Thread: Wow I bought a Dud Disco 1!

Hi all,

I have had some more experiences with the engine power loss issue.

It has happened on flat ground and hills, both engine hot and warm.
full tank of fuel and low fuel.

What seams to happen is the revs drop and the power dissapears? at idle the engine revs drop to <500rpm and it feels like its going to stall out (but doesnt)
foot to the floor down main street, I couldnt brake 50kph?
This time I pulled over and turned the car off and restarted and it was fine again? but the other day after I turned the car off after loosing power and it wouldnt start for a few minutes??

This is starting to seriously worry me, if anyone has any advice as to where to look? or what to test would be great!!

Sounds like a fuel pressure problem to me if doing it on the flat aswell. This virtually rules out valves etc as the culprit. The best way to test this is as mentioned you have a schrader valve on the fuel rail as a test port, so you will need a fuel pressure gauge with a decent length of pipe, fit it to the test port and bring it out from under the bonnet, shut the bonnet and go for a drive around with it zip tied to a wiper arm. See what the fuel pressure says when faulting. (I have done this before to attempt to locate intermittent faults like this)

Another possible suspect other than the pump itself is maybe the wiring plug/ connector on the fuel pump on top of the tank (Accessed through the floor inspection hatch under rear carpet) as they are renowned for poor connection and overheating, causing volt drop and low pump outputs.

JC

JC, could the ignition module cause symptoms like this ?

Usually the ignition module fault consists of no spark, or spark, nothing in between. However, a weak/ intermittent spark will hamper cold starts, this can be the beginnings of module, wiring or coil problems.

The other big contributing factor for the 14CUX ( hotwire AFM) injected engines is they require excellent battery voltages and spark plugs/ leads in order to start 'cleanly' cold. Some are prone to flooding from very cold starts if these aren't up to scratch. Usually this is only a problem if started and stopped without driving it for a bit, ie moving around in the driveway etc.


Some other faults I have come across have been the pickup coil in the distributor, when the engine gets to operating temp, the actual pickup coil can get open circuited OR excessive resistance and just plain fails to send a trigger output signal. On the later disco1 the module is quite a way away from heat,(Behind LH headlamp area) and is earthed really well, too.

JC

Ignition module. This is exactly what mine was doing. I did beeuties? Bosch conversion which solved it immediately. Next I cleaned all the electrical connections -maf especially -which also made a lot of difference to economy.
John

Thanks guys,

Where is the best place to get an ignition module?
is it a DIY job?
how $$$$ for the module?

Thanks again for all your advice!

Try this:

Lucas ignition amplifier replacement by Bosch 024

This outlines the conversion. Not that costly if you do it yourself - depends on how handy you are. However, well worth the money to pay an auto electrician to get rid of the head ache.

Also, as others have said: If you have no previous Land Rover experience it may pay to spend a few hundred and get the car a full service by an independent Land Rover specialist (the dealer won't know his arse from his elbow with an early discovery). They will tell you what is right and what is wrong.

Don't give up, they are a great car when running right but they are a Land Rover which means you will be turning spanners on them far more often than others.

John

I dont really want to do the whole conversion, I just want to replace the module to see if it will solve my problem.

Im no ready to commit to much here I have already spend more then I wanted!