Freelander 2 TD4 'Misfiring' at random!

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A sad update - took the car for a trip to city, first 40 minutes were ok, but as I entered the city, car started stuttering and jerking for around 5 seconds, then stalled. Since it was a heavy traffic, I just took out the fob, put it back in and started the engine without a single problem, after 5 minutes it happened again, stuttering, jerking for a few seconds, then stalling. Tried to release the accelerator pedal when this happened - nothing changed. Revs decreased, but it still stuttered. Googled for the nearest workshop that fixes land rovers, called them up and went to them as it was only 15 minutes away. During the trip, stalling repeated for 2 more times. I described the issue to the mechanic, who quickly came to a conclusion - we will have to replace the fuel filter. This reduces my hopes for a fix from these guys, as i have replaced the fuel filter 500km ago, and since then I have only been using top quality diesel. I also explained that I changed the crankshaft sensor. While waiting for their conclusion, any other ideas? This seems to be a known problem among freelander2 owners, but no definite solution. EGR valve? Any other sensors causing this? Bad injectors (unlikely since the car runs perfectly when I start it after stalling)
 
Sorry to hear the sensor didn't fix it, however it can cause this issue, and is cheap and quick to replace.

Other causes are throttle butterfly gears stripped, causing the throttle butterfly to stick closed randomly, eventually sticking closed permanently.

Also some aftermarket fuel filters can give running issues, especially when the engine is hot, as the bypass thermostat in the filter doesn't return hot fuel to the tank, which prevents cold fuel from being drawn from the tank. The engine doesn't like receiving hot fuel, and issues arise from this.

Other issues can be the throttle pedal position sensor, but this is less common.

Best get any codes read, to see if anything shows up there.
 
Nodge68 said:
Sorry to hear the sensor didn't fix it, however it can cause this issue, and is cheap and quick to replace.

Other causes are throttle butterfly gears stripped, causing the throttle butterfly to stick closed randomly, eventually sticking closed permanently.

Also some aftermarket fuel filters can give running issues, especially when the engine is hot, as the bypass thermostat in the filter doesn't return hot fuel to the tank, which prevents cold fuel from being drawn from the tank. The engine doesn't like receiving hot fuel, and issues arise from this.

Other issues can be the throttle pedal position sensor, but this is less common.

Best get any codes read, to see if anything shows up there.
Click to expand...
Thanks nodge, been going through web for hours, read all the treads on freel2 forum, it seems that there is not definite cure either from Land Rover or anyone else. Will wait for what the current shop will say after reading the codes and doing the inspection, but after going through many pages of other experiences, I agree that I should next look on butterfly gears OR pedal, since it made difference for some people. Of course, just for the sake of doing it, I will also clean the MAF sensor, clean the EGR valve, and pour in some injector cleaner. I also think that I will put the old OEM crankshaft sensor back on, since the at least didn't stall with the old sensor (might be a coincidence). Some have seen a change in jerking after removing the diesel tank cap, might try that as well. I still havent fixed the three amigos fault (ABS, DSC, HDC), but after taking the car for wheel alignment, they told me that the rear left bearing is barely alive, and identified that also ABS sensor for that bearing is faulty. Not sure if it has anything to do with jerking issue, but will change the bearing and sensor anyways. If not jerking, then at least amigos will be gone. I must admit that 3weeks of owning a freelander 2 have hit me hard with torque steering, jerking and 3 amigos all at the same time. :)))
 
A small update. Left the car at the nearest workshop for two days (first impression was that they are only good with oil changes and brake pad replacement). Two days without any info, so I decided to call them. They replied that they had read the faults today and regarding the ''jerking'' problem there was an EGR fault showing (although the check engine light didn't come on, but I agree that this can happen) and I need an EGR replacement. Regarding 3 amigos (abs, dsc, hill decend) there were 3 (!!!) faulty ABS sensors, which for me seems to be highly unlikely. They said that tomorrow they will investigate further. For some sort of reason I do not trust them at all. They also said that the car stalls every 2 minutes and it is not possible to drive it due to this reason. Also when I asked them if they could whatsapp me the fault codes, they replied that they had just ereased them. So I am starting to think that I should rather rent an evacuator and take it to my friends garage, where he is able to do a high quality remap (152 to 190 horsepower) as well as professional EGR disabling. If that doesn't solve the issue, he could at least do a professional electronic diagnostic further to get under the jerking/stalling problem.

I really do hope that the issue is with EGR valve butterfly gears that Nodge mentioned, but I am still not sure of how it could cause jerks when cruising in speeds of 60mph. Valve is most probably closed then, therefore - no reason for car to jerk and stall?

