01 TD4 noisy and dark smoke

[PaulP38a]

Just got a call from my wife (she is driving back to Canberra from Sydney/Douglas Park) saying that she is worried about the car. She has already driven 300Km today and is about 200Km from home near Picton Rd on the Hume Highway.

The car has a whistling noise, is blowing dark smoke and lacks power. It is a 2001 Freelander TD4 with approx 75,000Km. She says it ran perfectly on the trip up to Rylstone a couple of days ago, and was fine this morning.

She has called the NRMA but they won't be there for a while. If it is not drivable, I'm not sure whether to tow it back to Canberra or send it somewhere in South West Sydney.

I realise the problem description is a bit vague, but any suggestions on what this is likely to be would be appreciated.

Thanks, Paul.

[justinc]

Just got a call from my wife (she is driving back to Canberra from Sydney/Douglas Park) saying that she is worried about the car. She has already driven 300Km today and is about 200Km from home near Picton Rd on the Hume Highway.

The car has a whistling noise, is blowing dark smoke and lacks power. It is a 2001 Freelander TD4 with approx 75,000Km. She says it ran perfectly on the trip up to Rylstone a couple of days ago, and was fine this morning.

She has called the NRMA but they won't be there for a while. If it is not drivable, I'm not sure whether to tow it back to Canberra or send it somewhere in South West Sydney.

I realise the problem description is a bit vague, but any suggestions on what this is likely to be would be appreciated.

Thanks, Paul.


Paul, almost 100% certain it has blown the top intercooler to inlet manifold hose, have seen 2 do this, both well under 100K. The oil circulating through the intake system and the high boost pressures these run makes them last no time at all.

It can be driven if that is the fault, but very underpowered and dangerous on a freeway:o

JC

[PaulP38a]

Thanks JC. looking it up on Rave now.
Is that an internal or external pipe? Difficult to fix?
cheers, Paul.

[justinc]

Thanks JC. looking it up on Rave now.
Is that an internal or external pipe? Difficult to fix?
cheers, Paul.

Easy replacement, passenger side of the engine, from the intercooler to the inlet. Top engine cover off and there it is:)

JC

[PaulP38a]

Easy replacement, passenger side of the engine, from the intercooler to the inlet. Top engine cover off and there it is:)

JC

Cool, thanks again. I'll text this to my wife so the NRMA guy knows where to check first.:D
cheers, Paul.

[justinc]

The easy way to test is get her to sit in the vehicle, put it in drive and foot on the brake and park brake on, and load it up a little. Should see/ hear it immediately:) Last one I saw had a very small split which was under the hose and quite difficult to see/ feel.
JC

[PaulP38a]

Not happy with NRMA Road Service. They just called her to say they would be another 1-1.5 hours since they assigned the job to the wrong area and the guy from Mittagong is busy on other jobs. If it was just me waiting, it would be inconvenient... but as it is my wife (and her Boxer dog) waiting, I am quite concerned as it is now dark out and she is still 2hrs from home if it gets fixed on the spot.

[Chucaro]

NRMA, and all the others are :soapbox:
The fellow is going to arrive when is dark and then call a towing truck :mad:
I hope that I am 100% wrong

[PaulP38a]

The fellow is going to arrive when is dark and then call a towing truck :mad:

I suspect you are right. I called NRMA and passed on JC's excellent advice. I also told them if they can't fix it on the spot I want it towed home, not to a service depot. I'd rather pay the extra towing fee...

[PaulP38a]

It was as JC suggested.

Apparently the pipe is split open. The NRMA guy has duct taped it up so my wife could drive 15mins up the road to her sister's place for the night. Hopefully my bro-in-law can have a look at it in the morning and put a sleeve on so she can drive home and I'll put a new hose on.

Thanks again,
Paul.

[Chucaro]

Fid out if there is in the area an Enzed service van and she may get a good hose to put in. just a thought ;)
I am glad that you wife is in a safe place, now you can sleep well :)

[justinc]

It was as JC suggested.

Apparently the pipe is split open. The NRMA guy has duct taped it up so my wife could drive 15mins up the road to her sister's place for the night. Hopefully my bro-in-law can have a look at it in the morning and put a sleeve on so she can drive home and I'll put a new hose on.

Thanks again,
Paul.

Good result Paul, but annoying to have to wait that long, it seems these pipes may have to be chucked at 60K intervals I reckon, yours will be the lowest km I have seen, but probably not the last:(.

Glad she's safe and sound now:)

JC

[PaulP38a]

The Freebie, carrying spouse and dog, made it home today without incident. My bro-in-law removed the cheap duct tape the NRMA guy put on (my wife said it had been making flatulent sounds;)) and replaced it with something stronger. It can stay on there until I get a new hose.
http://paulp38a.com/gallery/d/2485-1/IMG_1436.JPG
Seems that it was the hose on the RHS of the engine rather than the LHS.
Perhaps I should replace both to be sure to be sure...
Cheers, Paul.

[Jojo]

When you replace them, replace both. The other one will also fail soonish. The one on the LHS was the one that failed in my better half's FL a while ago. I am still looking for substantial replacement parts that won't be subject to failure of this kind again. Shouldn't be impossible to manufacture some steel replacements if one is somewhat more handy than me...

[PaulP38a]

When you replace them, replace both. The other one will also fail soonish.
That is my thinking too. The replacement ones should be here by the weekend.
In the meantime, the tape is still holding up :D
Cheers, Paul.

[andrew e]

gee paul, you should have called me. That was only 20 minutes away.

[PaulP38a]

gee paul, you should have called me. That was only 20 minutes away.

Thanks Andy - I did consider it. It was bad, but no so bad that I was going to ruin your family day. Belinda's sister went and sat with her until the NRMA van arrived.

cheers, Paul.

[PaulP38a]

$150 and 30mins later, the two hoses indicated below are replaced. The bottom clamps on those hoses are pigs to remove. I was able to just get a mini (75mm) ratchet with a 6mm (I think) socket on to the clamp head and slowly loosen it about 60deg at a time.

http://paulp38a.com/gallery/d/2503-1/IMG_1454.jpg

I'll do the upper elbow (on the RHS in the photo) later, when I can get one.

Geez, there was a lot of black sooty, oily stuff in those hoses. Guess I'm not used to diesel or turbo engines.

Cheers, Paul.