Misfire?? Eek!!

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S

Stephie

Member
Posts
31
Location
Telford
Hi all, sorry if I babble but I have very bad luck with cars, so before I freak out (I don't have a lot of money for another potential garage bill) I'm after a little advice please.
I have an 03 TD4 Freelander that, in the last 24hrs, has started juddering when in neutral. The revs don't change and it only seems to be in neutral, so far it seems ok when in gear, and when driving along its sweet as a nut.
There are no warning lights on, and all the fluids are topped up. I'm thinking it could be a misfire and may just need a service?? Last serviced before I got it in December, tho I didn't get a service manual so i have to take that with a pinch of salt. Any ideas would be highly appreciated before I go crying to Matt in Cannock!! Thanks! :)
 
Might just be that your injectors need a clean. Try sticking a bottle of injector cleaner into a full tank and drive it around normally. You might see an improvement over time.
 
DefenderPilot said:
Might just be that your injectors need a clean. Try sticking a bottle of injector cleaner into a full tank and drive it around normally. You might see an improvement over time.
Click to expand...

Thank you. Do you know a specific brand name I should use? Or is it a look online and see what I find kinda job?
 
Pop onto Halfords and get a couple of bottles of Comma Diesel Magic. Then put one bottle into half a tank of fuel and drive it. Do the same for the next bottle and see if the running has improved.
 
Nodge68 said:
Pop onto Halfords and get a couple of bottles of Comma Diesel Magic. Then put one bottle into half a tank of fuel and drive it. Do the same for the next bottle and see if the running has improved.
Click to expand...

Thank you! Will be nipping into Halfords after work :) some of the other brands online say to use these cleaners every few thousand miles - do you do something like this that frequently? Or is that kind of frequency just for those of us who commonly do short journeys?
 
Stephie said:
do you do something like this that frequently?
Click to expand...

Not many do this. It's certainly worth a try, as is a service and a good long motorway trip to clear the pipes a bit.

From experience of fixing two mates' Freelanders with the symptoms you describe, a dose of injector cleaner is often a kind of preamble - a last ditch attempt - before actually replacing an injector. Here's what I did:

1. Remove intake pipes etc and have engine idling, ie showing the fault.
2. Unplug injectors one at a time and see which one DOESN'T affect the idle speed.
3. Take a punt and order a scrap injector from eBay - about £40.
4. Swap it for the duff injector.

If you've got a basic tool kit and are reasonably handy, or know someone who is, you can potentially fix this very cheaply. We can help with advice on swapping the injector if needed. Good luck.
 
Stephie said:
Thank you! Will be nipping into Halfords after work :) some of the other brands online say to use these cleaners every few thousand miles - do you do something like this that frequently? Or is that kind of frequency just for those of us who commonly do short journeys?
Click to expand...

I half fill my tank every week.
I add one bottle of Comma Diesel Magic on the first half fill of the month. Then half a tank of Shell V Power on the third weeks half fill. I use standard shell diesel on the inbetween fills.
 
Nodge68 said:
I half fill my tank every week.
I add one bottle of Comma Diesel Magic on the first half fill of the month. Then half a tank of Shell V Power on the third weeks half fill. I use standard shell diesel on the inbetween fills.
Click to expand...

Thank you for this, that really helps. Will make sure I get a few bottles then so I can keep on top of this :)
 
guineafowl21 said:
Not many do this. It's certainly worth a try, as is a service and a good long motorway trip to clear the pipes a bit.

From experience of fixing two mates' Freelanders with the symptoms you describe, a dose of injector cleaner is often a kind of preamble - a last ditch attempt - before actually replacing an injector. Here's what I did:

1. Remove intake pipes etc and have engine idling, ie showing the fault.
2. Unplug injectors one at a time and see which one DOESN'T affect the idle speed.
3. Take a punt and order a scrap injector from eBay - about £40.
4. Swap it for the duff injector.

If you've got a basic tool kit and are reasonably handy, or know someone who is, you can potentially fix this very cheaply. We can help with advice on swapping the injector if needed. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Sounds like something my dad could help with. He's quite handy. Thank you for all the info, that's amazing!
 
Stephie said:
Thank you for this, that really helps. Will make sure I get a few bottles then so I can keep on top of this :)
Click to expand...
The TD4 is quite fussy about fuel. Try to avoid supermarket fuel completely. I always use Shell of BP to ensure quality. That last time I used Asda diesel, my TD4 developed a misfire. This went away after the next fill. So that proved to me that it was worth spending just a few pence more to guarantee quality.
 
Nodge68 said:
The TD4 is quite fussy about fuel. Try to avoid supermarket fuel completely. I always use Shell of BP to ensure quality. That last time I used Asda diesel, my TD4 developed a misfire. This went away after the next fill. So that proved to me that it was worth spending just a few pence more to guarantee quality.
Click to expand...

Yea my dad had said that about supermarket fuel. I almost always use my local Shell. I will only use supermarkets as a very last resort. thank you for all the advice, I really appreciate it
 
Nodge68 said:
The TD4 is quite fussy about fuel. Try to avoid supermarket fuel completely. I always use Shell of BP to ensure quality. That last time I used Asda diesel, my TD4 developed a misfire. This went away after the next fill. So that proved to me that it was worth spending just a few pence more to guarantee quality.
Click to expand...
Just throwing my hat in the ring, but the wife's last Td4, currently on over 193,000 miles (original fuel system), did about 80,000 of those almost exclusively on Tesco diesel, and never missed a beat.

Her journeys were mainly long ones, though. Perhaps it's best to use non-supermarket fuel for short journey use.

I also did an mpg check on supermarket fuels vs others on my Td5 Defender. This would get filled up at least weekly (20,000 miles per year), but would be used on many consecutive short journeys. Despite testing for weeks, there was no difference at all.

The difference in price between suppliers only really makes a few quids' difference per tank. Maybe it would be best to be cautious and use quality fuel as often as you can.
 
There was a time years back, when big name supermarkets bought fuel from the likes of BP, She'll, etc in bulk and demanded a cheap price. The oil companies didn't want to refuse such big orders so they supplied the fuel at a discount price but didn't add all of the additives they put in the fuel they sell at their own forecourts. Therefore supermarket fuel WAS inferior at that time. However, the supermarkets realised customers recognised their fuel to be inferior and so paid the oil companies to include the additives. There is little difference I price nowadays between supermarket fuel and ordinary forecourt fuel.

Col
 
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