Lack of power when towing

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
P

plastic soul

Active Member
Posts
432
So I'm back from a pretty ropey towing experience (1200kg caravan)

There are some big hills approaching whitby! Really struggled to get above 35mph.

Someone said to me about the intercooler, cleaned it all out

Checked the turbo wastegate actuator vacuum pipe and it is a bit split at the clips...am I right in saying that this would have stopped the flap closing meaning that the turbo has constantly been on boost or should be and might be knackerred!!

I get a whistle at about 2500rpm
 
checked all intercooler pipes all seem ok. what about the one that goes to the inj pump? Is that worth checking also?
 
I have the same problem with my 200tdi, wondering whether to upgrade to a TD5 and have it re mapped, or I've seen a 3.0 V6 diesel VW Touareg for the same money. On steep hills the Disco doesnt seem to have the power or torque to keep a respectable speed.
 
oh ok, local LR service place reckons I should get more..

Did a 0-60 test other day, passenger timed accurately at 27 seconds on flat road so there must be a problem somewhere though

think there is a weep on the manifold gasket.... was going to get it sorted...can't tell for sure if it's that or usual rocker cover leak problem
 
mondeo 130BHP tdci had loads more grunt....towing...just thought the weight ratio thing would have balanced the bhp out though.....
 
I've a mondeo 2.2 150 bhp and it is a very good tow car but I got the disco 200tdi because of the weight ratio. The disco is fine once you are moving on the flat.
 
Do all the normal stuff like a decent service new filters etc, then when doing all that makes no difference do the fuel pump tweak. Mine was gutless before and since i done the fuel pump tweak have been very happy with it especially when towing. I may be wrong but i find my disco seems to pull any weight at pretty much the same speed the thing that really makes the difference is the wind resistance from the trailer itself.

I have towed my caravan (1200kg) with both 4x4s and normal cars and must admit for that weight trailer my older 130hp mondeo was probably the best as had plenty of power and was very stable on the road.
 
fergusontom said:
Do all the normal stuff like a decent service new filters etc, then when doing all that makes no difference do the fuel pump tweak. Mine was gutless before and since i done the fuel pump tweak have been very happy with it especially when towing. I may be wrong but i find my disco seems to pull any weight at pretty much the same speed the thing that really makes the difference is the wind resistance from the trailer itself.

I have towed my caravan (1200kg) with both 4x4s and normal cars and must admit for that weight trailer my older 130hp mondeo was probably the best as had plenty of power and was very stable on the road.
Click to expand...

A good point, and your right about the Mondeo, I may be expecting too much performance wise from the Disco in comparison. I suppose everything is a compromise. My Mondeo was useless towing the caravan off in a wet field and didn't feel as stable as the Disco but ate the miles with ease.
 
steventoon said:
A good point, and your right about the Mondeo, I may be expecting too much performance wise from the Disco in comparison. I suppose everything is a compromise. My Mondeo was useless towing the caravan off in a wet field and didn't feel as stable as the Disco but ate the miles with ease.
Click to expand...

Yer it seems strange but at these sort of weights the disco seem rubbish in comparison to a standard car its only when you get up to the heavy stuff up to 3500kg they come into their own. I do a lot of steam rallies and country shows as own a steam roller and although when driving on the road i would much rather be in the mondeo but the disco will get you off even the muddiest wettest field.
 
That's the thing. I had a Citroen Berlingo 1.6 hdi that towed my horse trailer almost as we'll as the disco, but as soon as the grass was a little bit wet it was useless. Got fed up of getting towed off fields by discos, so I got my own! :)
 
FWIW, The classic mod is to install the defender transfer box. This helps when you have larger tyres as its a mod im looking at, so for towing a caravan etc it would be a descent investment.
 
UPDATE....
The pipe from my turbo to the inj pump was tested today for vacuum and didn't hold that well...
checked the diaphragm in the inj pump and all ok...no holes or anything like that...
so hopefully will be able to put a new pipe in and should have some boost maybe?
 
Has it had a fuel filter recently? A clogged one can really knock out your foot-to-the-floor pulling power. 11bhp IIRC pulling a lot more weight than a Mondeo even before you hitch anything up. Some of the hills where I live in Wales, my Disco is flat-out at 40mph not towing anything at all.
 
Right...

Did a boost level check all good around 0.85 bar.
Then checked the pipe going to the injection pump...had good pressure there, so it must be the pump?
took diaphragm out again to recheck and looks really good, When the diaphragm sits there before putting the lid on resting on the spring i would say it sits about 1/4 inch above rim...is this about the norm? running out of ideas now....!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Gothicsera
Discovery 2 TD5 Lack of Power
2 3
Replies
46
Views
3K
Gothicsera
Gothicsera
mjr92
Sluggish 200tdi
Replies
6
Views
656
mjr92
mjr92
Mr K
Freelander 1 Low on power - turbo vacuum pipes
Replies
2
Views
2K
Mr K
Mr K
Martin Radoczi
Disco 3 (LR3) Down on power, no fault codes. Where to look next?
Replies
14
Views
2K
gstuart
gstuart
Tamar Aldridge
Lack of power - TD5 disco 2
Replies
8
Views
776
Stanleysteamer
Stanleysteamer
Back
Top