Freelander 1.8 Running Issues.

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.

RangeyMick

New Member
Posts
14
Hi All.

Hopefully someone has come across this problem before.

Dreaded K series.
very rough running almost misfiring.
Running rich, emissions at 3%
wont idle when warm, Over 66 degrees. starts to get progressivley worse as temperature increases.
Bore washing, fuel in oil.

Recent top end rebuild.
new Plugs dizzy arm lead, lambda new ECU (no difference after ecu replacement. symptoms are as tho' timing is out but been checked numerous times.

Help Please Please!!
Thanks all
Mike.
 
Not sure I can help much. But petrol in the oil doesn't sound good tbh and the fact it gets worse when hotter.

The idling issue could be some sort of metering issue. But I wonder if the engine is just knackered, worn/cracked rings or pistons. Slipped liner or something.

Have you done a compression test on it? Maybe a hot and cold one.

Think by this stage I'd be tempted to look for a 2nd hand replacement engine.
 
Hi Thanks.
Sorry forgot to say, Compression test done all four are 200 the bottom end had recently been done also. the vehicle would use £65 of fuel in about an our driven and had knackered the engine. I originally thought the rough running was caused by a mechanical fault but after all the engine work its still the same.......
 
Only thing I can think of is the Manifold gasket did you use the green one?
Was it over tightened?
 
Last edited:
The green rubber one yes. no I dont believe this was over tightened. I've sprayed easistart around it and got no increase in rev's which I believe you get. I had garage put the t4 system on. no fault codes but as it wont idle when warm your unable to run any test's with it.
 
The only other place I can think is squeezing past the valves on the compression stroke. but if this was occuring the compression test would be low and the fuel & air will just go out the ports.....thanks for the suggestion and please if you find something in the manuals please let me know.
 
Over fueling could be the ECU temperature sensor brown plug (not the gauge sensor - blue plug) that is faulty causing the ecu to think the engine is cold when it is hot - is the cooling fan running all the time as this would suggest the connector is un-plugged, have the gauge and ecu plugs been muddled up with the re-build?

Otherwise when did it start - did you fit a new lamda sensor to try and fix it and is it an genuine one? cheap ebay ones have been known to give trouble
 
Try replacing the temp sender ( right hand end of the head as you look at it) brown one
mine was showing similar problems rough tick over when hot and heavy fuel us , I had some good advice on the forum here and swopped out the sender INSTANT RESULT and less than a tenner!!
It was as if the senders signal was telling the ECU that the engine was always cool and
she was running in Choke/fast idle.
Just a thought:)

like the man says
 
Last edited:
Hi All, thanks for the advise guys. I've tried the brown plug aswell as the crank sensor and air intake temp sensor. no difference.
It has been pointed out to me that the cam pulleys can be on wrong.
Apparently intake cam pulley (back) needs to be on with the cam locatting lug next to the word 'inlet'. Inlet writen on the right and exhauast written on the left as you look at it, and both written upright. and the exhaust cam pulley, cam location lug next to the word Exhuast on the pulley, and writing on the pulley same as for inlet Exhaust written on the left and Inlet written on the right, Upstraight. Going to give it a try today...and will let you all know..
 
I checked the manual and can't see anything to suggest where to look.
Mind ya I was kinda assuming you'd rebuilt it wi all the parts int right place ;)
 
How about changing the fuel pressure regulator. On the end of the furl rail and only about £22, easy fit.
 
Hi Carbore, I thought that the Fuel Prressure regulator was part of the pump. Isnt the Diaphram that your refering to a pressure dampener to dampen out the pressure fluctuations on the injector rail caused by injector firing. But then I'm most likely wrong.
 
Hello,

According the the worship manual for my Elise :)

"The fuel rail supplies all four injectors and is fitted at the right hand end with a pressure regulating valve which maintains the pressure of the fuel supplied to the injector at 2.0 to 3.0 bar dependant on engine load. Excess fuel is returned to the tank by a fuel retune line"

The above is straight from the manual and is for a bog standard 1.8 k series, the only difference is the freelander one is the other way round so I think the regulator is on the left. I had an over fuelling problem on my Elise years ago and never found it despite having an ECU with a digs system, but I never changed the blinking PRV, I bet they can get failures in the diaphragm that make it basically duff so the rail gets full pump pressure.

I hope this is worth while as £22 got to be worth a punt!

Please note you need to depressurise the fuel system before playing with this by removing the fuel pump fuse and crank the engine for 10 seconds (on the Elise anyway)
 
Back
Top