Thread: D3 up in flames

So it was a diesel and by the wheels, it was at least a MY07. So the follow-on question would be - did they have the LATEST recall work performed on the HPFP? Yes - the previous recall was updated late last year.
Land Rover?2007 to 2009MY Discovery 3 & Ranger Rover Sport - High pressure fuel injector pump (extension of PRA2009/10962)

I've had so many HPFPs replaced, luckily only one involved diesel leaking directly onto the extremely hot turbo - and it didn't catch fire.

Hi all,
I am (was ) the owner of the D3, Firstly I would like to thank Lindsay for raising this well know issue with the D3 TDV6. Now to set the record straight with the actual events. We left Coral Bay at 04:30 heading back to Perth, some 12hr drive after a 3 day fishing trip & towing a 6.5mtr boat. We stopped at Carnarvon for fuel with no fault with the vehicle, some 150klm south of Carnarvon I over took a slower vehicle which then I did notice a slight difference in the performance of the vehicle and at the time put it down to the 15-20klm head wind. Approximately 5klm after overtaking I glanced in the side mirror to see how the boat was tracking & noticed white smoke coming from the rear of the vehicle & said to the mates that we have a problem.
We were lucky (if you call it that) enough to have a parking bay right there, Myself & the other occupants got out & checked underneath the vehicle to find that there was a fluid gushing from the front left hand side just behind the front wheel, at this point I said to my mate what was the fluid & his response was that it appears to be diesel but that is least of your worries as it is on fire. S**T. At that point I raced to the boat to get the fire extinguisher to find that it was missing, hence I grabbed all the water we had in the boat approx. 4 - 5ltrs. Went back to the vehicle & popped the bonnet & noticed that there was a glow up in under the dash & thought to myself this is not good, once the bonnet was up I found that the fire was well established deep down at the rear of the engine with the sound suppressing material burning quite quickly, I attempted to extinguish the fire with no success, now what, shut the bonnet & try to fight the fire from underneath, hence in one of the photo’s you can see the sound suppressing material that we pulled out, which was diesel soaked. I would also mention that the three of us all work in the underground mining industry & are all trained to fight fires. Now to make the call to save as much as we could out of a really bad situation, get what possessions we could out of the car & get the boat off before we had more dramas on our hands as the boat was carrying 120ltrs of petrol in a 300ltr tank. I will let your imagination run with that thought of the boat burning , not good. I must admit that I have never felt so useless, not being able to do thing but watch the vehicle burn, a situation that I would not wish upon anyone.
I would also like thank the guys that pulled up and gave us a hand to get the boat off, he also was towing a boat and unhitched his boat & took my boat to the nearest roadhouse (90klm round trip) & another big thank you to the two old guys heading back to Perth from their fishing trip at Quobba which gave me a lift to the roadhouse & Des the road train driver that gave me a lift back to Carnarvon to the get a hire car.
The most disappointing part of this ordeal is that LR now about this fault and choose to have these vehicles still on the road, if this happened on a mine site all of that particular model would be parked up and an investigation carried out, the fault repaired and not until then would they return to work. Maybe these car manufactures need to have a good hard look at themselves before there is a fatality.
Lastly I would like to mention that I was very happy with the D3 but must have admit that it will be the first & last Land Rover I will own, once bitten twice shy.
Thanks
John

Jonesy63,
The vehicle was serviced 3 weeks prior to the trip, we contacted the dealer after the event and asked if the HPFP needed to be replaced, their response was that it was not part of the recall. Then we told them maybe they would like to replace it to the burnt out wreck.

Originally Posted by Teto

Jonesy63,
The vehicle was serviced 3 weeks prior to the trip, we contacted the dealer after the event and asked if the HPFP needed to be replaced, their response was that it was not part of the recall. Then we told them maybe they would like to replace it to the burnt out wreck.

Sorry for your loss.

My D3 was in for service in early November and to my dismay, they had to hold it over for a couple of days as there were no replacement HPFPs in Sydney. That was for that P021 action I pasted above. If you haven't had the HPFP replaced since November, it was either out of the range (not MY07-MY09) - or the dealer stuffed up.

Hi Teto,
Bloody good response, good to get the story straight from the horses mouth so to speak. All the assumptions really taint the truth. I'm not sure but you might of read I lost my D3 as well to fire, I wasn't at home so I didn't see if there was any fluid gushing out.
I'm also sorry that you ended up giving away the marque, I came back for more and I've bought a 2006 TDV6 SE, it's great and I don't regret going back. I did get a full payment from the insurance company which made things a bit easier. I believe my fault was electrical not the fuel pump.
I'm glad know one was hurt and you responded the way you did together with the others you mention, a good outcome to a bad situation, know one was hurt.
Good luck with what ever you decide to go with next.

Does sound like the HPFP. Low pressure part of the fuel system is on the RH side.

That is why sales in Russia were stopped. until LR had a fix.

Thanks for the update andsorry for the loss.
As for 1st and last I totally understand.
Your car could be parked next to all the Cruisers and Patrol that also catch fire at times. Don't feel too special, it has happened to many makes and models, its just one of thoses things and from what I read has been sorted soa new one will probably trouble free.

Just a thought.

Hi John,

I was originally a bit concerned about reporting something which I had not been involved in. In this circumstance I'm now glad I did.

You have experienced an event that could have had far more serious consequences for you and your fellow traveller. What is terrific is you both were not injured.

Whilst none of us can alter your circumstance I am sure most of us are watching and reading with keen interest to see how the subsequent events involving the investigation, the insurer, the dealer and Land Rover Australia pan out for you.

If you are willing to share, those are the things that I now most want to know.

Sorry to hear that you have been 'put off' the LR brand. I personally have had a good run from 2 Disco's over the last 13 years and am looking to upgrade. I have been reading and watching the posts on this and other forums to gather info to assist me in choosing my next vehicle so the way you are treated certainly influences my decision making.

Lindsay