Thread: Nightmare Discovery Problem

Originally Posted by ex8rarsig

I have a series 2 '99 3.9 V8 Discovery which was running very ordinary so took it to All 4x4 Spares here in Newcastle who are regarded as Land Rover Gurus. Heres whats been looked at so far - New MAF meter and spark plugs and leads, coil pack, oxygen sensor, temperature sensor, Catalytic converters (looked but couldn't see any problem havent tried taking them off and running it yet) so far spent a grand. Now the vehicle is at least producing the correct horsepower when it is running at 2500 revs or so plus BUT there is an unidentifiable problem in that at low revs the engine wants to backfire and starts and farts which gets worse as the engine gets hotter( it's almost 95% right from cold start). When it has been running for an hour or so and then stopped it doesn't want to start at all but once it gets going a bit and you give it some stick it goes like a rocket, doesn' like to just trundle along though. Computer analysis shows a fault in the oxygen sensor (which has been replaced) in one side of the engine, Swapping leads from L to R still shows same fault in same side of engine.Plan now is to get another engine ECU and try to move further with the analysis. This is sending me broke quite quickly and the repairer now says that if the ECU cannot be used to locate the problem they will need the vehicle indefinitely so I will have to hire a car as it's my work vehicle and God knows what the labour bill is going to look like. I trust the repairer who, as I said, has a VERY good reputaion here. Does anyone have an informed opinion as to the cause of this stinker of a fault? Any helpful suggestions appreciated.

Ouch,, Knowing what All 4xFour charge no doubt u are going broke quick. Personally i wouldnt use them - have in the past and got burnt, once was enough for me.

Sounds a bit dodgey to me, replacing parts on a trial and error basis and making you fork out for everything along the way, isnt that why you took the car to a specialist- so they could diagnose and find the problem not throw random parts at it.

Unfortunatly though when it comes to Land Rover in Newcastle theres not a lot of choice for us and I would avoid Alto completly. Last time I needed work done to the car I ended up taking it to Trivetts in Paramata.

Mick.

An auto elec mate had a similar problem with a customers Volvo. The customer had taken it to a local mechanic and dealer, and they just replaced parts and couldn't find the problem. $2,000 later he took it to this auto elec.

He traced all the wiring, which meant stripping the dash, and found that a couple of wires had been crossed, I think temp and O2 sensor from memory. So that when the car was cold, the temp sensor gave a signal that corelated to a proper O2 signal in Ohms or whatever, but as it got hot, the signal changed and the ECU changed the fuel mix.

Maybe get a good wiring diagraam and trace all the ECU / sensor wires. Make sure that things run & plug into what they're supposed to.

I'd be getting a second opinion before replacing anything else

There are also mechanics in Dungog and Wyong

hrmmm all the things I can pick on for those faults..........

EGO sensor bad/ faulty wiring to EGO

EGR valve Sticking open
Fuel injector harness fault
Pump fault (pay attention to fuel level when replicating fault)
crook Crank angle sensor/wiring
crook HEI unit.
crook coil
crook leads
ECU fault
ecu harness fault.
Ive heard of a certain failure in the alternators rectifying diodes dumping a wierdo version of AC into the system that makes everything go spastic...(understand how it can happen but suspect that the fact that the smoke coming out of everywhere in the vehicle would alert you to it first)


My very next step would be at the mechaincs.. specify that you want a cold EGO test done and you want a continuous fuel pressure test done untill the fault appears...

If both of those come out normal tell them to stick it in their sphincter and take the vehicle to someone who understands the concept that mechanical parts swapping is no longer the standard for fault finding, you need to be able to read the spaghettimaps and know how to use a multimeter and cro.

the majority of cases in the v8's are usually on ONE faulty part!
mainly ignition modules and dizzy pickups...

there is NO way the cat's needed to be replaced, thats just someone who deffinatly dose not know what they are dooing! and if they did you wouldnt have any gas coming out the tail pipe, and that wouldnt happen, you would blow the exhaust gaskets out first.


cheers phil

4x4 in Newcastle wouldn't be my choice but as someone else said there is not much in the way of Landrover people in Newcastle. There is a place on Tuggerah strait in Wyong (Old English something) but I cannot vouch for them - they are expensive for their parts.

I have used 4x4 in Newcastle since 1978 (when they were in Broadmeadow) but only when I couldn't find bits anywhere else. They used to be good for Landrover parts but have moved into Toyota in a bit way and now almost do Landrover as a side. I was there a couple of weeks ago and didn't have what I wanted. However the stealer did - my one and only dealing with the Newcastle stealer was excellant but I have heard bad things about them as well.

Gazz

Gazzz

Originally Posted by ex8rarsig

I have a series 2 '99 3.9 V8 Discovery which was running very ordinary so took it to All 4x4 Spares here in Newcastle who are regarded as Land Rover Gurus. Heres whats been looked at so far - New MAF meter and spark plugs and leads, coil pack, oxygen sensor, temperature sensor, Catalytic converters (looked but couldn't see any problem havent tried taking them off and running it yet) so far spent a grand. Now the vehicle is at least producing the correct horsepower when it is running at 2500 revs or so plus BUT there is an unidentifiable problem in that at low revs the engine wants to backfire and starts and farts which gets worse as the engine gets hotter( it's almost 95% right from cold start). When it has been running for an hour or so and then stopped it doesn't want to start at all but once it gets going a bit and you give it some stick it goes like a rocket, doesn' like to just trundle along though. Computer analysis shows a fault in the oxygen sensor (which has been replaced) in one side of the engine, Swapping leads from L to R still shows same fault in same side of engine.Plan now is to get another engine ECU and try to move further with the analysis. This is sending me broke quite quickly and the repairer now says that if the ECU cannot be used to locate the problem they will need the vehicle indefinitely so I will have to hire a car as it's my work vehicle and God knows what the labour bill is going to look like. I trust the repairer who, as I said, has a VERY good reputaion here. Does anyone have an informed opinion as to the cause of this stinker of a fault? Any helpful suggestions appreciated.

Give English autos a ring! at Tuggerah straight, Ask for Gary the best landy bloke in the land. If he can't fix it he will know someone that can.

Cheers Sumo.

Originally Posted by sumo

Give English autos a ring! at Tuggerah straight, Ask for Gary the best landy bloke in the land. If he can't fix it he will know someone that can.

Cheers Sumo.

I second that