Freelander 1 White Smoke and Rough Running

Freelander 1 facelift. Td4 2.0. 2006. 135K miles.

Before i Start 2 apologies, 1) Sorry, yes ive used the search bar... I just want to confirm suspicions, 2) I do love my freelander, a usable, practical vehicle with character and charm.... its just its current character is being an ass.

The issue:
- White smoke on cold start and full throttle.
- Generally sounding agricultural,
- Down on power, especially up hills, more so some days than others,
- Poorish economy
- Bad rough running/lumpy/misfire at 2000rpm

So far:
- Taken to a local and semi well known locally LR specialist, Diagnosed as Injector 2 faulty. Replaced injector.
- Ran great for a week then went again. back to said specialist. Yep INJ2 again, so fitted another new injector, Same again after a few days. Back we go to specialist, INJ2 again,
- So fitted another new injector this time to INJ1, and move INJ1s good original injector in INJ2s place. Ran well for a day, then back and worse than ever. Back to specialist, and sure enough INJ1 had failed (yet again the new part).
- Suspecting poor new parts, they then fitted a "good used" injector..... didnt even make it down the road before acting up. again INJ1. So changed it out AGAIN along with a slightly dicky INJ3 for 2 "good used" ones. Ran it home, no smoke and rattles, but drastically down on power.
-On getting home, found MAF sensor wire had been snapped and Vac pipe to EGR snapped. Both now repaired, got some power back..... but it feels to be back to injector issue as before,

SO! Ive somewhat lost faith in the garage (Wont name them as we all have bad days), Its smoking worse than ever and is intermittently down on power and economy is not great. Ive plugged in my cheep scanner, and below are the results. images are in pairs (same time/scenario, 2 screens of data).

In your opinion:
What can be causing it to burn through injectors?
What else can give these symptoms?
How would people recommend proceeding?
Do you know any good affordable specialists in the Stoke on Trent or Buxton area?

This thing is driving me MAD! Regretting not just going for a K 1.8 and doing headgaskets whenever the wind changes XD (im used to it after an MGF and Metro)

Thanks, James

White smoke is unburnt diesel
I did search td4 white smoke,
Mentions crankcase breather filter being blocked can cause the issue.
If it's the element type filter it should be changed at least every 2 years anyway.

Pretty sure if I ran my L Series at 3,500 revs - it'd kick out plumes of much darker smoke.

If I tried to run it a 4,750 revs it would have shat itself a long time before getting there - or I'd have bottled it anyway.

The injectors they were using were they for the FL1 or for a Rover 75? also were they using new copper washers, had they seated them correct, i wonder if they have put the shims upside down, which wire was broken on the MAF sensor, have you tried running it with MAF unplugged, all vacuum hoses need to be checked from the EGR sensor and also from the turbo sensor. do a leak back test on the FL1

RoverJames said:

White smoke on cold start and full throttle

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Check glow plugs for cold start white smoke.
Also suggest bad fuel spray pattern, so could well be an injector, or maybe a failing high pressure fuel pump.

RoverJames said:

Generally sounding agricultural,

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That's normal for the M47R.

RoverJames said:

Down on power, especially up hills, more so some days than others,

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Check the low pressure fuel rail is above 350kpa.

RoverJames said:

Poorish economy
- Bad rough running/lumpy/misfire at 2000rpm

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Some M47s misfire at ~ 2000 RPM, mine did, but only on holding the revs at 2k RPM off load, or on a trailing throttle when on the road.

Hi, Thanks for the fast replies

I have just ordered a new oil separator/breather, for what it costs and ease to fit it'd be nice to rule out although it was done just over a year ago.

Yep 4750 is plenty of revs XD not a regular occurrence, anything past 3000 is just noise and little more.

What is the difference with the 75 or FL injectors, the garage did say they were cheaper than they expected. im wondering if this is why. but that said they are a land rover specialist, so youd think they'd know...... but youd also think 5+ attempts to fix the issue would be enough.

The MAF had the wires ripped out of it..... this carelessness is why i don't really want to go back. Ive now removed and split the plug and refitted the wires to it. Its reading about 15g at idle which google says is about correct. Maf unplugged is less powerful still, but not as smokey.

Cant see any other vacuum pipe or wire damage anywhere and boost pipes are very not new, but free from damage. Maybe worth noting its got the EGR removed with a strait pipe and blanking plugs for exhaust and vacuum.

Please forgive my ignorance.... im much more used to classic petrol engines than modern(ish) diesels.... how do you do a leak back test and test the pressure in the fuel system? im assuming pop the pipe off an injector is not an option at that sort of pressure :S

RoverJames said:

What is the difference with the 75 or FL injectors, the garage did say they were cheaper than they expected.

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I don't really know the exact differences, but the Freelander has a different turbo (uses a variable vane turbo), which is designed to give more torque at lower RPM compared to the R75, so presumably the injectors have different flow characteristics.

RoverJames said:

but that said they are a land rover specialist, so youd think they'd know.

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They might be more specialists with the older defender type vehicles.

RoverJames said:

The MAF had the wires ripped out of it..... this carelessness is why i don't really want to go back.

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Sounds like they're cowboys to me, and best given a wide berth!

RoverJames said:

Its reading about 15g at idle which google says is about correct. Maf unplugged is less powerful still, but not as smokey.

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With the MAF unplugged, there should be more power, as the ECM defaults to non-smoke production mode, which provided there's enough air, will increase power markedly.

RoverJames said:

Cant see any other vacuum pipe or wire damage anywhere and boost pipes are very not new, but free from damage.

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I'm thinking it's down on boost, so this means a leaky vacuum pipe or pipes, or a hole in a boost pipe (the elbow pipe by the EGR often splits, or the boost pipe on the drivers side of the engine gets a hole worn in it underneath, by a badly placed bolt), so really you need to check the boost and vac pipes really carefully, as a tiny leak in either will really upset the engine.

RoverJames said:

Maybe worth noting its got the EGR removed with a strait pipe and blanking plugs for exhaust and vacuum.

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The EGR blank is one possible cause of the 2k misfire, but not always.

RoverJames said:

Please forgive my ignorance.... im much more used to classic petrol engines than modern(ish) diesels.... how do you do a leak back test and test the pressure in the fuel system? im assuming pop the pipe off an injector is not an option at that sort of pressure :S

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The leak back test, is basically done by connection 4 graduated containers to the spill connections on the injectors, then the engine is allowed to idle for a minute, or less, then the amount of fuel "spilled" is compared. In theory, the injectors that spill the most fuel are worn, however this isn't a definitive test, just a guide.

Fuel pressure is displayed on your diagnostic thingy, high fuel pressure is the rail pressure, which should be between 25,000kpa at idle and 135,000 kpa at full power.

The low pressure fuel rail needs to be over 350kpa at full power, or fueling issues occur, but the engine will still run reasonably well at 300kpa, but power will be limited.

And never ever loosen an injector pipe nut while the engine is running, as the pressure is enormous, approaching 10,000 PSI.