I appreciate there are a lot of threads about starting and running issues for the L-series, I've exhausted them all, I really have! Hence, I appreciate any help anyone can offer!!!
The car is a '98 Freelander TDI L-series. It belongs to a friend. When he started having trouble starting it he gave it to a local garage and after 6 weeks they eventually gave it back, having done very little but giving him a £300 bill (and no explanation of work done) for the pleasure!
The problem:
The Car is and has been invariably difficult to start. So much so that it cannot be relied upon to start at all! When you do get it running it blows out white smoke (unburnt derv) at low revs and is lumpy as hell. Once you get the revs up to 2k+ it's perfectly fine and just as it should be. The Rev counter doesn't register at all until above that 2k-ish and then it's fine. I believe these issues are clearly linked.
Once revving, if you take your foot off it will die when the revs drop. However, if you let it down gently it will fall to (a rough) Idle.
When I checked it when if first came back from the garage I noted that the crank sensor had been replaced with new and no1 injector (the one with the PIP sensor) had been swapped out for a 2nd hand replacement. Other than that there was no sign of any other work.
So far I have replaced the MAF due to the good running at higher revs and not lower.
Had all the injectors out, and tested them all. They all have a clean spray pattern and appear perfectly sound (I also checked the original that the garage had taken out, it too is fine).
I have checked and rechecked both the cam timing and pump timing.
I have tested the PIP sensor as best I can, i.e. the engine stalls when unplugged and the sensor isn't open-circuit (I know no other way).
The compression is just fine.
Changed the fuel filter.
Think that's about it so far. To be honest, some of the above (such as the fuel filter) aren't really relevant to the problem, but when your out of options you start clutching at straws!
Please, someone tell me there's something obvious I'm missing!
The car is a '98 Freelander TDI L-series. It belongs to a friend. When he started having trouble starting it he gave it to a local garage and after 6 weeks they eventually gave it back, having done very little but giving him a £300 bill (and no explanation of work done) for the pleasure!
The problem:
The Car is and has been invariably difficult to start. So much so that it cannot be relied upon to start at all! When you do get it running it blows out white smoke (unburnt derv) at low revs and is lumpy as hell. Once you get the revs up to 2k+ it's perfectly fine and just as it should be. The Rev counter doesn't register at all until above that 2k-ish and then it's fine. I believe these issues are clearly linked.
Once revving, if you take your foot off it will die when the revs drop. However, if you let it down gently it will fall to (a rough) Idle.
When I checked it when if first came back from the garage I noted that the crank sensor had been replaced with new and no1 injector (the one with the PIP sensor) had been swapped out for a 2nd hand replacement. Other than that there was no sign of any other work.
So far I have replaced the MAF due to the good running at higher revs and not lower.
Had all the injectors out, and tested them all. They all have a clean spray pattern and appear perfectly sound (I also checked the original that the garage had taken out, it too is fine).
I have checked and rechecked both the cam timing and pump timing.
I have tested the PIP sensor as best I can, i.e. the engine stalls when unplugged and the sensor isn't open-circuit (I know no other way).
The compression is just fine.
Changed the fuel filter.
Think that's about it so far. To be honest, some of the above (such as the fuel filter) aren't really relevant to the problem, but when your out of options you start clutching at straws!
Please, someone tell me there's something obvious I'm missing!
