Thread: Stalling

Sounds like you gotta get ypur multi meter out! Stepper? flapper? I'm assuming not a carb? And yes your fuel filter may be clogged with gunk.
Could be as simple as your base idle but sounds if it's stalling on the move it may be something else.

Cheers Jim

Many years ago I had a similar vehicle and similar issue, though it was a manual. Turned out to be the fuel pump. A quick wack with the wheel brace was enough to get me home. Pumps were pretty cheap and easy to swap.

Yep X2 on the fuel pump.

I've had the same problem with my 95RRC after I got it back on the road after it had been sitting for a few years. You can check your fuel pressure, and if you don't have a gauge they are only 30 bucks on ebay.

Also had the same on my old Disco 2.

Tom, it sounds very similar to a problem I had with my D1 V8. Turned out to be the actual "pick-up" line in the tank. It had come adrift and was then sucking air from half way up the tube. If I kept the tank full, it wasn't a problem, but as soon as it got to just under half full, it'd stall.

I had a similar problem with the Merc. Tuned out to be rust preventing fuel entering the in tank surge container.
I'm with chops on this. Check the fuel pickup. Check if there is crud in the tank. Oh, and replace the fuel filters.

Tired fuel pumps draw more current than normal so can melt connector plugs. Check the connector on the fuel pump housing as well as the one above the rear muffler for blackening. VN Commodore pumps and similar can be easily fitted but sometimes you need to change the connector to the pump.

Start with the idle stepper motor, replace if in doubt... Then replace the tank fuel pump. - that's more than 50% of possibilities covered !

Edit:- Until then, Plan 'C' is to develop your Left Foot braking and slip-into-neutral while keeping revs up/re-starting engine at stops, and Ride brake (L foot) and accelerator at pauses/roundabouts/give-way signs.

A few weeks of the above...and you'll have all the self-motivation needed to spend 'whatever' is required to fix the bugger !!!

Originally Posted by superquag

Start with the idle stepper motor, replace if in doubt... Then replace the tank fuel pump. - that's more than 50% of possibilities covered !

Edit:- Until then, Plan 'C' is to develop your Left Foot braking and slip-into-neutral while keeping revs up/re-starting engine at stops, and Ride brake (L foot) and accelerator at pauses/roundabouts/give-way signs.

A few weeks of the above...and you'll have all the self-motivation needed to spend 'whatever' is required to fix the bugger !!!

This sounds familiar. Those of us who grew up on carburettors will be more than familiar with this practise. Especially in early automatics...

I'm sure it is the reason why many of us cannot shake the manual gearbox bug. *bumpstart*


I think you may have 2 separate issues.

1. you may have an issue with the throttle sensor / flapper / hotwire

2. you may have a fuel pressure regulator / fuel delivery issue.

There is a third potential issue, the rollover killswitch.

It sounds like #2 preceded #1 by not delivering enough fuel (you did not mention any excess fuel or raw fuel smells). however #1 can cause the behaviour all on it's lonesome.

Pretty much everything has been covered by the previous posts -

1. get the multimeter out and check voltage at fuel pump connectors as bee-utey said. ALSO check the rollover switch under the passenger seat hasn't been bumped or tripped. make sure it's operating correctly (isolate and test).

If you have a 14cux type setup, check the black/white wire from the coil to the ecu harness and ensure it has clean connectors. check, test and clean the multipin connectors to the hotwire and to the idle air control solenoid at the back of the manifold. Remove the solenoid and clean it thoroughly with solvent, and check the manifold opening for blockages also.

Move on to the fuel pressure regulator, and check the delivery and return lines. A Hose and bucket works well here, and a shot of low pressure compressed air down the return line to the tank (remove the fuel filler cap first!) will determine if there is any blockage there. WEAR GOGGLES. fuel can damage your eyes, set you on fire etc.
If your fuel pump is working, change your fuel filter. Don't quip "i just changed it" - replace it. You would be surprised how many issues have been solved just by filter replacement, especially after the car was just serviced. Crud in the tank will cause this. It's far more common than you think - even in brand new cars! it only takes one tank of dirty fuel to cause problems with the filter.

