Thread: 2009 RRS NO POWER

Hoping someone may have some knowledge or previous experience with a '09 Range Rover TDV6 with very, very little power at low rev's.
The RR has been great however had sat with minimal use for a few months. It has approx 140k Km and was used to tow a large caravan a few times a year. The issue is it now has very low power at lowish rev's. Unable to drive up a short, steep drive way even with a small run up. Once the revs are up and the turbo is working it is pretty good (haven't been game to try it with a load like a caravan as yet).

With my limited knowledge and experience I would have expected it to be a sensor issue. As you can see a lot of diagnosis has been done and still no resolution.

Has anyone had or heard of a similar issue and what was the problem? Now discussing secondhand engines or getting very deep into engine dismantling.

The following has been done at considerable expense by an specialist service center.

• PLUG IN DIAGNOSTIC COMPUTER AND CHECK FOR FAULT CODES- NO FAULTS LOGGED
• TEST DRIVE TO CHECK ENGINE PERFORMANCE AND RECHECK FOR FAULT CODES- NO FAULT CODES LOGGED
• ON TEST DRIVE FOUND VEHICLE PERFORMANCE VERY LOW
• CHECK TURBO OPERATION AND OPERATION - SEEMS OK
• REMOVE TURBO INTAKE PIPE AND VISUALLY CHECK TURBO INTAKE CONDITION -OK
• CHECK AIR FILTER-OK
• CHECK ALL AIR INTAKE PIPES FOR BLOCKAGES -OK (NO BLOCKAGES FOUND)
• CHECK LOW PRESSURE FUEL -OK
• CHECK HIGH PRESSURE FUEL READINGS -OK
• TAKE FUEL SAMPLE- OK
• CHECK ALL ENGINE SENSOR READINGS- ALL NORMAL
• CHECK ENGINE CYLINDER BALANCE- USING DIAGNOSTIC COMPUTER -OK
• SWAP AIR FLOW SENSOR AND TRY - FAULT STILL ACTIVE
• SWAP AIR FLOW SENSOR BACK TO ORIGINAL
• REMOVE THROTTLE HOUSING AND INSPECT -OK
• SWAP THROTTLE HOUSING INTAKE AND TEST - NO DIFFERENCE
• SWAP THROTTLE HOUSING BACK TO ORIGINAL USING NEW O-RINGS
• REMOVE EXHAUST DOWN PIPE AND CHECK FOR BLOCKAGES AND TEST - NO DIFFERENCE
• REFIT EXHAUST
• CHECK INTER COOLER FOR BLOCKAGES -OK
• CARRY OUT EGR BLANK AND RE-CALIBRATE EGR VALUES AND TEST - NO DIFFERENCE
• CARRY OUT INJECTOR LEAK OFF TEST
• SUPPLY AND FIT 1 X FULL SET OF USED INJECTORS- NO DIFFERENCE
• CARRY OUT PCM SOFTWARE UPDATE- NO DIFFERENCE
• SUPPLY AND FIT USED TURBO AND TEST OPERATION AND TEST DRIVE - NO DIFFERENCE
• SUPPLY AND FIT NEW RH TURBO INTAKE PIPE- OLD HOSE PERISHED
• SUPPLY AND FIT NEW ENGINE ECU AND PROGRAM- NO DIFFERENCE
• REMOVE STARTER MOTOR AND ENGINE FRONT COVER
• CHECK ENGINE TIMING ALIGNMENT- OK ON THE CRANK AND EXHAUST CAMS (UNABLE TO SEE INTAKE CAMS WITHOUT REMOVE ROCKER COVERS)
• REFIT STARTER MOTOR AND REFIT ENGINE FRONT TIMING COVER
• REMOVE INJECTORS AND CHECK ENGINE COMPRESSION -OK ALL APPROX 300 P.S.I.
• REFIT INJECTORS
• RECHECK ALL ENGINE SENSOR READINGS AGAINST ANOTHER GOOD RUNNING VEHICLE AND AUTO LOGIC READINGS- ALL NORMAL (OK)
• RUN VEHICLE TO OPERATING TEMPERATURE AND RECHECK ENGINE ROUGHNESS/ NOISES
• REMOVE AIR BOX LID AND LISTEN TO ENGINE INTAKE NOISE- FOUND TO BE NOISIER THAN IT SHOULD BE COMPARED INTAKE NOISE TO ANOTHER GOOD RUNNING ENGINE TO CONFIRM

Originally Posted by OldBugger

Hoping someone may have some knowledge or previous experience with a '09 Range Rover TDV6 with very, very little power at low rev's.
The RR has been great however had sat with minimal use for a few months. It has approx 140k Km and was used to tow a large caravan a few times a year. The issue is it now has very low power at lowish rev's. Unable to drive up a short, steep drive way even with a small run up. Once the revs are up and the turbo is working it is pretty good (haven't been game to try it with a load like a caravan as yet).

Brake light switch. It doesn't necessarily line up with all your findings but it cuts power when triggered and/or faulty and a known issue.

You can experiment by "feathering" the brake pedal when low on power. Replacement is straight forward even for the non technical, if you want to DIY. I got one at Repco when I was in a pinch for $30 or so.