Help please, on big trip and tdci running badly

[POD]

We are on day 2 of a 9-week trip and already the car is starting to take the joy out of it, has been surging intermittently which is becoming worse and more frequent. We are currently camped off the side of the Stuart Highway and anticipating another unpleasant drive tomorrow. It is a fairly rapid surging, almost a shudder, that occurs mostly at light throttle cruising, although this evening it was doing it whilst pulling up a long incline. Was making my wife's head shake back and forth, very unpleasant driving. Power seems to be okay, perhaps down a bit but hard to tell as we are heavily loaded. I first noticed it a few days before we left, thought at first it was a rough road surface but it became more noticeable after a day or so. I pulled the EGR valve off and cleaned it before we left home, was not as clogged as I had expected and made no difference. I have visually inspected the intercooler hoses and can not see any splits or areas rubbed through.
Have read the fault codes, have 0404-73 EGR stuck closed, and 0299-00 turbo A under boost condition.
Long post I know but trying to provide as much info as possible in the hope that someone can advise me what to check, will check in tomorrow in the hope of the usual AULRO problem solving.
We've been looking forward to this trip for 5 years and the defender is not playing the game!
Almost forgot to mention, 2008 tdci 2.4 Puma 130.

[PAT303]

Change your fuel filter,easy stuff first. Pat

[Chops]

Hi Pete,
I'm really sorry to hear of this, and I hope I'm very wrong in what I say here, but I've just gone through what sounds like an almost identical experience when we did our SA trip at Easter.
Suffice to say, its having the injectors replaced as we speak. Lucky for me, I'm covered by insurance.

How long since your fuel filter has been changed? I've been advised they need to be done like every 20K at least, (its a 40K job in the book). They've worked out that mine has had a gut full of water because the filters not been done enough.
At a petrol station, "apparently",, it is acceptable to have up to 3% water contaminants within fuel :eek: .
Once water has entered the injectors, its all over. The only real way to check this, see if you can get to a dealer and ask them to run the "Pilot Program", which checks the injectors. This will cost you, but you'll have a definitive answer.

Other than that, check your MAF and MAP sensors, and check your Turbo hoses for lamination,,, I'm hoping its one of the later scenarios.

All the best with it Pete, nothings worse than dramas on a trip. Give us a ring "anytime" if you want more info.

Marcus

[POD]

I changed the fuel filter last week, in fact almost immediately before the problem started. I have a spare with me, will change it asap. I think there's a dealer in Alice Springs. Will give them a call.

[BilboBoggles]

I've head that some times the fuel filter might not seat correctly in the housing or a bit of dirt damages the seal letting air in. A small air leak will give odd hesitations.

[BilboBoggles]

A ford dealer can also service the engine as it's used in a transit. Some say they may be better at it too....

[rar110]

Check the sedimenter? I don't think the 130 has a sensor to say it needs a clean out.

[n plus one]

I changed the fuel filter last week, in fact almost immediately before the problem started. I have a spare with me, will change it asap. I think there's a dealer in Alice Springs. Will give them a call.

Sounds like the filter could be an issue - is your spare filter a good quality unit?

[PAT303]

If you have crap in the tank remember it'll just clog your new filter also. Pat

[schuy1]

I would do the filter. Diesel is bad for balls of algae in the tank. They tend to float about and block intake piping and can be pushed into new filters. more so if suddenly the vechile is used a lot, like going from pottering about to long trip with movement and frequent fillings.
Cheers Scott

[POD]

Just got into Alice Springs and got some phone/net service back. Haven't made any progress on the 130 yet, bit reluctant to change the fuel filter at the side of the road. I drained the sedimenter yesterday, nothing but nice clean diesel came out. I'm at the LR dealer waiting for the man to come back from somewhere and have a look at things, hopefully run the pilot program and see if the injectors erc are stuffed. Used about 15litres per 100km from Port Augusta up here, going to need to get this sorted.

[Chops]

Good luck with it Pete,, I hope it works well in you favor.

[troppojon]

I was having intermittent flat spots and surging in my 2007 2.4 which already has an Autologic remap when I bought it.
I have just had a pilot learn and software update done and it now is a pleasure to drive and fuel consumption seems to have improved quite a bit.
I clean my MAF and MAP sensors regularly with the MAF sensor aerosol.
Hope you have some luck with the Land Rover mob on Alice.

[Bytemrk]

POD, that dealer was really helpful for me when I had fuel line dramas in the D2 up there a few years back.

Hopefully they'll get you sorted and on your way soon enough..

Good luck,

Mark

[flyinglandrover]

Pod
How did you go with the dealer? I hope you have been sorted and are on your way again!:D

[POD]

Well, sorry for the delayed update, I was going to post as we left Alice Springs but when we stopped for a cuppa we had already lost mobile coverage. The dealer in Alice was very helpful and knowledgeable, he would get all my work if he was down my way. He ran a basic diagnostic which came up all okay, was reluctant to do the whole pilot thing, would have had to wait til Monday anyway. Took it for a lengthy drive with me and couldn't fault it. It had been behaving okay all the way up from Kulgera. He reckoned I had most likely picked up some bad fuel that had now worked it's way through. We are now in Halls Creek and the vehicle has performed faultlessly all the way up the Tanami. So I'm going to act like nothing ever happened, and hopefully the Landy will do the same. Perhaps it was my threat to sell it and buy a Toyota that made it straighten up and fly right. We'll be mostly out of phone range from here so thanks all for the help.

[Bytemrk]

Glad to here things are good.

Have a wonderful trip.

Mark

[PAT303]

You did buy a replacement spare filter in the Alice didn't you?. Pat

[wally]

Well, sorry for the delayed update, I was going to post as we left Alice Springs but when we stopped for a cuppa we had already lost mobile coverage. The dealer in Alice was very helpful and knowledgeable, he would get all my work if he was down my way. He ran a basic diagnostic which came up all okay, was reluctant to do the whole pilot thing, would have had to wait til Monday anyway. Took it for a lengthy drive with me and couldn't fault it. It had been behaving okay all the way up from Kulgera. He reckoned I had most likely picked up some bad fuel that had now worked it's way through. We are now in Halls Creek and the vehicle has performed faultlessly all the way up the Tanami. So I'm going to act like nothing ever happened, and hopefully the Landy will do the same. Perhaps it was my threat to sell it and buy a Toyota that made it straighten up and fly right. We'll be mostly out of phone range from here so thanks all for the help.

Another positive review for Sutton Motors. They'd get all my work too if They were anywhere near me. If only more of the dealers were as good.