'03 TD4 pre face lift, smoky on start up, rough idle

Hiya folks,

I'm new here and Already introduced myself in the intro' bit
so now I'm here trying to find out what is wrong with my beloved.
I have a good mechanical knowledge and was a diesel mechanic many
Years back, so I understand the techie bits.

It's my first landy, an 03 td4, 180k, no mods, great condition.
Unfortunately, I've noticed a couple of problems that weren't there
When I bought the car so I'm a little stumped and a bit peeved.

Firstly, on start up the car smokes like crazy, white smoke, smells of diesel a lot.
The smoke clears after a minute or two and the car always starts first time.
She runs well and pulls well, but has a few flat spots one around 1500rpm and one around 2500rpm and she idles lumpy as buggery. The smoke doesn't return until the engine has been off for an hour or two.

I read on here that the injectors could be drippy, so I outed
The heater plugs today and tried to get my bore scope in to have a butchers,
But it wouldn't fit. Instead I put a drinking straw in the heater plug hole
And fed some white string into each bore in turn, but it never came out wet.
There was a colossal amount of ****e in all the inlet ports, manifold and EGR, so I cleaned it up best I could.

It's now all back together and running the same, but the lumpy idle is now intermittent instead of constant.

Can anyone help? I don't mind spending money on my motor, but I'd rather not have to spend it unnecessarily I.e replacing all 4 injectors when it's just a wire off somewhere, you get the jist.

Also, as a side note, under braking I'm getting a squeaky rub from the rear, nothing can be felt through the pedal and it doesn't affect the brakes. Could this be the dreaded rear diff mounts on their way out?

Thanks in advance all!

Brad

Seems to be a lot of talk about running the diesels through with some two stroke oil every tank full to help smooth things out a little. It does sound like your EGR is blocked/ crank case breather filter blocked. There are a few guides knocking around on here to show you how to clean up the inlet manifold etc. These clog up due to the EGR or something. I am still learning the way these cars/engines work as I have only just joined up.

Hope you can get it sorted buddy!

I'd hazard a guess that the noise from the rear under braking is worn brake shoes…

Nice one, thanks for the advice.
I'll get the EGR blanked and sort that breather out.
It's something I planned on doing anyway, so if it fixes my problem then it's a bonus!

As for the braking noise, it definitely sounds like something moving around/catching in something, but I'll strip it down and check the shoes anyway.

Ta!

She runs well and pulls well, but has a few flat spots one around 1500rpm and one around 2500rpm and she idles lumpy as buggery. The smoke doesn't return until the engine has been off for an hour or two. .. .. .. ..
It's now all back together and running the same, but the lumpy idle is now intermittent instead of constant.

Click to expand...

@ 180k .. it could be any number of things

easiest to check ' and maybe only a clean is needed ..
is the fuel-rail-sensor plug contacts .. water ingress from rain corrodes the pins
.. voltage there is only 5v .. a bit of dirt etc on the plug pins can cause all sorts of symptoms ..

( check out .. http://contralube.com/vehicle-electrics/ .. as it combats corrosion )

the maf sensor might be out of spec
the low pressure fuel pump might be on it's way out ..
the fuel filter might need replacing
injectors might be on their last legs
glow plugs might need replacing

et .. etc ..

( btw : any service history on the vehicle )

have a read thru some of these links :
( the td4 specific links for the engine )

links to freelander1 info

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and yeah .. do the 'egr delete' work .. easy peezee .. the hippo will thank you ..
and .. one less thing to go wrong ..

Wow! A very comprehensive reply, thank you sir!

There is almost full service history on the motor and receipts
I have show the low pressure fuel pump has been done.

I will check all the things you mentioned and post a reply to show
My findings, you never know, it may help someone one day!
Won't be for a couple of days though as work has got me pinned down.

Oh, while I'm at it too, does anyone have a download link for the RAVE manual
For these (at least I think it's RAVE I may have it wrong) I saw one before, but I can't seem to find it again!

Thanks again all!

I have show the low pressure fuel pump has been done.

Click to expand...

oh .. good
one less thing to worry about ..

although the aftermarket cheap ones can go a.w.o.l. much sooner than the original spec. ones ..

has a few flat spots one around 1500rpm and one around 2500rpm

Click to expand...

the "2500rpm" seems to come up in posts .. quite a bit ..
can't offhand remember what happens at that 'spot'

i.e. the egr valve operates at certain rpm ..
if it gets stuck open .. then exhaust gases will invade the air intake manifold .. not good

again the fuel-rail-sensor comes to mind ..

be sure to check what guitarjon wrote .. i.e.

It does sound like your EGR is blocked/ crank case breather filter blocked.

