light came on again .I got my angry missis to drop me to work .When I got home I checked the exhaust and found a gaping hole in the top of the middle section and a few holes in the back box .
Rang around and the best price I can get is €160 supply only .

I thought I had taken more than a passing glance at my exhaust .I knew I hadn't examined it .

Its sort of fixed .
Its a dodgy MAP sensor connection .I have cleaned the contacts but its still happening .Sometimes twiddling the MAP connector does nothing but disconnecting and reconnecting the MAF will turn off the light . .
Each time I thought it was fixed and I dropped the bonnet ,the light would be on when I got back in .I got my missis to sit in and watch while I twiddled wires and connections .I narrowed it to the MAP sensor .

I changed the exhaust back box and intermediate pipe €130 .It needed doing .
I changed the coolant temp sensor €20 the old one was ok .
I changed the IAT sensor €13 also not needed
Injector cleaner €10
10 1k resistors €1.35 for fixing (or not) the MAF

I might have to invest in a MAP sensor .

I've been driving it for the last 2 weeks (slowly).

When I was sure it was MAP sensor related,I changed the wiring loom and again twiddling the MAP sensor connection might turn the light off.
I ordered a new one last week but they got me the wrong one. .I have been driving it around with the engine light mostly on and dodgy revving when the turbo should kick in .

Last night it was struggling to get up a hill and I thought I'd check a nearby breakers (who normally never have any freelanders in the yard) for a MAP sensor .Went out back and found one freelander ,stripped almost bare,but it did have a MAP sensor but the vacuum pipe was broken off .

I got it for free .Cut an inch of pipe off the pipe off the turbo ,heated it with a lighter pressed it onto the sensor ,super glued it and pasted some body filler around the joint .

Now it goes better than ever .:monitor_punch: until something else breaks.