Freelander 1 Diesel mist spraying all over the Fuel Rail & Injectors

During the task of putting everything back on the engine, when it came to re fitting the inlet manifold while positioning it ready to fit I heard a metallic clinking so lifted the inlet manifold back off and one of the washer/rubber inserts was missing.

I have searched everywhere on the engine and have removed the under tray and it is nowhere to be found, I can only assume that it has gone down one of the rectangular inlet holes, I have been lent a endoscope to try to look in the inlets but there is so much gunk that I can not see anything so my question is can I clean these ports out without damaging anything and what sort of solvent can I safely use to do that.
I hopefully can then use the endoscope to see which port the washer/rubber has fallen into and attempt to retrieve it

Pictured is the inlet manifold with the offending item missing

Hi Marc.
If you have searched these areas then double double check them first, what's the chance of the seal falling into the port a lot less then going somewhere else, also check behind the fuel rail.

Stick a photo of the engine up around those areas so we can zoom in on them you never know fresh eyes.

1

Believe me I have looked in the areas you have highlighted, but the area under the HP fuel pump and behind the starter motor are not accessible without removing them, there is also some sort of aluminium finned unit that I can not get behind which I am unaware what it even does. I am reluctant to start removing these items as I am unfamiliar with how to correctly put them back.

As the plastic inlet manifold was virtually in position, (you have to gently push over to the left to get the studs in line) I have found from many times re fitting, when the washer/rubber fell off and it was not in evidence when I gently moved the manifold back out of the way I fear it is in either No1 or No2 inlet

I am putting up photos of the engine bay as Arctic2 suggested as he is correct in as much as my eyes are not what they were so please have a look and see what jumps out at you

Hi Marc.
NO do not remove the starter or the high pressure fuel pump, you need a special tool for the later anyways, could not see anything from the photos, worth a try.

Seems quite damp and wet around the HPFP though.

Yes I have mopped up as best I could but the misting diesel had run down the LH side of the engine it was pooled in the recesses for the glow plugs and run down the front of the engine, it had also run down the back of the engine on the LH side running off the rocker cover, from when it first smelt of diesel it had to be driven at least 20 miles to get it back, the undertray was almost full of diesel when I removed it.

I have been told I need to check what pressure the low pressure pump is working at, I have bought a fuel pressure gauge but don't know where to insert it in the fuel line.

I am told "Nodge" would know but for some reason the forum will not let me message him, If anyone can help in any way it would be greatly appreciated

brillo21 said:

I am told "Nodge" would know but for some reason the forum will not let me message him, If anyone can help in any way it would be greatly appreciated

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I've been inundated with me messages, so changed my settings to prevent unauthorised users sending them to me, sorry.
I'm happy to help on the forum though, where it benefits everyone.

You would normally use the live data from the EDC to read the low pressure. However if you want to read it with a mechanical gauge, then you do so by T connecting the gauge at the supply rail by the pump.

Hi
Thank you for the swift reply, excuse my ignorance but are you talking about the chrome twin rail that runs across the front of the engine from the nearside towards the High Pressure pump ? if so which one of the rubber fuel lines do I tap into as there are two going to the HP Pump.

Apologies for my ignorance and thanks again for the reply

Best regards

Marc

brillo21 said:

if so which one of the rubber fuel lines do I tap into as there are two going to the HP Pump.

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from vehicle front .. as you face the engine and hp pump
left hand rubber hose on hp pump .. be low pressure input ..
right hand one .. be the fuel return hose to tank ..
[ also connects to the injectors 'return' line ]

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hd3 said:

from vehicle front .. as you face the engine and hp pump
left hand rubber hose on hp pump .. be low pressure input ..
right hand one .. be the fuel return hose to tank ..
[ also connects to the injectors 'return' line ]

``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Click to expand...

What hd3 said.

Thank you gentlemen, I will try this first thing tomorrow as its getting dark here now, I have been told by a local garage that I should expect at least 2.5 bar from the low pressure pump, so I will report back when I have tried this.