Click to expand...

that crankcase breather is important .. for the well being of the turbo .. etc ..

also .. cheap 'n easy to check ..
the turbo vent filter .. check that it's not clogged up ..
( search for " turbo vent filter " with the LZ search button at top-o-page )
although am not sure if that would effect the idle rpm ..

and .. in the m47r pdf .. it should say what sensors would cause a dash light to illuminate if the sensor malfunctions .. some do .. some don't ..
some malfunctions cause engine limp-mode ..
that way .. certain things can be ruled out ..

~~~~~~

best of luck sorting it .. hopefully it's something relatively simple and cheap to fix ..

I used to have a flat spot now and again on even shell I have changed to this new Esso and boy what a difference not more flat spots also have a look at the brake shoes
hope this helps

+1 to what HD3 said. Had the problem on mine, turned out to be the Fuel-Rail-Sensor socket all corroded. Solved with slider temporarily and works like a dream. Bit tricky to get to as you have to take out all air ducting and have a deep 27 socket or spanner at the ready

best of luck

( check out .. contralube.com | Vehicle Electrics .. as it combats corrosion )

is silicone grease not cheaper after a spray of contact cleaner

is silicone grease not cheaper after a spray of contact cleaner

Click to expand...

maybe cheaper .. but what about it's electrical conductive properties .. or lack of ?

( i've no idea about silicon grease when it comes to electrical contacts )

that 'contralube' has specific properties when it comes to electricity ..

~~~~~~~~~~

years ago .. i had an italian motorcycle that was parked out in the rain a lot ..
the electrics on that were known to be questionable as to 'reliability'
another owner suggested using a red dielectric grease on all electrical contacts
( can't remember the name of that red-grease .. but maplins used to sell it
( nowdays it can be found at model-train shops ..
( be specific for use with 12v systems ..
'contralube' was mentioned on the LZ site before .. and it's available from maplins
probably same type of dielectric grease as that red one ..

anyhow .. i never had any electrics problem with that motorcycle ..
so decided to use the 'contralube' on my hippo ..

i don't see the 'contralube' as expensive .. a little goes a long way ..
have used it on most electrical contacts on the vehicle .. 'n still plenty left in the tube

Ok, quick update.
I stuck my head under the bonnet and found I'd forgot to tighten the jubilee clips on the egr to manifold rubber hose and it had come adrift.
Stupid me, I know.
I tightened it up and this cured the flat spot issue.

The original lumpy running problem has now escalated.
I had to get to Birmingham and back yesterday. It was too
short notice for a train ticket, so I had to take the car.
She did quite well, pulled well at the top of the rev range, sat
at 70 quite nicely, very smooth. I thought the clean up must've helped.

Problems started when I left the motorway.
When I stopped at the first roundabout the idle was smooth,
but when I tried to pull away she didn't want to rev at all under load.
I had to slip the clutch in with the engine at 2000rpm just to get her rolling.

I reached my destination and turned off the engine. When I went to start it again a few
Seconds later, it refused. She cracked up, revved a little and cut out.
The only way I got her going was to keep it cranking and give it some gas. Once she got going, she actually idled quite nicely.

I managed to get her home at early hours of this morning, running smooth
on the motorway, but really rough in the bottom end of the rev range (<2500 rpm)

This morning, starting problems again, rough idle, hesitancy to pull away,
But funnily enough, hardly any smoke!
Plus, the engine sounded almost as if it was knocking for a few moments.

I'm thinking injector for definite now.

I will look at all the issues described in the previous posts and meter the
LP fuel pump just to be on the safe side, but unless someone has read something
In the above that jumps right out at them, I'm leaning towards it being mechanical
Rather than electric and bloody expensive rather than competitively priced.

Cheers for reading and helping guys.

but really rough in the bottom end of the rev range (<2500 rpm)

Click to expand...

sounds pretty much like a MAF failure

Maf sensor problems.

disconnect the MAF .. see if it runs any better ..

I'll check it out first thing. Cheers buddy!

Read the website, seems like
whatever was wrong with the MAF initially was causing it to overfuel,
Hence the big smoky start and rough idle, but something I've done
When cleaning has caused it to now under fuel. This is why she refuses
To start now and has no torque low down.

I'll be stripping it all again first thing tomorrow.
I'll report my findings!

Thanks for that link, it explains a lot.

Okie doke.

Car seems to be sorted.

I'll list what I found just to finish off this thread incase anybody
Reads it in future. I know I hate it when I follow a thread and it's
Left open at the end.

So the story with the car before working on it today was that it wouldn't start,
When started, wouldn't run right. It had an erratic idle, no lowdown power.
Wouldn't pull away from lights and smoked like crazy (whiteish blue, definitely not oil)

When I took the top end to bits I found out it was caked in carbon like gooey deposits. And I don't mean a little bit, we're talking a fully gunged up inlet, not even daylight getting through, no exaggeration.

So with the inlet cleaned the misfire became more apparent. (Sorry, should've said it had a misfire too)

The car has the BMW mod on the crankcase breather and has the modified loom with fresh plug and sensor on the fuel rail.

When running, you could unplug injector number 1 and nothing would change.
You could unplug injector 4 and only a little difference.
Unplug either 2 or 3 and the car would stall.

I ordered two injectors and replaced 1 and 4.
Car now runs smooth as a baby's and starts on the button.

When I removed injector 4 I actually found it to be loose. It had been mo Inge up and down inside the head during running, so much so, it flattened the brass washer.

Thanks for all the help guys. Sorry this ones brief, I'm rushing. I'll elaborate on any points if anyone's interested.

Well done mate - and good that you came back with a follow up - lots of folks just disappear and say nothing once it's fixed.