Revs Limited Throughout Gears

Guys

First of all hello to one and all.

I have a strange syndrome on my '99 Diesel Freelander.
I haven't driven the car for a while - my wife's been using it for hay carrying and gardening work.
I came to drive it over the w/e and something is definately not right.
Revs seem to rise normally in first gear - it shoots round to the red line quite happily and accelerates normally.
However, in the other gears it feels like there's a rev limiter which is coming in too early (in the lower gears you can continue to accelerate through the problem but it's as if the turbo is only working up to certain revs and thereafter it's running normally aspirated). Revs seem to limit to about 3700RPM in second and third and 3300RPM in fourth and fifth.
No engine warning lights come on during this process but it is really sluggish - had to pull back into the left hand lane this morning on the M5 whilst trying to overtake someone in the middle lane as the engine revs peaked at 3,300 and the car wouldn't accelerate beyond 72ish MPH!

Could anyone give me a clue where to start looking for a cause, please?

Simon

welcome and good luck.

Do a search on power loss.

could be hoses? - ask Mondo or Ming

Hi sy v check ya fuel filter first ,if yours is the not td4,then ya have ta bleed ya diesel [read the heinz manwell] if that fails it could be your maf sensor [ check out rover rons web site] oh un best of luck. . . .

Sorry rude er me type in search roverron and read some off the faults. roverron sells a maf corrector , . . . .

MHM & Ming

Thanks for the feedback - the search for power loss certainly revealed a catalogue of woe!

I can confirm that my FL is not the later TD4.

One of the threads I read yesterday referred to a garage in Redditch who come highly recommended. I think I'll arm myself with Ming's recommended parts, plus the starter motor that I still have to fit (I can only go so far having to travel with a mallet and crowbar in the car, for when the solenoid sticks). Paddock Spares can expect a bell, soon.

I'll also have a go at making sure the wastegaate actuator rod is free too. Molegrips and WD-40 at the ready!

Thanks for the help thus far, I'll keep you updated regardless of outcome. It's nice to see that an absolute newbie can be helped so thoroughly.

Yours aye

Simon

hy syv nice feedback, thought i should mention that even in your model motor. . .you can still disconect the maf and if this improves ya motor then a new maf it is,best to get in touch with roverron for more info,he's a very helpfull guy ,and has helped a lot on this forum. . .and yet again ,best oh luck. . .

Cheers Ming.

I must admit that I looked at Rover Ron's site but it seemed to be TD4-specific (when and where it mentioned FLs), so I didn't follow-through with an enquiry. I will now, however.

I think I'll have to bight the bullet and buy a Haynes. Is it worth chasing one of the many bootleg CD Owners Manuals on eBay (so that I can locate and disconnect the MAF). My motor was bought from an independent garage and came without any literature.

http://www.green-oval.com/data/lr/rave01.iso
http://www.green-oval.com/data/lr/rave02.iso
http://www.green-oval.com/data/lr/rave03.iso
Sheddy put these links in the general LR talk section.so if they dont work have a look there
Welcome Sy

Mondo

Thanks for the welcome and thanks for the links.
Downloading now...they're small then!

Ron is a superstar, isn't he.
I e-mailed him with my concerns and here's his very thorough and extremely fast reply:

Hi Simon,

It's true that the pre '99 L series doesn't suffer from maf problems like the later cars & Freelanders do but it can still affect the performance.*

I would check the following:

Cable from no 1 injector for chafing.
Brake lights for correct operation
Intake hose free of kinks that could close up due to the vacuum.
Fuel filter - renew unless changed within the last 15k miles
Air filter - check for dampness/condition
Intercooler hoses - check for splits or lose hose clips. Its best to remove the hoses and examine them carefully.
Map sensor - the tube to to the turbo could have come adrift. Clean the sensor and plug contacts with switch cleaner.

*Also disconnect the thin (3mm) tube from the egr valve actuator in case a faulty maf is causing it to remain open.