Thanks again
Best regards

Marc

brillo21 said:

I have been told by a local garage that I should expect at least 2.5 bar from the low pressure pump,

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Correct, 3.5 bar is best.

Good Afternoon gentlemen

I tried to connect directly from the chrome rail to the HP fuel pump but did not have a long enough piece of fuel hose to loop round, so I disconnected the hose feeding the chrome rail and inserted the gauge between the hose from the tank and the inlet to the Chrome rail, with everything tightened up and leak free, the gauge reads 2.2 Bar, I have re-tested 3 separate times and the reading is consistently 2.2 Bar.

Am I correct in saying that the low pressure pump is Not working at a high enough pressure to allow the High Pressure pump to work ?

I am assuming that the remedy will be a replacement LP Pump if anyone has a recommendation for the new pump I am all ears, it just seem strange that the car was running fine before the misting injectors started this whole issue

Thanks to all for the help and advice

brillo21 said:

the gauge reads 2.2 Bar, I have re-tested 3 separate times and the reading is consistently 2.2 Bar.

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I'm surprised it runs with 2.2 Bar of pressure on the low rail.
The EDC will normally cut power to the injectors if it sees less than 250 kPa, which is 2.5 Bar.
The ECM will also limit power and put the warning light on if full power is requested, and the low rail drops below 300 kPa.

Find a Pierberg pump, which are the best. Avoid cheap Ebay pump, they're noisy and fail quickly. Replace the filter while you're going the pump too.

Guess you might have found it already as a while back, but here is what I thought first. Had the same issue some years ago, the garage picked it up and found in some place.

It does not run with 2.2 Bar, the reason I was told to check the LP pump pressure was because the car would not run, It was running before I removed the injectors due to the misting from the base of number 2 injector,, I removed all four and cleaned them with the help of Steve "Arctic2" and the car has not run since, I had not previously checked the LP pump pressure as I had no reason to.

It was only after removing and cleaning the four injectors and refitting them that the car would not start, previously the car was running fine after an Oil and Filter change, Air filter change and Diesel filter change two weeks previously before injector Number 2 was misting Diesel all over the engine, hence the initial removal of injector number 2 and after finding that injector number 2 was very dirty and caked with carbon I decided to remove the other 3 and clean them all.

Hi Marc.
I think i have a couple of good second hand pierburg pumps in the shed somewhere, will need to double check tomorrow, if not then

Pierburg Fuel Pump | Car Parts 4 Less

7.50051.60.0 PIERBURG Fuel Pump Electric ➤ AUTODOC

Or Land rover one WOW. (they must be having a lafff)
LAND ROVER FREELANDER L314 Fuel Pump LR023043 NEW GENUINE | eBay

Nodge68 said:

So you've no fuel being delivered.
This could be the cam sensor, crank sensor, or HP regulator on the pump, or low pressure fuel issues.
Are you getting a good low pressure fuel supply?
The ECM inhibits the injectors if the low pressure fuel supply is below a minimum threshold of 250kPa.

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seems answer was given back in may about low pressure

I appreciate that low pressure was mentioned earlier in the thread and at that stage I did remove the fuel feed from the HP Pump and run the fuel into a container which filled up frighteningly quickly.
At that stage I did not have pressure gauge and was ignorant enough not to realise that although the flow of fuel seemed to me very fast, that if the supplied pressure was not sufficient that the engine management would not allow the HP Pump to work. that was just my lack of understanding of how the whole system worked, at that stage I did not know there was a LP fuel sensor against the N/S inner wing and I also did not realise that the pressure sensor in the fuel rail would also prevent the injectors from firing, its been a huge learning curve for me.

Thanks to Steve for having a look to see if he has a pierburg pump available I will await the result of his search. thanks again to all, I am afraid my ignorance on the operation of the diesel supply system has probably extended this nightmare but we life and learn.

I only hope that the replacement of the LP fuel pump actually cures the problem, I have no idea where to go if this remedy is a failure.

Hi Marc.
I have found the pumps, and will drop you a PM for your address, later today when i have had a good chance to test them both.