Was it something I did?

So, Many moons ago (actually in January this year), I had a major issue with an oil leak. Well, not so much a leak as the cover for the centrifugal filter had come loose and was only still in place because there was no room for it to just fall off. Understandably this meant rather a lot of oil was now outside the engine rather than inside. A frustrating period working by torchlight in Halfords car park later it was back in place and the oil had been replaced.

Move on few weeks...
Oh dear, starter not working apparently due to 4 litres of oil tracking round the engine and into the armature. Mutter mutter mutter. So, find a local mechanic who seems to handle LRs and get them to drag it off and fix it which was duly done and for less than I expected.

A little later...
Was travelling from Sussex to Wiltshire and got into 6-finger banjo player country when all the lights went dim. 'That is not normal' I thought to myself and pulled into a garage forecourt where the engine stopped and refused to restart. Called the stretcher lorry to take me home and lo, new Alternator required.

Another month later (early last week)...
Would not go past 2500rpm and uphill was 30mph max. Good old Internet convinced me this was fuel pump related so spoke to my friendly mechanic who offered to get one to me on Good Friday. Serious service I thought. He then suggested I needed to check this really was the issue first and if I brought it round he would put it on the computer (on Good Friday!!!)
Duly turned up and after listening to the rocky rumble he connected up and showed me the injectors not working properly. A quick look then made it clear the loom was fully lubed up, possibly with some of the oil from episode 1 or maybe new oil it went out and got for itself. Full cleanout, new loom grabbed off shelf and fitted, full check from front to back and yes there is also a pump problem, it was intermittent and totally failed as it came out of the workshop. Disco was towed back to my home and they will drop the pump round tomorrow for me to play with.

Any guesses how long before the next significant component replacement?

Should've bought a V8.....

Peter

By my reckoning a V8 would have 60% more things to break

Mwaha - back atcha

Hi Leomas,
Your friendly mechanic - is he nearby by any chance? If so I'd appreciate his contact details if you don't mind passing them on (assuming you'd recommend him).
Hope you have a long spell before the next component replacement. Injector harness for me this weekend. Although that's more of a service item
Priya

Leomas said:

By my reckoning a V8 would have 60% more things to break

Mwaha - back atcha

Click to expand...

Fair comment, but the V8's in good nick are pretty reliable beasties, I've not touched ours other than oil changes etc in over 40k miles.

The TD5 issues should really have been sorted by now, especially the oily loom etc etc.

We have three D2 V8's in the family now, and although they are more expensive to run on petrol, they will compare favourably on LPG, and that extra 50 or so bhp is very useful for towing.

Peter

Priya said:

Hi Leomas,
Your friendly mechanic - is he nearby by any chance? If so I'd appreciate his contact details if you don't mind passing them on (assuming you'd recommend him).
Hope you have a long spell before the next component replacement. Injector harness for me this weekend. Although that's more of a service item
Priya

Click to expand...

He is in Littlehampton so not that convenient for Dorset. Happy to pass on the name but not sure on forum rules and don't need a ban on top of the rest.

Ah not to worry then. Littlehampton's a bit of a trek.
Thanks.

Leomas said:

By my reckoning a V8 would have 60% more things to break

Mwaha - back atcha

Click to expand...

Touché

OK, so after an eventful start to Easter I am back in the saddle. Never let it be said I don't do things properly as there were two options for my rough running issues so of course I had both...

For those who have never seen oiled up Injector looms/plugs



And for those who have not had a fuel pump fail yet...


Presuming I can mention their name...many thanks to DeepSouth who opened on Good Friday and Easter Saturday to put my Disco on the computer, change the loom for me and also get a pump in

Good to have friendly local suppliers!
Thats a seriously oiled up injector loom.
Have you checked the red plug (plug on the ECU) as well, chances are thats probably oily as well.
Oil from centri cleaner could have got round to starter and alternator, but its prob other leaks or just timing!
Id do a serious under bonnet clean up, front end to check for front crank seal, sides to check for oil cooler, back to check for rocker cover gasket.
Mark

The very nice man did the cleanup for me. Also showed me the pool of oil that came out from the ECU Nice thing is I got the modified loom installed so this will never ever ever happen again, probably.

I have to be careful on the cleaning side as I have to do it all parked on the road and last time I got a bit carried away and there is not a patch of asphalt which has completely de-bonded and is now just gravel in a hole...Woops

The oil in loom thing is always going to happen, eventually, even to new ones, the oil migrates down between the conductor wires and the insulation.
Bit concerning if your man removed oil from the inside the ECU, it has been known to cause on-going issues if oil has got inside the ECU.

That pump is seriously black-thought mine looked bad running bio,but nothing like that-have you had to renew the FPR yet.What mileage have you covered?

Up at 160k just now. 13k since buying it last June and the saga above is all I have done so far.....I have a list waaay long I would like to do but bills keep getting int he way. Very first thing will be a proper once-over by someone who knows what they are doing (not me then, probably my local landy chap) to see what is critical/urgent/high priority/needs attention and what is just 'to be done before the next MOT'. Suspect that the previous owner had basic servising and passed it on when the first big thing went. It had new ACE pipes fitted by the dealer I got it from.

markomate2 said:

The oil in loom thing is always going to happen, eventually, even to new ones, the oil migrates down between the conductor wires and the insulation.
Bit concerning if your man removed oil from the inside the ECU, it has been known to cause on-going issues if oil has got inside the ECU.

Click to expand...

Can't you just squirt brake cleaner inside to dissolve all the muck?

Not brake cleaner, bit too aggressive.
IPA works well.
I used IPA, let it soak and then used an Aquavac to suck the oil out of the red plug.
The loom should be reguarded as a disposable item, renew every 12-24 months depending on condition, other makes that use Unit Injectors (VW PD,s etc) have similar issues.
Mark