My Defender is trying to kill me!

.....by poisoning me with exhaust fumes lol

2005 110TD5 CSW

I took it to the garage on Thursday, they took off the engine cover and turbo heat shield, put it on the ramps and checked the exhaust for leaks....nothing. Manifold looks fine, no black marks, fuel pressure regulator was replaced recently, hoses all OK, back door seal fine.
They did say the exhaust was badly sooted up.

I am still struggling with this fault. Over the weekend l did 150 motorway miles which the garage said "might clear it out"

But it is no better. It is OK while moving but if l stop l get fumes through the heater, unless the wind is blowing the fumes away.

I do not get ingress of fumes when the heater blower is not turned on.

All around the Land Rover is the stink of diesel fumes. The exhaust does not visibly smoke, but it smells really strongly of fumes and it gets drawn into the heater.

The garage first want to bypass the EGR valve.

I wonder if it has had a bad remap, although it feels standard i.e not very fast. I have checked the MAF unit and it looks fine, tried running with it disconnected but the engine would not start.

The air filter was recently replaced, the engine runs fine and economy is 25+ MPG in town driving.

I am at a loss as to what to do with it, it makes me feel ill every time the stink fills the cabin.

My wife's 300tdi does not do this and neither did my 2005 90 TD5.

Blank egr wont make any difference unless theres an external leak ie the flex pipe or the valve.
As Im sure you know the td5 is famous for blowing/bowing exhaust manifolds, number 5 cylinder is the favourite, can you hear a squeal/whistle when accelerating?
The turbos exhaust casing can also crack.
Thinking out loud where is the heater intake on the TD5 models is it the same as the TDI versions? if so the heater foam seals may have failed, one between the heater and bulkhead and another between heater and wing ducting.

The Land Rover garage inspected the turbo and manifold, and reported no visible issues or detectable leaks.
The thing is, the fumes seem to come from OUTSIDE the Land Rover and not from the engine bay. The fumes from the exhaust are so strong that it's difficult to stand behind it when the engine is running.

Fumes seem to travel from the exhaust to the front. If you stand next to the passenger door the smell is really strong.

Is there any fault that could cause an excessively stinky exhaust? I've had to stop driving it, as it's making me ill. Could the CAT be faulty?
The garage suggested removing it and fitting a standard silencer box.

Anybody got any ideas?

At the moment l am unable to use it.

I was going to mention CAT as a stab in the dark. Similar happened on the Mrs' Golf, thing used to pong of exhaust fumes. Assumed it was a leaky exhaust/manifold, but couldn't find any leaks. It wasn't until the CAT started rattling like a beggar with a tin can that I found out the internals had all collapsed! New CAT and front pipe, problem fixed!
Might not be your problem, but definitely an avenue worth exploring.

lightning said:

Anybody got any ideas?

At the moment l am unable to use it.

Click to expand...

Take a look at an old thread of mine, it was a strong smell and was sickly but maybe not so strong as not to be drivable.

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f7/td5-engine-suffering-excessive-crankcase-pressure-260789.html

I hope it helps.

Thanks l will give that a try.

I am going to update this thread, l had the CAT and EGR valve removed and it seemed better but l could still smell fumes.
Eventually l replaced the MAF unit and problem solved! Also l am getting about 20 miles more from £60 of diesel.
The Defender seemed to run OK (apart from the fumes) so l guess it was running on the default map.

lightning said:

I am going to update this thread, l had the CAT and EGR valve removed and it seemed better but l could still smell fumes.
Eventually l replaced the MAF unit and problem solved! Also l am getting about 20 miles more from £60 of diesel.
The Defender seemed to run OK (apart from the fumes) so l guess it was running on the default map.

Click to expand...

Can someone explain why a faulty MAF would cause the fumes in the cab?

I would guess that it was overfuelling on idle (the fumes were only when idling or crawling in traffic and seemed to depend on whether the wind blew exhaust fumes away from the Land Rover or not)

I could stand corrected on that, but if the MAF unit is faulty l believe the ECU reverts to a default setting.

Yes that is also my understanding, when a MAF is functioning out of tolerance the ECU takes over with default settings to ensure the continued running of the engine.
The default setting do not cause a situation of excessive over-fuelling and certainly not to the extent that would be required to cause the situation you found yourself in.
Now appealing to the engine management experts:- Could the MAF have been faulty (seems it could as replacing it has corrected the problem) causing a condition of over-fuelling but the ECU default settings had not responded to the failing MAF

From the Defender Workshop Manual-

The MAF sensor is located in the intake system between the air filter housing and the turbocharger. The ECM
uses the information generated by the MAF sensor to control exhaust gas recirculation (EGR).
The MAF sensor works on the hot film principal. The MAF sensor has 2 sensing elements contained within a film.
One element is controlled at ambient temperature e.g. 25 °C (77 °F) while the other is heated to 200 °C (360 °F)
above this temperature e.g. 225 °C (437 °F). As air passes through the MAF sensor the hot film will be cooled.
The current required to keep the constant 200 °C (360 °F) difference provides a precise although non-linear signal
of the air drawn into the engine. The MAF sensor sends a voltage of between 0 and 5 volts to the ECM,
proportional to the mass of the incoming air. This calculation allows the ECM to set the EGR ratio for varying
operating conditions.
Inputs / Outputs
The MAF sensor receives battery voltage (C0149-3) via the ECM on a brown/orange wire. Signal output on a
slate/light green wire from the MAF sensor (C0149-2) to the ECM (C0158-11) is a variable voltage proportional to
the air drawn into the engine. The MAF sensor is provided an earth (C0149-1) via the ECM (C0158-20) on a
pink/black wire.
The MAF sensor can fail or supply an incorrect signal if one or more of the following occurs:
• Sensor open circuit.
• Short circuit to vehicle supply.
• Short circuit to vehicle earth.
• Contaminated sensor element.
• Damaged sensor element.
• Damaged wiring harness.
• MAF sensor supplies incorrect signal (due to air leak or air inlet restriction).
In the event of a MAF sensor signal failure any of the following symptoms my be observed:
• During driving, engine speed may dip before recovering.
• Difficult starting.
• Engine stalls after starting.
• Delayed throttle response.
• EGR inoperative.
• Reduced engine performance.
• MAF signal out of parameters.
In the event of a MAF sensor failure, the ECM will use a fixed default value from its memory.

I'd also take a look at the MAP sensor on the inlet manifold. It may be clogged with the ****e from the EGR.