Depending on the age of the fuel pump assembly, there may be a problem with the corrugated tube or where it joins the plastic barb - as has already been mentioned. The pump itself may also be intermittent or was failing that way only to now be completely shagged. current draw test in circuit or more simply by checking the connectors for heat as bee-utey mentioned (not always 100% successful, but if hot, it's shot) can reveal pump issues. You can choose to replace (I did) regardless of whether or not it was 'working' and keep the original as a spare, which simply eliminates one thing form the list.

what you choose to replace is up to you - in my case, there were serviceable items which clearly looked reasonable and serviceable but had no mention of being replaced in the 11 years of documented service history, so I chose to replace said items on this premise. I have learned that just because something looks reasonably new, doesn't mean it is.

"Assuming" (don't like to, but have no choice) the vehicle's fuel and ignition system tests are satisfactory, and this is a 'starving' type of scenario where the power is falling away, and not a surging issue where there is sudden power then nothing, or more specifically, if you can get the revs up to a point where the power is adequate and not dropping away, but as soon as you lift off the throttle it dies completely, then I would also start looking at the ignition module and reluctor coil under the rotor cover. I have seen instances where metal filings appear from out of nowhere and end up on the magnetic pickup, and short out the signal. It's common in nearly all HEI distributors, especially in GM vehicles. Modules can fail in a way similar to how you mentioned (heat cycling). Test them, be sure.

These are some of the more obscure and less thought of causes of larger problems. The main thing is that it's cheaper and easier to verify all these things are functioning as designed, before running off and purchasing spare parts willy-nilly in the vain hope it will cure all and sundry.

I see this all the time with D-jet and KE-jet merc owners, who 'think' they are fixing the issue because they have a similar problem to someone else, and heard that someone else say they fixed their issues with part xyz, only to later discover thatit didn't fix the issue and now they've spent a thousand dollars replacing bits and didn't look at the obvious $2 part which was the culprit. And for some reason, they whinge bitch and moan about the money they spend, on the hearsay of others rather than acknowledhing their lack of ability to follow a simple bosch diagnostic chart.

(yes, you would be surprised)

So check the electricals, check the fuel, test the components in isolation, replace anything out of spec.

I made a similar mistake not long after I bought the RRC. had a random start-stalling issue then it wouldn't start. Went off and looked here for advice, replaced the fuel pump, filter, did the module and coil, performed the mandatory bee-utey dizzy mod and setup the dizzy with new weights and springs, reclearanced the hall sensor.... then a week later... same thing except it wouldn't start.

Rang Ward at Graeme coopers and he pointed the bleeding obvious to me.... the roll-over killswitch.

yes, I had something on the floor in the rear and it had moved the carpet ever so slightly and tripped the killswitch. Then the day it didn't start, was the day it moved under the seat and wedged itself. The funny thing is I could directly correlate the problem I had, to the date the problem started, when I put said articles on the passenger floor. Oh the embarassment.

I felt like a complete idiot - except for the fact I wasn't really aware (aware in schematics but ignorant of it's location) the vehicle had a killswitch, and secondly relieved, because my frustration was easily fixed. I was ignorant of it being the cause, because I thought it was hidden, and not as 'accessible' as it is.

If I'd done my due dilligence and thought about the actual location of the killswitch, I would have approaced my fuel circuit testing differently. Obviously, when the car started first tick after resetting the switch, I had to verify the switch function. It was immediately obvious I did not need to continue investigating the issue after the successful verification, but when 'you don't know', you don't know.

Since then I obtained a better copy of RAVE, and can truthfully state it is helpful in a 'land rover way'. By that I mean the manual itself is next to useless as stuff is almost never located where RAVE says it should be, and the wiring diagrams are pathetic, but eventually a deeper understanding of how the manual is written helps you to understand how the car is assembled.... i.e. in the same way the manual is written, that is to say "poorly". It's part of the reason for my failure to acknowledge and understand the killswitch existed on my rrc.

Yet for all the inherent faults, the car is reasonably reliable and if better quality parts were used during assembly, it'd be almost indestructable.

Nearly all of the problems that have plagued my RRC were electrical. Mostly from P.O. bodge jobs and 'installations'. I removed all of that not long after purchase and reqired the car over a 2 week period and have not had an electrical issue since. I've also not had a severe mechanical problem either.

All these old things require is due dilligence. routine inspection and maintenance, which includes preventative maintenance - the bit that most workshops don't do.

Check the electrics, check the fuel delivery and return, replace the filter and clean every connector you test. The issue is bound to be a simple one, and diagnosing / isolation testing is the best way to verify what is serviceable and what is not.

I understand the frustration of needing a tow, and the subsequent annoyance it creates. Just give yourself time and don't rush-

good luck, let us all know what the issue(s) are when you find out.