TD4 Fuel Problem

Hi guys, new to the site as my Father died recently and I have his TD4.
I have never owned a car built in the 21st Century and never a Diesel.

I've done about 100 miles in it and the Engine management light has come on.
Diagnostic check says 'Fuel Rail Pressure Sensor'
The car is OK for about 1/2 mile then the light comes on if you put your foot about halfway down and you get no power, going up hill is a nightmare and getting above 50mph is nearly impossible.

Is it going to be the sensor, or could it be the wiring loom?

ECU's disturb me - if a car's got such a thing, I'm not normally interested as I prefer the older lady that I can work on at home.

I've found a 2nd hand sensor with 90day warranty for 35 quid (Landrover wanted 285 + VAT!!!!)

Is it worth a punt just swapping it and will I be the victim of having to buy yet another 'Special Tool' to work on a modern car?

Thanks in advance - JBJ

Check the connector first.

Try the harness first, its a **** ton cheaper than the sensor.

The harness is very easy to change and there is info in these forums as to how to do it. The bulletin your looking for is LTB00052

Black Rat JBJ said:

Hi guys, new to the site as my Father died recently and I have his TD4.
I have never owned a car built in the 21st Century and never a Diesel.

I've done about 100 miles in it and the Engine management light has come on.
Diagnostic check says 'Fuel Rail Pressure Sensor'
The car is OK for about 1/2 mile then the light comes on if you put your foot about halfway down and you get no power, going up hill is a nightmare and getting above 50mph is nearly impossible.

Is it going to be the sensor, or could it be the wiring loom?

ECU's disturb me - if a car's got such a thing, I'm not normally interested as I prefer the older lady that I can work on at home.

I've found a 2nd hand sensor with 90day warranty for 35 quid (Landrover wanted 285 + VAT!!!!)

Is it worth a punt just swapping it and will I be the victim of having to buy yet another 'Special Tool' to work on a modern car?

Thanks in advance - JBJ

Click to expand...

try replacing the fuel filter, done loads on all sorts of cars, its always the same this time of year,dirty fuel filter can be ok in warmer temp but in colder temp diesel is slightly thicker even with the anti waxing agent

Many thanks -
I took the harness off today and squirted it with electrical cleaner, my rev range has now gone up by about 1000rpm before the light comes back on again...still annoying but not quite as slow!

Sorry to hear about your dad - have a look at the link below maybe you have the same problem I had.
all the best

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/fuel-rail-pressure-sensor-harness-change-154473.html

could also be fuel pump

Fwiw i'm having issues with High Pressure Fuel pump on my TD4. It came up with a 'main dealer only' code when i had a specialist plug in. Upon further inspection, found that diesel was leaking from one of the gaskets on the HPFP and squirted diesel around the lower part of the engine. My point to this is that you shouldn't blindly follow the codes etc. whilst the job i'm doing on mine isn't the most pleasant, i feel glad that i'm not paying Land Rover Technician prices. Use your know how from older vehicles because they're basically the same.
(All this is said with the caveat of 'might not fix problem yet' only time will tell)
Good luck, all the same

I feel i ought to add that all the kit said there was no problem with high pressure pump or fuelling system - wrong! I'll drop the codes on here shortly and see if anyone else can help with clues from similar codes - so i understand what the ECU thinks is occurring. I suspect it knows too much fuel is passing through for rpm/mpg etc but am intigued!

Code is a P1 E00 code (confused dot com)

I'd just like try and clarify something.

The fault ''Fuel Rail Pressure Sensor' should only flag for a high side pressure fault. If there is a fault with the low side of the system it will tend to inhibit high side faults and instead display the much seen 'Low side fuel pressure sensor plausability' fault.

If you dont have a low side fuel pressure sensor fault, then you can assume that your sender gauze, lp fuel pump and fuel filter is ok.

For the fault code you listed, i would recommend following LTB00052. Start by inspecting the HP fuel rail sensor for corrosion, although this isnt the only fault it can have. Quite often the fault code you mentioned is caused by poor contact between the sensor and connector pins. This is where the modified HP fuel rail sensor overlay harness (YMQ503320) comes in. This should be replaced with the Fuel rail sensor (STC4768) and the O ring (MYX00040). These components should all be replaced together according to JLR, but ive heard of many people having success with the harness only.

If playing around with the connector has affected your fault, i would assume that its poor contact in the connector.

There is also the gaskets leaking on the HP pump, this should be immediately evident. If when you park up the vehicle is stinks of diesel. This is a likely cause.

You have also got the chance that the fault can be caused by the injectors, which are a well documented as being unreliable. The failure of the injectors (they tend to seize shut), usually causes poor/non-start condition before it causes noticable running problems, although that isnt always the case. A leak off test should be able to pick out seized injectors.

After that point you would start to require some proper diagnostics if you still havent found the fault. You are starting to look towards HP Pump pressure test, specialist Bosch injector testing and the requirement of special tools.

Hope that helps clarify a little.