Will start but won’t run

Hi everyone I’m fairly new to the world of land rovers and seem to be having a bit of bad luck recently.

I currently own a 2009 discovery 3 with 96k miles on it. A few weeks ago I ended up with a wet passenger floor which was the sunroof drain pipe which I’m sure you are all familiar with, while I was waiting for the new pipe to arrive the d3 started to develop a couple of intermittent issues the odd light on the dash and whatever all of which would go away once you turned the vehicle off and back on again.

it then had the EML on (but made no difference to the drive of the d3) then once I got it home I plugged my code reader in (it’s an icarsoft one only about 6 months old)and couldn’t seem to find any issues. Wentto start it back up and it struggled to startand when it did it had no throttle response of any kind. I would creep forward and backwards but no throttle response.

I thought it might have just got wet in the fuse box (the one in the passenger footwell as that’s where the leak is) however I have now replaced the sunroof drainage pipe and checked all the fuses to make sure they weren’t knackered all looks fine put everything back together and dried the car out.

BUT IT STILL WONT RUN!!!

it will start and after 2-3 seconds cut out as if it’s being starved of fuel or something likethat.

like I said I’m new to the Land Rover world but I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty. I just don’t know where to go from here, any help would be hugely appreciated.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

Kind regards
Oakly

In the couple of seconds it does run do you get 'engine system fault' or anything in the lcd screen? If so then there should be a code. If you wanna keep the car then get a decent code reader. Will save you big time.

TheMunster said:

In the couple of seconds it does run do you get 'engine system fault' or anything in the lcd screen? If so then there should be a code. If you wanna keep the car then get a decent code reader. Will save you big time.

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Nothing comes up on the lcd screen, the only light that stay on are battery and EML light from what I remember

some people say it could be ecu or maybe the fuel filter? Really I want to keep the car a while longer it’s in outstanding condition all round only on 96k miles. Had nothing wrong until the sun roof leak.

oakly said:

Nothing comes up on the lcd screen, the only light that stay on are battery and EML light from what I remember

some people say it could be ecu or maybe the fuel filter? Really I want to keep the car a while longer it’s in outstanding condition all round only on 96k miles. Had nothing wrong until the sun roof leak.

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hiya

do u have a multimeter please , if so would start with the battery , with the engine off what the Vdc is, then with the engine running , turning multiple things on like lights , heater , etc to put a load onto the battery / alternator , raise it to around 2,000 revs , Surprised there isn’t any DTC errors when reading the fault codes , seeing the warning lights are on

have u also checked the passenger side internal sill for water plse as a large loom runs inside that valley , if there’s a leak it can fill to the brim with water immersing that loom

plse let us know how u get on

ps, also hope u don’t mind me asking but assume you’ve had the upgraded oil pump fitted

gstuart said:

hiya

do u have a multimeter please , if so would start with the battery , with the engine off what the Vdc is, then with the engine running , turning multiple things on like lights , heater , etc to put a load onto the battery / alternator , raise it to around 2,000 revs , Surprised there isn’t any DTC errors when reading the fault codes , seeing the warning lights are on

have u also checked the passenger side internal sill for water plse as a large loom runs inside that valley , if there’s a leak it can fill to the brim with water immersing that loom

plse let us know how u get on

ps, also hope u don’t mind me asking but assume you’ve had the upgraded oil pump fitted

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Hi thanks for the response, battery seemed absolutely fine when I tested it, but as the vehicle wouldn’t actually run I couldn’t test it while running as it would just cut out after a few seconds.

as for the oil pump I didn’t know about any upgraded one so as far as I know it’s the original.

however last night I did manage to get it started and it ran, I changed the fuel filter and the old one didn’t look that great. Took a few spins to get her to go one it had self primed but then it just burst into life, but spluttery at the start but then ran like normal with full throttle response and no smoke or anything out the back.

I wasn’t able to take it for a drive as I still had all the interior in bits as well as the front passenger wing and the under trays off, hopefully finish putting that back together tonight and see how she goes. Hopefully the fuel filter was the problem but let’s wait and see.

I’ll keep you up dated as to what happens but thanks to all of you who replied with your suggestions!! And to other pages on this forum!! Very helpful

oakly said:

Hi thanks for the response, battery seemed absolutely fine when I tested it, but as the vehicle wouldn’t actually run I couldn’t test it while running as it would just cut out after a few seconds.

as for the oil pump I didn’t know about any upgraded one so as far as I know it’s the original.

however last night I did manage to get it started and it ran, I changed the fuel filter and the old one didn’t look that great. Took a few spins to get her to go one it had self primed but then it just burst into life, but spluttery at the start but then ran like normal with full throttle response and no smoke or anything out the back.

I wasn’t able to take it for a drive as I still had all the interior in bits as well as the front passenger wing and the under trays off, hopefully finish putting that back together tonight and see how she goes. Hopefully the fuel filter was the problem but let’s wait and see.

I’ll keep you up dated as to what happens but thanks to all of you who replied with your suggestions!! And to other pages on this forum!! Very helpful

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Gary's reference to the oil pump is that the earlier one is a bit skimpy in the casting around the idler and can break, the timing belt goes slack and things get horrible very quickly. The later one is beefed up to prevent this.

Spong said:

Gary's reference to the oil pump is that the earlier one is a bit skimpy in the casting around the idler and can break, the timing belt goes slack and things get horrible very quickly. The later one is beefed up to prevent this.

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Ahh right ok thanks for that mine a 2009 so the last of the d3’s so I should be safe then haha

thanks for all the messages guys much appreciated

Hi @oakly

apologises as didn’t see ur post , indeed with the weaker oil pump they do break if they don’t have the reinforced casting , weaker pumps were fitted throughout the D3 year range so indeed plse get it checked otherwise if it fails it can totally wreck the engine , ie 5k just for the engine

of course not what u want to hear but wished to at least give u a heads up, fingers crossed it’s already been done but for peace of mind always best to double check

oakly said:

Ahh right ok thanks for that mine a 2009 so the last of the d3’s so I should be safe then haha

thanks for all the messages guys much appreciated

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Sorry as forgot to ask, how’s things going now with ur disco, is it all back together and running or do u still have issues

indeed ref the battery if it wasn’t able to be started , can just use a multimeter at the battery with the engine off , should see a min of 12.6 Vdc, surprisingly how many faults that can come up if the battery gets low

Plse let us know how ur getting on as plenty of us here if ur get stuck

gstuart said:

Hi @oakly

apologises as didn’t see ur post , indeed with the weaker oil pump they do break if they don’t have the reinforced casting , weaker pumps were fitted throughout the D3 year range so indeed plse get it checked otherwise if it fails it can totally wreck the engine , ie 5k just for the engine

of course not what u want to hear but wished to at least give u a heads up, fingers crossed it’s already been done but for peace of mind always best to double check



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Ahhh right ok thanks very much I’ll have a look into it!!

gstuart said:

Sorry as forgot to ask, how’s things going now with ur disco, is it all back together and running or do u still have issues

indeed ref the battery if it wasn’t able to be started , can just use a multimeter at the battery with the engine off , should see a min of 12.6 Vdc, surprisingly how many faults that can come up if the battery gets low

Plse let us know how ur getting on as plenty of us here if ur get stuck

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Yeah so all back together and back up and running if it’s super cold it struggles a tad but that might just be glow plugs.

I changed the fuel filter and bang back up and running my best guess is blocked/faulty filter.

so yeah all working now onto full service and start making her my own.

once I know it’s definitely running right mods will begin.

once again thanks for all the help