TD5 stops now and then, then go's again.

A mate with TD5 has this problem. [ I am a series/tdi man myself and have limited TD5 knowledge.]
The motor run's very well but every now and then it just stops, it happens when he takes his foot off the pedal and will not restart. However wait a few minuets and it will fire up straight away. It may drive for 5 miles or 50 miles before it stops, there is no depends.
Plugging in to reader gives no fault codes. Common TD5 problems like injection loom and crank sensor have been checked/swapped out. The ecu has been sent away to be checked and returned with no faults found.
Any ideas of what the problem is would be good as it is driving him nuts

When it won’t start, does the engine turn over and can you hear the fuel pump running?

It does turn over when not starting and the fuel pump runs, fuel pump is another item that has been swapped. As you may guess this problem has been ongoing some time.

tottot said:

It does turn over when not starting and the fuel pump runs, fuel pump is another item that has been swapped. As you may guess this problem has been ongoing some time.

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Hi can you see if the nanocom sees an rpm reading when turning over and not starting?

I can ask him that and get back. Thanks.

Just to add a couple of my own experiences here.
1) It's perfectly possible for a TD5 ECU to show no faults on a Nanocom yet still fail to work and not deliver a signal to the injectors. It happened to one of mine. Eventually the garage man's Autologic kit was able to elicit a 'topside switch failure', but it wasn't obvious what the problem was at first.
2) The aluminium casting that the fuel filter screws onto can become crumbly and porous and introduce air into the fuel system. This can yield intermittent cutting out and failures to start. Related to this I've had a problem where the inner rubber seal on the fuel filter had got creased up and wasn't making a good seal, which led to intermittent failures too.

I'm not saying it's definitely these things, just that in my experience they can happen to TD5s and could be worth having a look at.

I had the same story exactly, but it started giving the top side switch failure faults which relates to the injector signal from the ECU, sent mine to an ECU repair specialist who said it had no problems but wanted to charge me for a full overhaul.
I bought a second hand ECU from a discovery and re programmed it, and it was fine.

Hi Discodevon, Only once has it stopped when Nanocom was available [ at his brothers ] several codes came up but before any note was taken the key was turned off and when switched back on there were no fault codes to be read.


Brown and Raywyn, Thanks for coming back with the info.

Check the wires on the back of the ignition barrel. Mine was randomly cutting out for a while. Turned out to be a worn connector on the barrel.

Check all the relays under the drivers seat as well.

Thats assuming its a Defender.

bankz5152 said:

Check the wires on the back of the ignition barrel. Mine was randomly cutting out for a while. Turned out to be a worn connector on the barrel.

Check all the relays under the drivers seat as well.

Thats assuming its a Defender.

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Had the same on an old LDV Sherpa van, same barrel as the Defender ...

Thanks Dippypud, Yes Defender. Relays/connections checked and then swapped to make sure.

He has fitted a temporary check light to make sure ecu has continuous feed, not so much as a flicker.

Sounds like something is overheating and then working when cool again. Try a diagnostic test when it is hot and faulty. 5 miles or 50 miles, go drive in 2nd gear at high revs and see if it cuts out quicker. Bypass as much of the fuel system as possible and see if this works