Non start 2.0 DI

Hi guys hope all is well.
I’ve not been on the forum for a few years since I got rid of my D1.

I went to look at a freelander 2.0DI tonight that has a suspected ecu fault.
The story goes... driving across a field and suddenly the engine cuts out. He’s had an auto electrician come and check it and there are no fault codes and the eml isn’t on either. It’s been sat up since December time but we conn dyed a jump pack to it and it cranked over nicely and sounds like it’s got plenty of compression.

Can anyone shed some light on a common fault on the DI engines? Does it sound like an ecu fault?
It’s only for a cheaper run about but I don’t want to buy it for me to poor loads of money and be no further. It’s also had the prop removed by previous owner so not sure if that will be a good or bad thing. There is no prop with it.

Any help would be appreciated

My guess is that its more likely fuel/injection pump related - might just be a wire worked loose - might be something bigger though!

The Di (Rover L series) is very reliable. There's so little electronics on it, there's very little to actually go wrong. As GG said, it's probably a broken wire where the harness joins the injection pump. Or maybe even as simple as a fuse. I would doubt it's the EDC unit.

Thinking if it been sat outside without any duvet and the fuel tank not much in it could have water mix in the fuel lines since the spell of frost. Check the tank and listen for the pump is working okay.

saxavordian said:

Thinking if it been sat outside without any duvet and the fuel tank not much in it could have water mix in the fuel lines since the spell of frost. Check the tank and listen for the pump is working okay.

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There's no pump in the Di fuel tank.

There's no lift pump at all on the L Series. There's a bulb to hand prime the system and the injection pump does the job of sucking fuel up from the tank.

The pumps are pretty reliable, so unless the pump's belt has snapped, or jumped teeth so the timing is out - it is likely that a fuel issue is an electrical connection to it from the ECU.

Nodge68 said:

There's no pump in the Di fuel tank.

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Sawwwe didnt think.

Thank you for the help guys, in terms of the frost and water in the tank it’s wctually cut out on him in November/December time so it’s only been sat over winter because of that.

GrumpyGel, with the pump belt is that a separate belt to the timing belt? He mentioned something about having the belt changed when he had the clutch done but I wasn’t convinced with what he said. I’m hoping he has an invoice to show what was done.

Is the pump belt easily accessible?
And I’m guessing it’s a reasonably common thing for the wiring to fail?

Ive agreed to take a risk on it with the guy so I’m going to pick it up sometime during the week possibly weds. I’ll have to take a look and see then what I can find.

On a side note about the removed propshaft. Is it a common thing for it to be removed as a precaution before the diff fails or is it usually because it has failed?
Again I’m not that familiar with the freelancer in general. I’m keen to see if I can get it back to being a 4wd again as it looks like the tyres are all close in tread.

Thanks for all your help so far

The only thing I've put the car into a garage to do was the belts - so I've not any great experience of them. The Pump Belt is separate to the Cam Belt - It is driven off the "other end" of the Camshaft and has a black plastic cover over it. I believe it's on the same service interval as the cambelt - I got mine changed at the same time anyway. I'm sure people don't bother though because poor starting of the L Series is often due to bad timing of the FIP and due to old stretched belts.

It is accessibe, but to me, checking of the timing of the L Series FIP seams like a dark art - but those trying to explain it say its easy - probably somewhere in between, that's confusing to start, but simple once you've done it a couple of times!

However, for it to simply cut out is not the normal poor starting because the belt has stretched - it could be that its jumped a couple of teeth though.

There is lots on here about replacing the props and why they may have been removed - essentially they may have been removed simply because a support bearing was grumbling, or because the 4WD part of the transmission has been trashed, or somewhere in between (eg precautionary with varying damage having taken place). Have a search, if you can;t find anything or find stuff you'd like to confirm is reliable to go by, post up for comments.

The L Series Freelander is a sluggish, noisy old plodder - but a great reliable and economic work horse. Love mine

GrumpyGel said:

It is accessibe, but to me, checking of the timing of the L Series FIP seams like a dark art

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Pump timing is easy to do. It's just a case of locking the pump pulley in the correct place and the crank at TDC using a locking pin in the flywheel. Then slacken the 4 adjusting bolts and release tensioner. Remove the old belt and fit the new one in its place. Re-tension the belt with the tensioner and tighten the 4 adjuster bolts. Remove the locking pins and rotate the engine 2 complete turns. Refit the flywheel locking pin and chech that the pump pin fits back in its hole. If not, slack off the 4 adjuster bolts and fit the pin. Repeat the crank rotation sequence and fit the ouns again. If both the flywheel lock pin and pump lock pin fit in without forcing, then the timing is correct. Simple really.

