Poor Starting Not Starting

Hi guys, any help with this issue would really appreciated!

Disco 2 td5 53plate.

As soon as the snow was forecast on the telly the landy died on me!!!

Now cant get the bugger started again!!!

Engine turning over fast & fine but no hint of a splutter or any sign of firing up.
Tried the priming technique , pumping the pedal 5 times etc, switch on & off etc but no joy, although this usually does the trick and fires her up. It was running perfect the previous night but went to start on a very cold morning, it spluttered a little so some fuel was burnt then died totally, then the engine was turning over endlessly till the battery died, nightmare!!!
Recharged the battery, put jump leads on from other car and turned her over the next day, still turning over but not a cough or a splutter, tried the priming technique again but no joy, so i have left some juice in the battery to give her another try tomorrow.

If it snows over night i'm up **** creek because i live in the countryside!

A few months ago she was smoking a lot of grey smoke and the fuel pump was screaming like a banshee, so i changed the injector seals, this cured the smoking and also the noisy fuel pump, i've noticed recently the fuel pump has been getting noisier again and she wont start unless i turn the key after the initial priming of the fuel pump, aprox 45 secs whereas before she would fire up straight away on first turn of the key.

Today i changed the injector seals again, seemed to be quite a lot of leakage around there, oil dipstick is reading high, so i was thinking diesel mixing with the oil via injector seals?? praying its not the head gasket!!!
No oil in coolant looks ok. I just ordered a set of glow plugs on ebay 5 mins ago, could these be at fault?? fuel is getting to fuel pressure regulator so i'm thinking fuel pump is ok, done the injector harness around 6 months ago, ecu is clear of oil too at the red plug, fitted new air flow meter and turbo hoses around 6 months ago also, all vaccuum hoses replaced also, egr ok also.

The last time the car wouldn't fire up like this was because the air condition pump seized, this was evident from a blown fuse and a goosed bearing in the pulley, replaced at cost of £600ish, pump looks fine now though.

Any ideas would be a great help, hoping to get some work done on her tomorrow, as i says if it snows im fecked,

Cheers guys

eddmco

if you pop your location in some one near by may behable to help.

in the mean time have you checked th fuel filter

I'm afraid I know nothing about TD5s but mine is a 300tdi and it did exactly the same thing. Pulled into Asda car park, did my shopping, came back out and nothing. Just spun and spun without firing until I flattened the battery. It turned out to be the fuel shut off solenoid (It stops the fuel supply to the fuel pump when you switch off the ignition) Got towed home, recharged the battery, tapped the solenoid with a hammer and started first time.

This might not be what's wrong with yours but if it is its a cheap fix. Or at least it is on a tdi.

Where abouts are you. we cant help without location.sounds like fuel pump i have a spare you could try also have nanocom.

Cheers guys, i'm in Scotland.
I'm going to start from the tank and check the fuel delivery, fuel shut off solenoid sounds interesting Critical Mick where would that be?? I have stripped the fuel pump several times and cleaned the internal filter, ill have a look at it again. Nanocom was always the last item on the shopping list, wish i had got one at the beginning. I'll keep you posted guys, many thanks for your input.

eddmco

Checked the fuel filter seems fine as it was renewed not long ago, did the prime sequence in the manual, on & off 6 times etc and it nearly fired up a couple of times, fair bit of grey smoke coming out the back while it was trying to start, battery died again, so second attempt not a splutter from the engine and still no joy. Retired for the night, so i'm debating popping it into the garage which i'm desperately trying to avoid, as you can imagine the cost puts a fair strain on the heart! I've done every job you can imagine on the disco apart from the mot's, so i'm hoping to DIY this and save getting fleeced.

Cheers
eddmco

The fuel pump on mine failed after fitting a new filter - I think the extra load of purging it was the last straw.

Charge the battery fully, then do purge procedure a few times, then when cranking the engine to start pump the accelerator a few times.
If you need to purge regularly to start then probably the injector seals and washers need changing correctly.
Also if there is raised oil levels in the sump its possibly injector seals, and the oil needs draining and refilling with fresh if diesel mixed with it.
Can you hear the fuel pump running when you purge

eddmco said:

Checked the fuel filter seems fine as it was renewed not long ago, did the prime sequence in the manual, on & off 6 times etc and it nearly fired up a couple of times, fair bit of grey smoke coming out the back while it was trying to start, battery died again, so second attempt not a splutter from the engine and still no joy. Retired for the night, so i'm debating popping it into the garage which i'm desperately trying to avoid, as you can imagine the cost puts a fair strain on the heart! I've done every job you can imagine on the disco apart from the mot's, so i'm hoping to DIY this and save getting fleeced.

Cheers
eddmco

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When you put the ignition to pos II, Can you hear the pump working?

