Thread: Help for a friend - TD5

Not an "expert", but I'd say your diagnosis is a good place to start, John. Changing the harness is quite simple. I now consider it to be a service item.
It's not supposed to happen, but on mine I found that oil had migrated to the inside of the ECU as well, perhaps because it had been opened for a chip upgrade.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

A friend has a TD5 engined Defender, and today hehas asked for help from me since I drive a 110 - but mine is Isuzu engined.

The TD5 is running rough and down on power - he showed me. I suspect it has one cylinder not firing. Examination of the engine loom plug into the ECU shows oil everywhere, and I suspect this is the issue. He has gone off to get some contact cleaner spray, and see if cleaning up the plug and socket will help.

Anyone expert on the TD5 want to comment on my diagnosis? I have told him that the engine loom will have to be replaced. He has it booked in for a diagnosis session on Friday.

If it is relevant, it is a working vehicle, that does long days travelling cross-country at about 5kph, with otherwise mostly long distance highway between jobs.

That would be a pretty fair diagnosis John.

Sometimes you can pull the seal out of the connector and that lets the oil drip out instead of gathering.

It's not a fix but can help.

The engine loom itself may not need replacing, but the injector loom under the rocker cover will.

Over time with repeated cleaning at the ECU, the oil will often largely stop.

What the other 2 said....

*Also check to see if the oil has migrated to the red plug on the ecu.
*as others have suggested you can get away with a clean and roll again for a bit.

*if you have done all that and it still runs like its dropped a cylinder then a diagnostic tool will help to find that No1 or No2 cylinder has a injector solenoid fault.
*if so, replace the injector with the same colour as the rest.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

Examination of the engine loom plug into the ECU shows oil everywhere, and I suspect this is the issue. He has gone off to get some contact cleaner spray, and see if cleaning up the plug and socket will help.

Unwrap about 4 - 6 inches of the loom behind the red plug, then clean it with the spray and leave it like that, it will stop the capillary action.

Get one of these, they solve the problem
TD5 Modified Injector Harness