Nodge68 said:

Pump timing is easy to do. It's just a case of locking the pump pulley in the correct place and the crank at TDC using a locking pin in the flywheel. Then slacken the 4 adjusting bolts and release tensioner. Remove the old belt and fit the new one in its place. Re-tension the belt with the tensioner and tighten the 4 adjuster bolts. Remove the locking pins and rotate the engine 2 complete turns. Refit the flywheel locking pin and chech that the pump pin fits back in its hole. If not, slack off the 4 adjuster bolts and fit the pin. Repeat the crank rotation sequence and fit the ouns again. If both the flywheel lock pin and pump lock pin fit in without forcing, then the timing is correct. Simple really.

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See - a paragraph that could inspire JK Rowling... which ends with "Simple really"

Easy peasy, any ideas what size the pins are? If I didn’t have a timing kit I usually just use drill bits tbh. And a rough idea where the crank locking pin might be? I’m sure the pump locking should be easy enough to see from above.

My dads gonna help me tow it back Tuesday evening so I’ll take a look at the wiring and check the pump belt. I assume that the engine timing is ok from the sounds of the compression on all 4 cylinders when it turned over the other night. No weird clunking noises so hopefully not trashed the valves.

If the wiring or the timing idea fails next will be pump pressure test I guess.

I believe this is what you need, or use the info in it...

https://www.dmgrs.co.uk/products/l-...ensioner-windback-kit-200-400-600-25-45-zr-zs

They're a good supplier to know about for Freelander.

It could be worth a look at the fuel line to check for splits or o ring failure . as this would cause air to e drawn into the system. Have you tried slackening injector pipes to so if their is pressure while cranking

Wow incredible how cheap he sells drill bits for ! I’m sure I can find a few bits laying around.

As I said earlier yodaman I haven’t actually bought or picked it up yet. Should be doing that tomorrow after work. Will keep you guys updated once I start looking at it.

Stickystuff said:

Wow incredible how cheap he sells drill bits for ! I’m sure I can find a few bits laying around.

As I said earlier yodaman I haven’t actually bought or picked it up yet. Should be doing that tomorrow after work. Will keep you guys updated once I start looking at it.

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I think you can get Chinese drill bits made of cheese quite cheaply

For plugging holes in L Series engines though - they work as well as titanium tipped diamond cutters

Sounds similar to my story, drove on rough track ( how dare I in a LR ) started coughing spluttering misfiring all over the place, later noticed battery had become disconnected.
Wouldn't go over 2500 rpm so took to garage, no fault found. Took a few journeys but just cured itself !
I recon it shook up 20 years of crud in the tank and partially blocked something.
Could be similar with yours and ploughed field ?
I put good fuel in mine plus injector cleaner and touch wood been good as gold. Now never go below 1
/4 tank.
If props removed bet it's because system's knackered, cost a fortune to repair on what a £200 pound car.p
Mines fine without it.

Stickystuff said:

I usually just use drill bits tbh. And a rough idea where the crank locking pin might be? I’m sure the pump locking should be easy enough to see from above

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Crank locking pin is 6.5mm and is at the front of the engine on the adapter plate.
The fuel pump locking pin is 9.5mm and on the pump pulley.

Well I got the car back last night. By the time I got home it was issuing it down and had just gone dark so I didn’t feel like messing with it. I’ve got the battery at work on charge as it’s a dead one! Hopefully it can come back to life and doesn’t need replacing.

I did quickly pump the fuel primer and it took a little while to pick the fuel up and get some pressure in there. It looks like someone’s fitted a new filter at some point.... it sounds silly but I’m wondering if it’s got a small leak somewhere on the low pressure side and rather then leaking out it’s actually drawing air in. I’ll see if it held pressure tonight. If I need to prime it again I think that could be it. Although I suspect that if it’s had a new filter it won’t be as simple as that. We will see if I can get some time between the rain.

Stickystuff said:

Well I got the car back last night. By the time I got home it was issuing it down and had just gone dark so I didn’t feel like messing with it. I’ve got the battery at work on charge as it’s a dead one! Hopefully it can come back to life and doesn’t need replacing.
Oh yeah ECP are having another ! Sale, new battery is just over £50 delivered.

I did quickly pump the fuel primer and it took a little while to pick the fuel up and get some pressure in there. It looks like someone’s fitted a new filter at some point.... it sounds silly but I’m wondering if it’s got a small leak somewhere on the low pressure side and rather then leaking out it’s actually drawing air in. I’ll see if it held pressure tonight. If I need to prime it again I think that could be it. Although I suspect that if it’s had a new filter it won’t be as simple as that. We will see if I can get some time between the rain.

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Hope you get it sorted, has it any MOT left ?
And on a more personal level was it a cheap bargain !