Seahorse
11th August 2009, 02:56 PM
Have had my 1.8 Petrol Freelander for a few years now, without a hint of a problem (apart for having to replace a wheelbearing).
My son borrowed it yesterday to take a trailerload of rubbish to the dump. About 15 mins after him leaving, I get a phone call asking if I had been having any problems with it lately, as he was stoped on the side of a very busy road and it would crank but it would not start.:o
He had noticed it missing pulling up a slight incline, but a 100M or so later, it just lost power completely, and he rolled to a stop...
Suspecting everything from loss of water to failed fuel pump to even running out of fuel...I made a quick trip out to meet him.
The first thing I checked was water level, oil level and fuel level...All OK :)
Checked the fuel pump fuse and it was OK. Turned on the ignition and could hear the fuel pump running. Phew!!!
The engine would crank freely but not fire. This is usually an indication of lack of fuel or spark. As it appeared that I had plenty of fuel I suspected spark.
Did a quick check and had spark from the coil....Mmmmm
By this stage the afternoon peak hour traffic was building up, so in the interests of safety I organised a tow truck to return the vehicle to my home address (7K's away)..;)
With the vehicle parked safely back at home and no longer intimidated by passing cars & trucks I was able to think a bit more clearly.... What could it be .....??
It definitely had fuel. The fuel pump was running OK. Not sure about the fuel filter though, and have heard some horror stories about contaminated fuel lately...?? :(
There was spark to the distributor....Best check that there was spark to the plugs.....Mmmmm nothing.. Perhaps the distributor rotor is buggered..??
Removed the air filter body and pulled the distributor cap back and from what I could see of the rotor it looked OK.
Pulled the plug leads off the distributor cap and took a look inside...mmmm interesting.. All of the contact points were severely corroded and the carbon button was completely fritzed. :o
A quick call to All 4 x Four spares and I soon had myself a new distributor rotor and cap fitted. :)
Now... this Freelander only has around 80,000 K on the clock. I have never had a distributor problem on any of my previous vehicles and they had all done far in excess of 80K K's
May be time to take a look at yours......;)
My son borrowed it yesterday to take a trailerload of rubbish to the dump. About 15 mins after him leaving, I get a phone call asking if I had been having any problems with it lately, as he was stoped on the side of a very busy road and it would crank but it would not start.:o
He had noticed it missing pulling up a slight incline, but a 100M or so later, it just lost power completely, and he rolled to a stop...
Suspecting everything from loss of water to failed fuel pump to even running out of fuel...I made a quick trip out to meet him.
The first thing I checked was water level, oil level and fuel level...All OK :)
Checked the fuel pump fuse and it was OK. Turned on the ignition and could hear the fuel pump running. Phew!!!
The engine would crank freely but not fire. This is usually an indication of lack of fuel or spark. As it appeared that I had plenty of fuel I suspected spark.
Did a quick check and had spark from the coil....Mmmmm
By this stage the afternoon peak hour traffic was building up, so in the interests of safety I organised a tow truck to return the vehicle to my home address (7K's away)..;)
With the vehicle parked safely back at home and no longer intimidated by passing cars & trucks I was able to think a bit more clearly.... What could it be .....??
It definitely had fuel. The fuel pump was running OK. Not sure about the fuel filter though, and have heard some horror stories about contaminated fuel lately...?? :(
There was spark to the distributor....Best check that there was spark to the plugs.....Mmmmm nothing.. Perhaps the distributor rotor is buggered..??
Removed the air filter body and pulled the distributor cap back and from what I could see of the rotor it looked OK.
Pulled the plug leads off the distributor cap and took a look inside...mmmm interesting.. All of the contact points were severely corroded and the carbon button was completely fritzed. :o
A quick call to All 4 x Four spares and I soon had myself a new distributor rotor and cap fitted. :)
Now... this Freelander only has around 80,000 K on the clock. I have never had a distributor problem on any of my previous vehicles and they had all done far in excess of 80K K's
May be time to take a look at yours......;)