Fuel injector loom, usual oil problem.......

[Nomad9]

Hi Forumites,
I was fitting a UHF radio unit into the under seat compartment yesterday, to do this I had to remove the engine ECU to gain better access, on removal of the red plug I noticed a small amout of oil, more of a smear of oil than anything else.
I've read about all sorts of horror stories here so I want to get onto this pretty quickly. The vehicle has done 269k klms and I can't find any record of the injector loom being changed in the history. Does the loom fail on a time basis being a 2001 model or is it more around the klms, like high mileage vehicles are more prone to this problem? Or is it just random?
Is it worth taking the lid of the ECU and washing it out with an electrical cleaner, I don't know if there is any oil in there as yet, still working on something else.
As for as new loom, is there a preferred brand of loom or just stick with a genuine LR part, which on is less likely to leak? Is there one that doesn't leak?

Thanks in anticipation for any assistance rendered.

[fonfe]

I assume you have a td5 yes?

The ecu is a sealed unit so do not take it apart. Oil can not get into it, just capillary down from the injector loom through the main engine loom and then it gives the ecu wrong readings and fault codes.
Cure is replace the whole loom and injector loom. Don't forget to put a new rocker cover gasket on too as this will leak later on if you don't.
Pretty tough job to do if you dont have small girls hands than you can fit in between the inlet branches (yes that's me....no comments on small hands please haha) takes around 2-3hours stop to finish for your first one. Don't try and do it in a rush though and pay attention to the exact route of the old loom as if its not right you can melt the new one. Parts of it are tough but just stick with it and you will get there in the end.
Only ever fitted genuine ones, all I would trust for an important bit like that. Order it to your chassis number as there are 2 different types.

Oh and having a long thin flat blade screw driver to push down the retaining clip on the alternator plug makes life a lot easier :cool:

[Nomad9]

Hi Fonfe,
Excellent, yes I have a TD5, and yes I've figured out the vin number is significant and I've ordered the right one, as for replacing the whole loom, not right now, I'll leave that for a rainy day, I'm going to start with the injector loom.
Thanks for all the hints and tips it is nice to hear from someone who has actually done the job and not heard about the job from the neighbours best friends uncle.
I'm going to be changing the head gasket as a precautionary measure before my trip later on in the year so I'm going to do everything at once I'm just going to do the loom now. If I get excited I might do the loom when I do the head gasket.

Thank you.

[fonfe]

Anytime mate,
If theres oil by the ecu change the whole lot mate, itl just slowly travel down again even if you change the injector loom, may aswell do the whole lot in one.

Why you doing the head gasket? Td5 isn't known for head gasket issues?
Never seen one done in the past7 years in a dealer?

[Nomad9]

HI Fonfe,
Why do I want to do the head gasket, damn good question.............. I've heard nightmare stories about some of the D2 TD5 motors and cracked heads so I assumed the worst. Mine is using a small amount of water, not a lot and I can't see any external leakage or staining. Considering what is involved and the fact I want to clean all the gunge out of the inlet side from the EGR valve now getting rid of the EGR "system", seemed like a good idea at the time.
Do you have any pearls of wisdom that could explain the small loss of water?

[fonfe]

If the head is cracked doing the head gasket won't help it, You would need a new head. BUT put a pressure tester on the coolant system, give it 2bar and see if it drops. If it does find where it's coming out before you go ripping the head off. Check the heater matrix too.

[nedflanders]

HI Fonfe,
Why do I want to do the head gasket, damn good question.............. I've heard nightmare stories about some of the D2 TD5 motors and cracked heads so I assumed the worst. Mine is using a small amount of water, not a lot and I can't see any external leakage or staining. Considering what is involved and the fact I want to clean all the gunge out of the inlet side from the EGR valve now getting rid of the EGR "system", seemed like a good idea at the time.
Do you have any pearls of wisdom that could explain the small loss of water?

How much water is a little, mine sits just below the low mark, it has found its own level, and has never used any. If I fill it above the low mark next time i check it it's below the low mark again. Haven't touched it for 12months now and its never changed, just below the low mark is where its happy :)

[Disco Muppet]

Why you doing the head gasket? Td5 isn't known for head gasket issues?
Never seen one done in the past7 years in a dealer?

You're kidding right?
Head gasket and oil pump bolt are probably the two most common serious issues with the Td5.
At just under 270k kms it's the right time to be doing the HG as well, particularly before a big trip.
When/if you do the HG, get your head pressure tested and skimmed if necessary, and give the head a good clean up. Then you'll be fine for the next 270k kms :)

[fonfe]

Nope not joking.

To be fair most of the work I've done has been 05 onwards range rovers in dealer (yes i was lucky enough to do that dam front diff recall....oh those were the days) but have seen a lot of TD5s and yes have known they do head gaskets but I wouldn't say that they do more than any other engine does.....no where near something like the k series engine so didnt class it as a "known big issue"
At 270k that's 167k miles......do you really expect any engine to last that long without major work? If you do then your expecting quite a lot from it in my book:angel:
Is it an Aussie thing because of the heat? Or do people just not fix coolant leaks and let them overheat all the time till the heads crack? Neverless I'd still be doing a coolant pressure test to be sure its not a coolant leak that's not related to the head...nothing to lose after all.

Most common things I've done on td5 are injectors, fuel pressure regulator, loom oil ingress and duel mass flywheel.....thought they were the only main "issues"with em till now but obviously people expect more from an engine over here

[Disco Muppet]

I never said I didn't expect it, quite the opposite. 270k is pretty good without major work. Things like the FPR and oil in the loom are common, but not quite in the same category as head work imho. Maybe it's the heat, who knows, but they're quite common.
Obviously check all avenues before pulling the head, but at those kms and if you were doing something like the Simpson, I'd personally consider it good insurance to do the head gasket.
What are the issues with the Injectors, I haven't heard much about them?
And I thought it was only the V8s that ran the duel mass flywheel?
Not having a manual though I'm probably wrong :p
Cheers
Muppet

[fonfe]

Td5 manual disco just has em die. Not had to do one on a defender but they normally don't do as near the Kms as discos due to people not using em much for high driving so that probably why.
Too much movement between the "halves" so it causes bad running and crank sensor DTCs. You can get a non dual mass ive been led to believe so you will never ever have the problem again but don't think it's a genuine LR part as never fitted one in dealer only replacement ones.

The injectors basically cock up and die after high kms. If the cars running is rough/underpowered/high fuel consumption you view the individual injector compensation using real time display on either t4 or autologic. if its out of tolerance slap a new injector in the one that's causing issues, recode it to the ecu (very important to do so -wont run well if you don't) and that's the job done. BUT can be tricky to get em out as if the injector seal (copper washer) has been leaking as a massive carbon deposit builds up, then they a stubborn bugger to get out! Same goes for the freelander 1 td4 engine.
If you have a stubborn one, pour coca cola on it and leave it overnight, sounds weird but it works! Been a long long time since I've done one though as they don't come into dealers very often any more.....well they didn't in the uk but seeing more of them now I'm in OZ but only been back with landrover a month as I've been working on 4x4 cars.....ahhh the beautiful cosworths :twisted: