Help!! Low fuel pressure problem.

Hi, I’ll try and make this as short as possible!

I brought my 2003 TD4 in Oct2015 with 130k on the clock, it had a few problems but the main one was occasional hard starting. I booked into my local garage who diagnosed a faulty fuel pump, after getting three faulty ones which were so noisey from a certain internet supplier I asked them to fit a factory one. Again after a couple of months I broke down and the AA diagnosed a low pressure sensor on the fuel rail, before this could be replaced I broke down again twice ... same diagnosis by the AA. The garage changed the sensor but also said the air flow meter was faulty, so I had it changed. When I collected it after another two weeks I drove 15 miles home, left it to stand for an hour and then it would not start again. After it being in the garage for another two weeks they are now saying that although no faults are showing on their diagnostic equipment comparing mine to another one on site the pressure from the main fuel pump is low but it will be expensive to replace!!!! I am now at my wits end .... do I let them change this or pull it out of the garage? I am 20 miles from my nearest town so a reliable car is essential and I am now so worried that all I have is joke car ... Any thoughts?

When you say it wouldn't start, did it turn over but not start.
Did it do nothing?
Could you hear the fuel pumps running when the ignition was turned on?
Are any lights staying on, on the dash board?
Any smoke from the exhaust? If so, black or grey.
Does this garage deal with freelanders normally? There not like a normal car!!
Anything you can think of, tell us. It may seem daft to you, but we're used to daft
Mike

I have just changed my fuel pump and filter as I had a low hp pressure and it seems to have sorted it out pressure is back ih range, have you had the filter under the wheel arch changed,and the separator drained.

Fuel pump and filter changed three times due to noisey pumps before latest problems. Garage is a rural garage which works on anything. Fuel pump appeared to be running and was turning over OK but made no attempt to start then battery ran down. No warning lights on dash.Was a large amount of white smoke when it had started beforehand after problems

Glow plugs, for starting problem.
As for breaking down, I would suggest first, get it plugged into a landrover code reader to see if that pulls any codes, a generic reader won't read all codes, then it's a case of checking for dodgy connectors, vacuum pipes, turbo hoses, turbo vent filter. Alternator voltage check.
I would try and find an independent landrover garage for help if you are not mechanically minded. If you are, then you need to crawl over the engine.
Can you describe what happened in detail when it broke down. What the engine did, sounded like, any smells, what speed you were doing or were you stationary.
Sorry not to be specific, but need as much info as you can give.
Mike

Hi, The vehicle has never actually broken down ... it just occasionally will not start! It will start and run OK, although sometimes a bit sluggishly with a small cloud of white smoke, and then occasionally when it's left for a time, e.g. if I take the dogs for a long walk on the moor, it just turns over and over until the battery goes flat. Each time the AA attended they jump started it, put the code reader on it and the low pressure sensor was shown as the problem. When I brought the vehicle the fuel pump was noisey and as I said earlier this has now been changed four times. the last time it was changed they fitted a new low pressure sensor, then said there was a fault code showing up for the air flow meter so this was changed as well. I collected it drove 12 miles home with no problem .... left it for an hour, loaded the dogs in the back and .... it wouldn't start again. Just as well really as I live in the middle of Exmoor, in an area with no mobile signal so if it will not start I normally have a 3 mile walk home to get to the phone ..... the dogs love it but now I am petrified to use it. The garage I use, which is 10 mile away from me, is normally really good and being a rural garage work on everything but I am now stuck as they want to replace the main pump on the engine. I cannot see how all these components would need changing at the same time unless they are just "part changing" until they cure it .... at my expense. The nearest specialist is miles away and charges the earth.

Ok, if it was mine,
Check battery, it may have enough to turn the engine but not start it. Rule of thumb, if it's over 5 years old, swap it.
Get the injectors checked, rough running is usually caused by injectors.
Bad starting as said before = glow plugs.
And yes, it could all be down to the high pressure fuel pump.
They should be able to test the glow plugs, possibly might be able to check the injectors. They won't be able to check the hpfp.
To save a bit of money, ask them to fit OEM parts.
On a different angle, the fault code read by the aa could be from low power to connector caused by a duff battery, if it starts easily enough with a jump pack and runs ok, then it's a battery/ alternator fault.
Hope this helps
Mike

Hi Mike
Thank you so much for all your advise ... I will ask them to check all the other items you have mentioned before they think about changing the HPFP.
How long would the HPFP take to change?
I only got the vehicle to take the dogs out in as I need a 4X4 around here but I really wish now I got another Jeep Grand like yours .... one of the best cars I ever had apart from my TJ

Hpfp change, about 1_3 hours max for a trained mechanic.
Yes, the Jeep is alot less trouble than the Freelander, just a shame when something does happen that it can take an age to get parts.
Best of luck
Mike

I would check the cam position sensor as these often fail when hot but this goes unnoticed because it's only needed at start up. So it goes like this. Starting from cold, the sensor works fine. Drive the car and the sensor fails when the engine is hot. The engine still runs fine because the cam sensor is only needed at startup. Trying to restart a hot engine with the now faulty sensor is a no go. Wait for the engine to cool down, engine now starts again.
So I would get the cam sensor checked.