300TDI FUEL HELP

Hi , after some advise please on my latest 300TDI .

P reg 300TDI DISCO Auto EDC

Anyway the story goes like this , so there’s been a tidy looking 300TDI local to me for sale up at £1,500 been for sale for a month or so then yesterday I saw the advert had changed to spares or repairs best offer takes it .

Anyway I went and spoke to the lad selling it says he’s been having running / fuel issues with it hence why he’s changed the advert.

He says it’s been driving alright until a few days ago it cut out and wouldn’t restart , He put a lift pump on it and it’s been running on and off some times starts sometimes doesn’t. We agreed a bargain price and I said I’ll drive it back home about 10miles away , bloke says I’ll be lucky if it starts

I jumped init and she fired Straight up so here’s when I need some ideas driving home it’s up to 30mph ish after that it’s really flat like the turbos dropped off .... will eventually make upto 45 / 50 max .... will not go over 50 at all , if I give it full throttle at any point after 40ish the engine just dies and chucks loads of grey / white smoke out .

If I let off the throttle the engine comes back to life . So I’m thinking either turbo or fuel starvation , I’m more towards fuel starvation at the min .

Any tips on where and what to be looking at first .

Thanks Dec

Air getting in somewhere is likely, try replacing the spill pipes, cheap and quick to do.

Could be the fuel lines, the sedimenter maybe porous ( you could bypass it altogether) the defender 300tdi doesn't have 1. It's on my list of jobs to do .

Flossie said:

Air getting in somewhere is likely, try replacing the spill pipes, cheap and quick to do.

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Funny you should say that , when I got it home I turned it off and Opened the bonnet and could hear a faint hissing noise like air escaping or being sucked in somewhere .... possibly loosing vacuum

hoobs said:

Could be the fuel lines, the sedimenter maybe porous ( you could bypass it altogether) the defender 300tdi doesn't have 1. It's on my list of jobs to do .

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That’s on one of my to do checks is remove and clean out the sedimenter , do you know if the fuel pipes can be replaced in situ as they sit on top of the chassis or does the body have to be lifted .

Thanks

Dec3326 said:

That’s on one of my to do checks is remove and clean out the sedimenter , do you know if the fuel pipes can be replaced in situ as they sit on top of the chassis or does the body have to be lifted .

Thanks

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It's a fairly quick job from all the reports I've read and there's no need to lift the body. I'll be ordering 10m of fuel line in due course and running from the tank the engine bay and back again. I've definitely got air getting in somewhere before the fuel filter as if I open the bleed screw I can't get rid of all the air bubbles. Have you cracked the bleed screw on the filter? Very easy check and gives you a bit more information as to where your problem could be.

hoobs said:

It's a fairly quick job from all the reports I've read and there's no need to lift the body. I'll be ordering 10m of fuel line in due course and running from the tank the engine bay and back again. I've definitely got air getting in somewhere before the fuel filter as if I open the bleed screw I can't get rid of all the air bubbles. Have you cracked the bleed screw on the filter? Very easy check and gives you a bit more information as to where your problem could be.

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No mate I haven’t , I’ll check that she’s going to be parked up for this week now I’m planning to have a next weekend , I’m suspecting that is not going to start after being stood for a week so this could show it’s got a air leak and the system needs bleeding .

thank you for the help

Any update on this?

Dec3326 said:

No mate I haven’t , I’ll check that she’s going to be parked up for this week now I’m planning to have a next weekend , I’m suspecting that is not going to start after being stood for a week so this could show it’s got a air leak and the system needs bleeding .

thank you for the help

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How much fuel is there in the tank? When I had a 300Tdi, it suddenly started running like a dog when on low fuel. Due to the way the pickup works, crud in the base of the tank can block some of the fuel ports and you get fuel starvation. Full throttle, car almost cuts out but runs nicely at lower revs.

Incidentally, mine was blocked with bits of metal. I was living in Zimbabwe and the poor fuel there meant the injector pump was letting go as well! If you find metal in the tank, injector pump needs a rebuild.