Replace High-Pressure Fuel Rail ?

[urumax82]

(defender 130 2009) Just had my check light come on the car was still driving normal and had no problems except the check engine light was on, i took the car to the a land rover dealership and they connected it to the computer and said that the code registered (which they gave me a copy of with a parts quote) and now i must change the High-Pressure Fuel Rail and the 5 pipes that connect to it .....they quoted me just on parts $1700 !!!!! i had a look and the job don't look that hard to do but then again i'm not a mechanic, has anyone done this job before and also do you need to also change the Fuel pressure sensor and Pressure limiting valve on either end of the Fuel rail. thanks .

DO YOU THINK I SHOULD SEE IF THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT GOES ON AGAIN BEFORE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THE PROBLEM AS THE FAULT HAS BEEN CLEARED BY LANDROVER.

[BilboBoggles]

Take it to a Diesel specialist. I would guess that you might have had a water contamination issue. If more than 40 mls of water sits in the fuel filter - some will get past into the engine. With some bad luck this will cause a over pressure issue in the fuel rail. There is a pressure limiting valve that prevents damage, this limits the pressure, but when it actuates it can damage itself. That event triggers the engine light and 2 fault logs.

So the normal process is to replace that pressure limiting valve, and if you are a land rover dealer - replace the entire fuel rail to remove any other contamination.

I had this happen on mine due to a MY09 model specific design issue with the fuel tank breather - that was positioned so that it picked up road spray. Luckily Land Rover covered this under warranty because they wanted to replace the entire fuel system on my then 3 month old Defender at around $7000 to $15,000, or at least that is what they were going to charge me until I went Ballistic on LR.... Then magically they fixed it, and I'd guess they just did the PCV valve as I'm am sure the fuel rail was as rusty as it was when I dropped it off.

BUT on talking to a diesel specialist they can clean out and reuse most of the fuel system, and just replace that pressure limiting valve. I'd perhaps also get the diesel specialist to check the spray patterns on the injectors to make sure there is no trapped dirt that might cause you to burn a hole in your piston. (Land Rover dealers are unlikely to do this as any issue here won't be visible for a long time)

[RoboDouche]

Like you I'm not a mechanic but I'd head to someone else with another diagnostics tool and get that fault deleted just to see if it reoccurs. I know lots of mechanics are all to happy to plug their tool into your car these days and tell you you need X amounts of parts without having the knowledge to actually check whats wrong physically.

I'm not saying that's the case but I'd be checking it out big time.

Also I'd maybe change and clean everything you can that has anything to do with fuel. New fuel filter and clean all the contacts for as much of the wiring as you can. Always use good fuel to, those injectors run at crazy high pressure maybe some injector cleaner would be a good idea to.

There's also some cheap ways to rig up your own little diagnostics tool with your phone or computer. I've got a blue-tooth plug that lets me read and delete faults on my iPhone. They sell them on eBay.

Anyway dude I'm not a mechanics butt hole so do some research if you have time. I've found the more you research you do on your Defender the more you'll not want to set fire to it or park it in the Ocean. They can be a real pain in the ass but getting to know them is getting to LOVE them;)