One last question - I would really fancy saving some 200 EUR and not renting an evacuator. What happens if I disconnect plugs from EGR valve and EGR motor (the one with butterfly gears)? Obviously check engine light, might be a limp mode, but would I be able to drive 60km back home?
 
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I don't know about the engine problem, but there could be various historic codes built up over time. They need to be cleared and then see what comes up. They will be current issues.
 
GrumpyGel said:
I don't know about the engine problem, but there could be various historic codes built up over time. They need to be cleared and then see what comes up. They will be current issues.
Click to expand...

It's actually suggested to not simply remove codes on modern vehicles, as historic codes build a story of what has been going on.
A historic code won't cause any current issues, but will help identify potential issues down the line. ;)
 
Update on misfire/jerking. After spending 3 days in shop, they were not able to fix the issue, and with Valeo crankshaft sensor I had previously replaced, the car stalled within first 5 minutes of driving. So I asked them to put back the old OEM crankshaft sensor (That i had replaced) and spray some cleaner in the connector. To my surprise, the car runs great now, I have traveled 400 km now and not a single jerk. When doing diagnostics at the shop, there was a crankshaft position sensor fault, but after putting the old OEM sensor back, the fault hasn't come back (did the diagnostics yesterday). Although 24 of age, im not naive enough to think that this is a permament fix, therefore I have ordered another OEM sensor (local car guy advised me to buy this sensor from a salvage car, since there have been times when even OEM sensors come faulty)
 
blaster1232 said:
A small update. Left the car at the nearest workshop for two days (first impression was that they are only good with oil changes and brake pad replacement). Two days without any info, so I decided to call them. They replied that they had read the faults today and regarding the ''jerking'' problem there was an EGR fault showing (although the check engine light didn't come on, but I agree that this can happen) and I need an EGR replacement. Regarding 3 amigos (abs, dsc, hill decend) there were 3 (!!!) faulty ABS sensors, which for me seems to be highly unlikely. They said that tomorrow they will investigate further. For some sort of reason I do not trust them at all. They also said that the car stalls every 2 minutes and it is not possible to drive it due to this reason. Also when I asked them if they could whatsapp me the fault codes, they replied that they had just ereased them. So I am starting to think that I should rather rent an evacuator and take it to my friends garage, where he is able to do a high quality remap (152 to 190 horsepower) as well as professional EGR disabling. If that doesn't solve the issue, he could at least do a professional electronic diagnostic further to get under the jerking/stalling problem.

I really do hope that the issue is with EGR valve butterfly gears that Nodge mentioned, but I am still not sure of how it could cause jerks when cruising in speeds of 60mph. Valve is most probably closed then, therefore - no reason for car to jerk and stall?

One last question - I would really fancy saving some 200 EUR and not renting an evacuator. What happens if I disconnect plugs from EGR valve and EGR motor (the one with butterfly gears)? Obviously check engine light, might be a limp mode, but would I be able to drive 60km back home?
Click to expand...
I have got a customers with the same misfire fault I did a leak off test on all the injectors on tick over all fine, but with half engine revs had one injector returning double the amount of fuel replaced that injector, now the bad knocking noise has gone just slightly lumpy now and again which I suspect could possibly be a stretched timing chain with higher engine revs vales don't open and close exactly as they should causing low compression and bad ignition of the cylinder
 
blaster1232 said:
Update on misfire/jerking. After spending 3 days in shop, they were not able to fix the issue, and with Valeo crankshaft sensor I had previously replaced, the car stalled within first 5 minutes of driving. So I asked them to put back the old OEM crankshaft sensor (That i had replaced) and spray some cleaner in the connector. To my surprise, the car runs great now, I have traveled 400 km now and not a single jerk. When doing diagnostics at the shop, there was a crankshaft position sensor fault, but after putting the old OEM sensor back, the fault hasn't come back (did the diagnostics yesterday). Although 24 of age, im not naive enough to think that this is a permament fix, therefore I have ordered another OEM sensor (local car guy advised me to buy this sensor from a salvage car, since there have been times when even OEM sensors come faulty)
Click to expand...
So has this fixed it?
 
Spikebailey666 said:
This has the feel of something similar; I feel resigned to driving it until it gives out one day which is not 'ideal'. I had speculated on a dicky pump or some other part of the fuel delivery system so your suggestion fits with this.
Click to expand...
did you get to the bottom of this?
 
Stv123 said:
So has this fixed it?
Click to expand...
Kinda sorta. I havent had a single jerk since I put back my OEM sensor, which I had replaced with crappy Valeo one. I did order another OEM one from scarp yard, and im carrying it with me in the car. It has been around 1000 km, all seems to be good. Might be a bad connection previously, but I would rather think that there is something else and it is a ticking time bomb.
 
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