TD4 Intermittent Problem... dies and sometimes wont start

Got an intermittent problem with my 2002 TD4, 5 door...

Sometimes it won't start... it turns over, but won't fire. If I switch it back on, leave it with ignition on a few seconds before turning it over (until lights have gone off dash) it often starts straight away.

Other times it just dies when coasting... won't start unless I turn ignition off and back on again.

It's getting a bit dodgy now, as it died when I was doing about 50mph today. Managed to get it going before coming to a halt, but obviously the power steering failed, so if I'd been going round a bend it could have been nasty!

Any ideas?

I was thinking lifter pump or similar, but problem is same with fuel tank empty as when it's full.

Fuel pump, fuel filter or fuel pressure regulator?

Fule filter wasdone not long ago.. could be one of the other two...

Any other symptoms I should look out for?

Right... something else has dawned on me... sometimes it won;t even turn over. Like the immobiliser won't let it start. Getting out and locking it then trying again usually works, but only on the second or third attempt.

Any other ideas, it doesn't seem fuel related, as it never judders or anything, just either wont start or dies smoothly. (Could be wrong though!)

I think Landrover or even a specialist may charge me a fortune just to find this problem, never mind fix it

most likley the low pressure fuel pump in the tank packing up, the copper commentators on the fuel pump motor break away and the carbon brushes get stuck in them, if the motor stops on a broken segment it wont work or start, if the motor stops on a good segment of the motor it will start and run but not very well, had this problem on mine, downside at the time a new fuel pump was approx £300, it incorporates the fuel sender aswell, and a couple of weeks later the high pressure pump packed up, the one next to the fuel filter, downside another £300,

Cheers spartan... will check it out, but from what I've seen of other's posts, it doesn't seem to tie-in with those symptoms. My mate had a tank pump go and the symptoms were quite different.

Something else I noticed is that the engine management light doesn't come on (at key turn) on the occassions that it won't start. If all the lights come on, then the engine management light comes on and then goes out, it always starts.

Will have a good check of all connections etc tonight.

Faulty ignition switch perhaps??

When you say ignition switch, do you mean where the key goes? (Daft question I know!)

If so, wouldn't it just mean it didn't turn over at all?

The contacts in the switch behind the ignition barrel are known to give trouble and cause all sorts of problems, intermittent cranking faults, ignition feeds going on and off at will and peculiar instrument cluster malfunctions. Might be worth investigating/replacing

Took it to a local LR specialist yesterday and he plugged it in... four faults showed up:

Camshaft sensor
Cylinder balance (wtf is that??)
Immobiliser
ECU

he said they were old faults though, so cleared them to find out what it really is... then nothing showed up! I drove round and nothing happened... it's since happened again, so I'll take it back on Sat morn.

in the mean time, does anyone want to have a stab at which one(s) it's likely to be and likely costs of fixing it?

(Just about to buy a new TV, but will wait if this is going to skin me!)

Quote: "Something else I noticed is that the engine management light doesn't come on (at key turn) on the occassions that it won't start. If all the lights come on, then the engine management light comes on and then goes out, it always starts."


As the engine management light is controlled by the ECU, this would suggest that possibly the power supply to the ECU is failing intermittently.

I would be checking all components and wiring related to ECU power up:

Engine management fuses and relays particularly.

Good luck.D..