Cheers guys
The pump works on position 2 as normal, think I may have cracked it though.
Noticed the negative battery earth lead was in bad shape, where the small eye ring bolts on to the body, the main lead here was practically broken in 2, it wasn't until I cut back the plastic conduit on the lead that I noticed how bad it was.
I think with the amount of times i've had the battery in and out it has weakened the lead very badly.
Would a bad earth be my problem?
When I think back when I was jump starting the car, it was quite an issue getting a good contact with the leads.
Anyway I will replace the earth lead tomorrow along with the glow plugs that arrived this morn and see how I get on, I'll let you's know the outcome.
Cheers for the input lads.

eddmco

eddmco said:

Cheers guys

I think with the amount of times i've had the battery in and out it has weakened the lead very badly.
Would a bad earth be my problem?
When I think back when I was jump starting the car, it was quite an issue getting a good contact with the leads.



eddmco

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Very strong candidate.

Ah well, i'm back with my tail between my legs! No luck so far.
When i wake up in the morning will i slit my wrists or try and fix my Discovery???

Changed the glow plugs which were a right pain in the arse, changed the negative battery lead, certainly made a difference to the engine turning over.
Did the purge sequence a few times, not a puff of smoke to be seen from the rear end,
noticed when doing the purge sequence from previous breakdowns that that fuel pump would get quieter and shorter after each cycle which is normal, i think, but now the fuel pump keeps the same tone and cycles for the same amount of time. Also when i crank the engine there is no occasional puff of smoke or tiny murmur of it firing, just a continuous turning of the engine.

Now i have removed the feed fuel pipe from the fuel pressure regulator and i'm getting fuel there no problem, i can hear and feel the fuel running back into the return hose from the fuel cooler too. I'm sure i'm drawing in air somewhere in the fuel system hence the continuous working of the fuel pump.
I had a chaffed fuel pipe a while back which ****ed diesel everywhere followed by an unconveinant break down on the motorway, as you know LR only provide the whole 4 pipes rather than one as a replacement. So i still have 3 pipes to replace. So now I will be removing the fuel pump from the tank for inspection, replacing the 3 remainder plastic fuel pipes, then i need to think about checking the fuel pipes further along.
Am I going down the right road here????

Weather update!!
2 Feet of snow, had to do the 1 hour walk in the dark up a back road at 11pm after work, feel like a right tosser and everyone is laughing at me-the guy with the Land Rover that doesn't work. LOL

Cheers

eddmco

you really need to plug it into a diagnostic as if your confident its not fuel related (ie) pump or injector seals the rest is supervised by the ecu, and if it just cranks without any effort at starting then it sounds like the crankshaft sensor has failed, which should show on a diagnostic

Your probably right John Lad, its a better to get to, would you recommend pulling the starter off first to get better access to the sensor?

eddmco

eddmco said:

Your probably right John Lad, its a better to get to, would you recommend pulling the starter off first to get better access to the sensor?

eddmco

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no

eddmco said:

Your probably right John Lad, its a better to get to, would you recommend pulling the starter off first to get better access to the sensor?

eddmco

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Id do it from above, undo the air intake pipes jubilee clips and pull pipe away,
sensor is then on view, I think its held in place with an 8mm bolt, some sensors have a shim /spacer fitted so make sure the new sensor is fitted with the shim if the old one had it in.
Ref the air intake pipe info i gave was for td5 defender, not sure on a disco where the air intake is, so check from above first

Just found out this evening in the local rag that the BP garage that I get diesel from had there tanks contaminated with water, there was a few taxi drivers had there engines knackered because of this.
I stuck £20 in the motor on the way home from work on the same day this happened, the car drove perfectly on the way home, then in the morning as you know it wouldn't start! now i'm sure that's the problem, didn't notice if the water warning light came on when i was trying to start because every bloody light was flashing at the time.
What do you think guys? do you think this could be what's happened, water in the fuel??
Is my engine gubbed now? whats my next step?

I will be complaining in the morning or on Monday to BP.They say they will compensate genuine cases.

Its well out of order if the car is fecked due to dodgy fuel.

By the way. Just google PAISLEY DAILY EXPRESS you can see the story.

Cheers

eddmco

I was thinking the same John doing it from the top, my only worry was getting the bolt back in when refitting, it is an 8mm bolt.

eddmco said:

I was thinking the same John doing it from the top, my only worry was getting the bolt back in when refitting, it is an 8mm bolt.

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its easier to put your arm round the bell housing from the bottom ,but near impossible if plastic cover is fitted over the bell housing

Had a look at it today James, thought i'd leave till tomorrow to try and get it off, its well hidden, no wonder i couldn't find it! what do you think about the water in diesel issue??
I'm going to visit the local garage for there advice on this just to be sure, there good lads and both discovery owners.