97 disco 300tdi - loses power, stalls and wont start

[theface26]

Hey team,

So after 3 yrs of ownership, my tdi decided to have its first breakdown, half way on my journey from Brisbane to Moura, QLD, in the sunny town of Chinchilla. I was overtaking and changed from 4th to 5th, and started to loose power after I.engaged the clutch again. I promptly pulled over, and before I came to a full stop, the engine stalled. After retrying to start, there was no love unless I pumped the accel pedal. Once started, if I keep the accel up, and hold the revs, she runs.. Didnt try moving it though, so unsure how well she runs given the initial power loss.

After getting to towed I now have the keen eye of the local mechanics looking over it. I put a call through to Dan in at Rockhampton Land Rover as theyre my go to for major work... He's suggested filter, lift pump or injector pump replacement could be the issue.

The RACQ chap looked up similar issues on their database and said that a similar issue occured to someone resulting in the injector pump change as well as the injector harness. He advised that this included ripping the head off.

I keep thinking back that if I manually pump the primer, she kicks in so it suggests to me, this might be shagged? I replaced it under 2yr ago though from Mackay Land Rover Spares.

Anyway, I wanted to pitch to the masses if there was anything you guys could shed some light on? These local chaps dont see to man LRs so i'd like to give them a fighting chance and keep the costs down.

Thanks in advanced.
Alex

1997 Discover Series 1 TDi
Manual, 196ks
Last major service 190k

[87County]

hopefully it's the fuel lift pump - have a look and see if diesel is leaking when you crank it - not a definite sign as it can be leaking into the engine

alternatively, but slightly less likely it could be one of the filters - possibly the sedimenter at the rear, which, if blocked with diesel snot will probably load the other filter up anyway

there is no injector harness on a 300tdi, but it does however have the fuel cutoff solenoid and the power to this can be interrupted by faulty connection

........ don't take the head off yet !

[slug_burner]

Sounds like your on the money for what to look for. The injector harness is a Td5 thing.

[Blknight.aus]

blocked pickup, blocked sedimentor, foulded filter and finally failed lift pump.


fault finding is easy with a compressor and it takes about $150 in parts (@ supercheap prices)and 30 minutes worth of effort to wire in a facet pump and bypass the normal lift pump chuck in about $40 for filter, seals for the fuel water seperator + a snot killer and you should be back on the road.

Drop a word if you want to have a crack at DIYing it.

[Terrain Vehicles]

Just a thought but have you checked the turbo hose - we have seen them close up and block the air from entering the engine
Try discounting the hose from the inlet manifold and see if it starts.

Also loosen the injector metal pipes and try to start the engine - see if fuel comes out the pipes (it should in small amounts)

Mark

[SouthOz]

I dont know if you have fixed the problem yet, but I had a similar problem with my D1 300 tdi, it turned out being the filter on top of the lift pump being blocked. I would like to know how the gunk got past the main filter? I use genuine or good quality filters, I try not to use PRC filters.

Thanx
Dave

[justinc]

Sounds like it may possibly have air in the system, check very carefully the fuel inlet pipework around the A/C pipes at the firewall prior to the lift pump, they rub through and get air leaks, difficult to find so feel around the plastic pipes carefully for wear and rub marks, if there is a leak, you can cut the line at that point and slip over some 8mm fuel hose with EFI hose clamps (As they clamp properly and less chance of air leaks).

JC