Loss of Power L series Diesel

[101RRS]

I have been recently doing some 4wding in my L series Freelander which often required a few revs to get up some hills. Car worked great but I have noticed some reduction of power from 3200 RPM.

The reduction of power is like just lifting off the throttle a little - the engine does not cut out. Is not really noticeable in 1st gear, in second gear with no load there is a slight reduction of power at 3200 rpm but revs continue to climb just a bit slower. In second gear under load, like going up a steep hill the engine will not go over 3500 rpm - almost as if it had hit the rev limiter (usually 5000 rpm). Same applies with 3rd gear - haven't tried it in higher gears as speed gets too high for suburban areas. Below 3200 rpm the engine has full power and there are no issues.

Any ideas? The check engine light is not on and at this stage I have not had the codes checked due to to cost of getting it done - about $100-$120.

Cheers

Garry

[camel_landy]

If it was a 300TDi, I'd know exactly where to look but I'm not as familiar with the fueling on the Freebee...

First of all, check the state of the air filter & the condition of the air hoses, especially the ones before the turbo. Then have a bit of a look at the condition of the intercooler.

If they are all ok, it is sounding like the fuel/air mix is wrong when under load or high in the rev range. What ever the Freebee uses to measure the air volume and increase the fueling isn't working.

On the 300TDi, it takes a feed from the turbo and as the pressure increases, so it uses the air pressure to increase the fueling accordingly using a mechanical system. The 300TDi is prone to having this mechanism seize in old cars so the fueling sticks at a constant level.

The Freebee is at the crossover from when they used mechanical pumps to electronically controlled pumps.

If it is still all mechanical, it'll be a set of linkages in the top of the pump which have seized or it'll be a split in the line from the turbo.

If it is all electronically controlled, it'll be the MAF sensor.

M

[woko]

Check the banjo fitting on the inlet side of injector pump, there is a screen in it, could be blocked

[101RRS]

Thanks guys - does have a fuel starvation feel about it - it is not an issue in day to day driving so will sort when I do my timing belt which is now due.

Cheers

Garry

[101RRS]

Turned out to be a blocked air filter even though it was only changed 20,000km ago - blocked by exhaust fumes being sucked in from a hole in the exhaust flexible joint.

Thanks

Garry

[camel_landy]

Hmmmm... Interesting.

M

[RJPotts]

Hmmmm... Interesting.

M

Mark,

Thanks for the link to this thread. (& hello from the UK everyone else!)

The symptoms sound similar to the problem I'm having at the moment but I'm not sure it could be caused by the same thing. I've never noticed anything that hints at an exhaust leak & I think the changed position of the filter box on the Camel Freelanders might negate such a problem?

But, I'm off to stick by head under the bonnet again, fingers crossed.

I was quite excited to find the plug for the MAF sensor dangling in fresh air yesterday. Alas, plugging it in seems to have made no noticeable difference (likewise removing the sensor from the housing, cleaning & reassembly). Can the sensor fail to the degree that it gives no signal at all?

Cheers
Richard