Disco 2 Not running well, especially when cold

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mad85

Active Member
Posts
503
Location
Malta
My discovery (td5) has been acting weird lately. I have been noticing slight increase in vibration especially when cold. However now it has escalated and when I try to start it in the morning the engine starts up normally but dies almost immediately afterwards. This happens once or twice, then I help it with the gas pedal and it sort of starts but it is quite noise and it vibrates . After a while it warms up a little and it is better, although it does not feel 'the same'.

side note, this does not have an egr valve :)
 
Whenever the Td5 engine starts behaving oddly, the first check that must be made is for traces of oil in the red plug on the engine ECU. If there is oil in the plug, the injector harness will need to be replaced and any residual oil drained/cleaned out of the wiring and the ECU, should it be bad enough.
http://www.discovery2.co.uk/Injector_harness.html
Thanks for the tip! Looks like a job that it is a matter of when rather than if, so given my car has 160k miles i will go ahead and change the loom. Anyone knows if the kit from Bearmach is any good?
 
Bearmach one works fine on my son's D90 TD5. Genuine is no guarantee it won't leak in the future, just treat it as a service item and plan to replace it on condition.
You could try putting a little oil resistant silicone sealant on the o ring when you install.
 
Check the glow plugs first if they get feed and if they do remove the connectors and measure resistance across each terminal and head,, it should be close to 0.8 Ohm... i insist on genuine loom as well, if some aftermarket works for others it doesnt mean that they are all good also even if the engine is running well it runs better with genuine loom, i've seen cheap ones leaking after 3 - 6 months while the contacts in the injector plugs are weak and the injector roughness is worst...i compared two new looms(genuine vs aftermarket) with tester and the results were clear enough for me... believe me or not
 
so, i just confirmed that there is A LOT of oil coming from that red connector so that will be the first thing to be changed... injector harness and while the top cover is out i will ask my mechanic to change the injector washers and seals. will let you know how it goes but i hope it will make a difference!
 
Injector roughness on my son's D90 TD5 flicks from 0 to +/- 1 on all injectors using a Bearmach harness. Maybe he got a good one, but no problems so far and no leaks after 4 months.
 
considering that it is an important piece I will play it safe and will go for original. it is more much expensive but hopefully worth it
 
Is it necessary when changing harness to change injector washers and seals?

No

@mad85 did you check glowplug resistance as well?

Recently did my injector seals due to intermittent non start and cutting out. Cured that now I've got the same issue as you. New injector harness when seals were done and new glowplugs as 3 out of 4 were toast. Watching this, be good to see if you solve it as my symptoms are the same
 
Is it necessary when changing harness to change injector washers and seals?
no, but since the cover will be out, it is worth doing them, and change the gasket. Other things that I will consider is the fuel supply, apparently there is a non return valve that can clog up + the fuel pump it self may be on its way out... glowplugs, i will check next, maybe tomorrow
 
Check the glow plugs first if they get feed and if they do remove the connectors and measure resistance across each terminal and head,, it should be close to 0.8 Ohm...

Can you give more information on this - are they hard to remove? is it true i need to remove the inlet manifold?
 
Can you give more information on this - are they hard to remove? is it true i need to remove the inlet manifold?

Just undo the connections with some long nosed pliers. They just pull off and check the resistance with a multimeter set to ohms.

Positive on the glowplug and negative on bare metal on the head. Should read really low if they're ok. No reading at all or really high it's shot. Sierafery will know the correct readings.

Deep socket on a wobble bar usually sees them out without taking intake manifold off
 
so this weekend I cleaned my k&n air filter which was very dirty and also cleaned the connections on the ecu and this morning (coldest morning yet) it started without any hesitation! So glowplugs will stay as they are for now since they were probably not the issue. Now it is at the garage to have the injector seals and injector loom replaced.
 
Check the glow plugs first if they get feed and if they do remove the connectors and measure resistance across each terminal and head,, it should be close to 0.8 Ohm... i insist on genuine loom as well, if some aftermarket works for others it doesnt mean that they are all good also even if the engine is running well it runs better with genuine loom, i've seen cheap ones leaking after 3 - 6 months while the contacts in the injector plugs are weak and the injector roughness is worst...i compared two new looms(genuine vs aftermarket) with tester and the results were clear enough for me... believe me or not
Hi Sierra ferry do you no if the leone loom from from island 4x4 is the same as genuine? I took the old one off my 2005 defender which had never been changed and put the OEM one from island 4x4 in and it looked identical
 
so this weekend I cleaned my k&n air filter which was very dirty and also cleaned the connections on the ecu and this morning (coldest morning yet) it started without any hesitation! So glowplugs will stay as they are for now since they were probably not the issue. Now it is at the garage to have the injector seals and injector loom replaced.
Hi I would stay away from the K&N filters especially in Malta where it’s probably fairly dry and dusty most of the time, just a standard paper one changed more often would be more wise in terms of engine longevity
 
Hi Sierra ferry do you no if the leone loom from from island 4x4 is the same as genuine?
I took the old one off my 2005 defender which had never been changed and put the OEM one from island 4x4 in and it looked identical
No aftermarket or OEM or what ever it is the same as Genuine LR but you'll hardly eyeball the difference which is within the plugs not visible
 
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