Freelander 2 (LR2) Total sudden power loss, and related questions

Hi folks,
As mentioned in my introduction thread, I am looking after a Freelander 2 (2007, STD4, 2.2L diesel, manual) vehicle for a NZ charity.

It's done around 130,000KM.
It's due for it's 10 year service as of about 15 days ago.

Whilst driving over a steep mountain, towing a relatively heavy trailer and load, it had a total power loss.
The accelerator ceased doing anything at all.
The engine was still running though, but obviously it dropped to just an idle, and the car came to a halt.

I turned vehicle off. After a few minutes, I fired her up and acceleration resumed working.
About 2 minutes later, same thing occurred.
I removed the trailer, and I was then able to drive the rest of the journey okay (another 30 mins of driving). Not knowing whether it would give out in any moment, I drove rather gently though. Just down the road from our destination, I attempting accelerating hard from a complete stop, and the same issue occurred. Total loss of acceleration.

I've since been informed it might be the solenoid on the turbo unit. But it was explained this results in the car going into a limp home mode. I would have thought that would show me some kind of warning light or message on the dash, of which there were none. Is that normal for limp home mode?
I am not sure it was "limping", unless the limp is so slow one can easily mistake it for total power loss, as opposed to a 95% loss, or whatever limp mode drops to.

I don't have a means to pull error codes (will need to pay the auto electrician $60 for that). Which raises another question... What the most cost effective yet useful third party device for getting all the various codes, and resetting them, etc.? At $60 a pop to have someone else check them, I figure we'd be better off buying a code reader. With so many options (and a big price variation), it'd be great to see what you suggest.

Any thoughts and input would be appreciated.

Cheers...

J

The F2 is ODB2 compliant - so a cheap bluetooth dongle should pull diagnostic codes from the engine. I got 1 from AliExpress for about $10 but they are for sale on TradeMe for about $20. You can download (something like) the Torque Lite/Pro for an Android phone to display messages, live data and reset codes etc.

The dongles though will only do the engine. You may be lucky and get some comms to the other ECUs - but you'll need to get some software to drive it.

Devices like Nanocom and Gap Diagnostics IID BT appear to be in favour with the F2 - but I believe they are very expensive. Something like the iCarsoft LRII is more attractive price wise. There's a current thread on that going.

I'm curious... what's the reason this question has received no replies, except GrumpyGel's info about ODB2 code tools? Surely it's not in the "too hard basket"?

Here's a few specific questions:
1) If Freelander 2 (2007) goes into limp home mode, will something on the dash show that this is the case?
2) It the solenoid on the turbo unit is faulty, will this show up in the diag codes?
3) If the issue is caused by clogged (old) fuel filter, will that show up in the codes? Or, is there any other way to test if that's the case, aside from swapping out the filter?
4) Aside from faulty turbo solenoid or clogged fuel filter, is there any other likely cause of the issue described?

Cheers...

J

Tbh Jonathan there is not the depth of knowledge with the F2 as there is with the F1. There's only a few who know much about them.

^^^ This is true.

Also, limp mode can be engaged for a number of reasons and we can’t help you further until the codes are read. It could be nearly anything. You could end up swapping parts forever.

We fear technology
....in cars at least.

Jonathan-NZ said:

I'm curious... what's the reason this question has received no replies, except GrumpyGel's info about ODB2 code tools? Surely it's not in the "too hard basket"?

Here's a few specific questions:
1) If Freelander 2 (2007) goes into limp home mode, will something on the dash show that this is the case?
2) It the solenoid on the turbo unit is faulty, will this show up in the diag codes?
3) If the issue is caused by clogged (old) fuel filter, will that show up in the codes? Or, is there any other way to test if that's the case, aside from swapping out the filter?
4) Aside from faulty turbo solenoid or clogged fuel filter, is there any other likely cause of the issue described?

Cheers...

J

Click to expand...

1. If the FL2 limps because it's gone into official limp mode then it will put a message on the dash display.
3. Blocked fuel filter normal reduces flow so you feel a power loss.
4. low power could also be the fuel pump or block in the fuel pipe.

Jonathan-NZ said:

Hi folks,
As mentioned in my introduction thread, I am looking after a Freelander 2 (2007, STD4, 2.2L diesel, manual) vehicle for a NZ charity.

It's done around 130,000KM.
It's due for it's 10 year service as of about 15 days ago.

Whilst driving over a steep mountain, towing a relatively heavy trailer and load, it had a total power loss.
The accelerator ceased doing anything at all.
The engine was still running though, but obviously it dropped to just an idle, and the car came to a halt.

I turned vehicle off. After a few minutes, I fired her up and acceleration resumed working.
About 2 minutes later, same thing occurred.
I removed the trailer, and I was then able to drive the rest of the journey okay (another 30 mins of driving). Not knowing whether it would give out in any moment, I drove rather gently though. Just down the road from our destination, I attempting accelerating hard from a complete stop, and the same issue occurred. Total loss of acceleration.

I've since been informed it might be the solenoid on the turbo unit. But it was explained this results in the car going into a limp home mode. I would have thought that would show me some kind of warning light or message on the dash, of which there were none. Is that normal for limp home mode?
I am not sure it was "limping", unless the limp is so slow one can easily mistake it for total power loss, as opposed to a 95% loss, or whatever limp mode drops to.

I don't have a means to pull error codes (will need to pay the auto electrician $60 for that). Which raises another question... What the most cost effective yet useful third party device for getting all the various codes, and resetting them, etc.? At $60 a pop to have someone else check them, I figure we'd be better off buying a code reader. With so many options (and a big price variation), it'd be great to see what you suggest.

Any thoughts and input would be appreciated.

Cheers...

J

Click to expand...

Hi there! I'm resuming this post because I have the same problem, Have you solved this mistery?
Please, tell me how!

::zinco:: said:

Hi there! I'm resuming this because I have the same problem, Have you solved this mistery?
Please, tell me how!

Click to expand...

Best start your own thread, giving all details.