Freelander 1 Td4 leakback test results

Now and again it will start, falter, stall, and then take a good 10 seconds of cranking to get it going, and a puff of whitish smoke comes out the back. It happens in winter, summer, dry days, wet days, and with both supermarket and decent fuel. Most of the time it starts straight away. MPG is very good.

Not too serious, I admit, but it’s annoying. So I did a leakback test (just after a failed start), and would be interested in your interpretation of the results:

TEST 1. Prime only: No diesel, except for a litlle droplet up the pipe of injector 2.

TEST 2. Cranking (injectors unplugged): all creeping up the pipe at the same rate; inj 2 slightly ahead.

TEST 3. 5 minutes of idle: 6.25, 6.5, 5.5, 5.5 ml.

Looks good. The only thing I noticed was that, between tests 2 and 3, while the pump was priming only, there was some diesel creeping up the pipe from inj 2. Almost as if the cranking had stuck its valve open a little bit.

Looks like inj 2 is a bit sticky. Perhaps an injector cleaner would sort it, or even a dose of 2-stroke.

Injector cleaner is always the best place to start and the cheapest.
I'm a great advocate of a mix of mineral 2 stroke and a good cetane booster/cleaner such as Miller's ecoboost in every tank.
But I agree with you, sticky injector is the most probable cause.
Mike

Skinny Mike said:

Injector cleaner is always the best place to start and the cheapest.
I'm a great advocate of a mix of mineral 2 stroke and a good cetane booster/cleaner such as Miller's ecoboost in every tank.
But I agree with you, sticky injector is the most probable cause.
Mike

Click to expand...

How much 2-stroke per tank? What is your favourite injector cleaner?

I use approx 200ml per tank and the Millers ecoboost which has a cleaner in it.
But if I just want a cleaner, Comma diesel magic is my personal choice.
The application of 2 stroke is a tad contentious. Some like me swear by it, 10 years and counting.
Others think it's a load of old rubbish.
But in my opinion it adds lubricant back into the diesel that has been taken out over the years. Don't forget our trusty TD4 was developed to run on diesel from the 90's, not this ultra low sulphur stuff.
Mike