Starting issues / Lack of Power / Poor Idle

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obanton

New Member
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3
Hi - I'm new! I have had a 2006 Freelander 2.0L TD4 Auto 65k miles for about 18 months, and I don't think it has ever been running properly. I now have a fairly severe problem that's causing me to rapidly fall out of love with it.

Since buying the car it ran lumpy and juddery when cruising at 60-70mph. Occasionally with a severe rattle from what sounded like the exhaust, accompanied clouds of black smoke and loss of power. Three or four times I actually came to a complete halt. By stopping the engine and starting it again the problem mostly cleared (back to lumpy and juddery). The mpg seemed poor in the mid-twenties. This issue seemed to go away and came back - a couple of times it actually stalled on me (once going round a tight bend which was interesting).

I first replaced the cat, being convinced it had disintergrated and partially blocked. This didn't fix it, so I then did some research and replaced the fuel rail pressure sensor and fuel rail pressure sensor wiring harness (the harness had already been replaced in 2010 according to the label on it). This seemed to fix the rough running, but the car still felt sluggish with unresponsive throttle. I decided this was either just a lack of power and torque from the standard engine, or a deteriorating MAF. I then fitted a Synergy 2a and Pieburgh MAF.

Immediately after fitting these I had a problem starting the car. It would start, but then revs would drop over the next couple of seconds and the engine would die. I changed to a higher setting (from 6 to 7) and it started fine. I noticed an immediate improvement in power and throttle repsonse (although it was still no rocket ship), but gradually, over a couple of weeks, the engine became more and more sluggish again, especially when cold (needing to fully depress the accelerator to get any response). The starting issues that I saw immediately after fitting the tuning box then intermittently returned.

Next I replaced the crankcase breather (PCV) with the BMW vortex unit and removed the EGR valve replacing with a blank (plugging the vac hose). No difference. Still intermittent starting troubles (hot and cold) and lack of power.

I have now removed the tuning box and gone back to the original Bosch MAF, but this has made no difference. In fact I am now struggling to start it at all.

Any ideas! I see that it might be hoses but I don't really know what I'm looking for - they seem ok visually. Perhaps injectors - though this seems pricey to even properly test, and I see that fixing an apparently poor injector won't necessarily fix the problem. Any advice would be extremely welcome.
 
Seeing as it's sooo nearly Bank Holiday amnesty :)

:welcome2:

In truth there are folk on here (Hippo) for one who know I darned sight more about freebies than me.

But I do know you should check your pipes by feel as well as look closely for chaffing and or splits.
What your feeling for are soft spots that wull indicate delamination on the inside ;)
 
Thanks both for your responses!

Winu: I have actually replaced both of these parts. It’s possible the new parts are faulty or I fitted them badly – is there anything else I can do check these are working?

Bromsgrove: Thanks for the advice - I’ll check the rubber pipes.

Could this be anything to do with vacuum hoses or the turbo boost solenoid? Would that prevent starting - or cause it the engine to die immediately after starting?
 
Fuel filter or pump ?
Checking flow back on injectors isn't expensive and easy enough if you are mechanicaly minded.
Would be worth it to cancel out any fuel problems.
 
I should have said that the fuel pump died quite suddenly about 9 months ago. I had it replaced (and I think the filter), but it didn't affect the other issues.

I'll do some research on testing for injector flow back.
 
among other things ..
you might want to check the air-intake-temp-sensor .. and its wiring plug .. are ok
http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/black-smoke-224520.html

and maybe also the fuel regulator that's mounted on the high pressure fuel pump ..
ROVER 75 MGZT ENGINE FAULT FINDING

Could this be anything to do with vacuum hoses or the turbo boost solenoid? Would that prevent starting - or cause it the engine to die immediately after starting?

sort of doubt that would prevent starting ..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'nother thing .. could be the fuel low-pressure sensor ..
( not 100% sure about that .. try a site search )
 
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