That's about all I can think of for now - nothing definite springs to mind!

Regards,

Ron

Once I get to the root of this problem and have it sorted, I think the very least I can do is invest in one of Ron's TU-1 Tuning Modules.

http://45zs.info/TD4/Td4.htm

Told ya he was elpfull. . . .

Well it's been a while since I started this thread (isn't nice to be back).
I promised feedback so:
Armed with all the bits and knowledge from this site I set about addressing the problem. I also needed to swap the starter motor as it was starting to stick increasingly often.
Replaced one duff brake light - no effect but the car was now legal!
I also bought a Haynes Manual - what a pile of ****e, that is!
Removed air filter and large piping (the U bend oil trap thingy, on the hose/pipe to the turbo contained a few serving spoons full of dirty oil BTW).
Replaced paper air filter element with K&N drop in filter.
Jacked the nearside front wheel up, removed wheel. Why? 'Cos the Haynes said to. I can see no reason for doing this as access through the tiny hole in the wing was ridiculous and the resultant height of the engine bay procluded access from atop.. Whacked the wheel back on and then spent 20 minutes trying to get the (borrowed) trolley jack to lower the car as opposed to taking it even higher!
Disconnected the battery.
Removed engine cover.
Eyed up the starter motor and began...main electrical attachment - easy. Little electrical slide on wire - easy. Top bolt, very hard to crack, slightly obscured by pipes running for/aft at side of engine, but it eventually loosened. Left it in situ while I attacked the bottom bolt. What a bastard! Not possible with socket and ratchet. Extenion for socket too long - not possible. Addressed it with socket and variable angle swivel knuckly jobby to ratchet - of course, this means that you lose some purchase so it took an almighty effort to crack this bolt but eventually it gave in. Both bolts removed. Haynes says "and remover starter motor". What a bunch of lying ****s! Could I make it come out - not a prayer, it would move but not extract. Stood back and looked at situation. There's a bar that runs alongside the front of the starter aprallel to the casing, it disappears under the for/aft pipes and connects to the engine mount - didn't fancy touching this. Tried again to man handle starter out and whilst doing this noticed that this bar was loose! Took the nut off at the engine mount and the bar came away (L shaped and the top bolt had gone through it to tighten the engine end). No mention of this componenet in the Haynes at all. Once out of the way the starter came out and the new one was ready to go in. Bit of a faff but generally the Haynes was corect when it said "replacement is the reverse of removal". But I found that repeatedly shouting "Gnikcuf dratsab" and "Skcollob" doesn't realy vent the spleen like their "right way round" original equivalents.
Top Tip: Don't use the top of the engine to rest the bolts on when your fighting the starter motor back into position, they roll off and get stuck in the undertray, which is a complete pain to remove to get them back!

Right, back to the revs problem.
I had a fuel filter to replace - found the relevant section in the Haynes and in the heading it said "Change every 120,000 miles" or something like that. Being as my trusty steed has only done 59,000 I decided to put this on hold and only do it if all else failed.
No cable chaffing, kinks, splits or loose connections were found in the hoses. Checked MAP sensor hose, all intact. Removed and cleaned them any way.
Tried to move the actuator arm on the turbo by hand - no chance. Applied mole grips and wiggled - some movement. Liberal spraying of actuator and arm with WD40 and some increase in effort on molegrips and Eureka! a free moving actuator arm.
Reassembled everything thus far removed and replaced those bloody useles OEM hose clips with some good large sturdy jubilees and all was back together in relatively quick time.
Engine started first dig and test drive proved that the revs were now happy to rise to the red line again.
Problem solved. 95% sure it was a partially stuck wastegate actuator.

Thanks to all who offered advice. As promised I have now purchased one of Rover Ron's units and this will be fitted next weekend - all things being equal.


Simon

brilliant news Sy-v.
Superb write-up with good feedback and tips. Wish more peeps would do this.

Accy/Roy - we really do need to have stickies for helpful items like this.

morning any lads/gurlies wot are awake.