I'm now running out of ideas of what to look at next.

I have a 90 with a disco 1 200tdi retro fitted.

The overall performance is terrible. My previous 2.5 TD had better acceleration!!

When I pull away from junctions I have to rev it as fast as it will go to have any chance of getting out. If I have to stop on a hill it's hit and miss as to whether I can get going. When joining slip roads building up speed in any gear takes an eternity. I'm not expecting much but there is clearly something wrong.

I have noticed that sometimes I can put the accelerator flat to the floor and it does rev more than about 2000 revs.

I assumed it was a fueling problem so have changed the fuel filter and fuel lift pump but it has made no difference. I have tried injector cleaner but still no difference.

It starts first time every time. I'm going to do a compression test but wondered if anyone else had the same problem??

Sounds like the IP is fooked or the engines knackered. who fitted the 200tdi and did you drive the disco it came out of?? or the turbo int spinning up.

I have a 110 with a disco 200 tdi in it. The performance is excellent - markedly better than my old TD although that was pretty good too.

It will easily keep up with traffic. Definetly something not right.

Has the engine ever run well?

Check compression, pump timing, turbo / intercooler pipes, air filter.

Sure the list of things goes on and on

Best of luck

Andy

What's the IP??

Engine was fitted when I got it. Thought it was slow then but just assumed I'd forgotten how steady they are.

Engines done about 160k.

Had a similar problem with my 2.5TD. A new fuel filter and it was transformed. I can see this getting expensive!!

check all the CAF hoses before you start ripping the IP out

The IP is your Injection Pump, and CAF (as Sean just posted) is the cold Air Feed pipe between your air filter box and the turbo inlet. Start with the easiest and cheapest tests. Remove the air inlet pipe from your turbo (the piece between the air filter box and the turbo inlet) and inspect it for splits. It's not so fatal on this piece of pipe, because its sole purpose is to draw air towards the tubo, you don't want holes in it though because it renders the air filter useless and the smallest bit of water / grit etc getting drawn in will destroy your engine.

Also inspect the pipes too and from your intercooler which is situated next to your radiator. There are two pipes, one of which leaves the turbo and enters the bottom of the intercooler, and another pipe which leaves the top of the intercooler and enters the air inlet manifold on your engine. It may be that one of them is cracked / split. This WILL cause massive performance issues, as it wont be able to hold the air pressure created by the turbo when it's charging. Repair them immediately if there are any signs of damage. I'd also suggest that you inspect the intercooler. I had an intercooler which had corroded through, thus loosing boost pressure - no power in the engine.

If all the pipe looks okay, leave the length of pipe between the turbo and the air filter off for the time being and start the engine. Can you see the vanes inside the turbo spinning up? They should start spinning, but don't stick your finger anywhere near them! If there's no movement, your turbo has seized, so its up to you to free it up, replace it, or repair it.

Considering you've just swapped your lift pump, I'd still be tempted to check it - it's not uncommon for you to have been given a faulty unit as new, especially if it's a Britpart pump. The best way to check is to remove the pipe between the lift pump and the fuel filter housing. Have a friend try and start the engine, it should fire fuel right up at the bonnet and all over the engine bay. If it does so, your lift pump can be completely ruled out. If it doesn't gush fuel out, it's faulty and will need swapping / exchanging. Next step is to make sure fuel is reaching the injection pump correctly.

If you look at the top of the filter housing, there should be an arrow marking which direction the fuel is flowing. You want to remove the pipe that has an arrow marked pointing away from the fuel filter housing, not into it. The pipe joins the injection pump on the top surface nearest the front of the engine, so remove it from the pump here, and then turn the engine over. Fuel should be pouring out of the pipe at a constant rate - not quite to the same extent that it left the lift pump but a good "spurt" none the less. If there is little fuel, or no fuel at all, remove the pipe from the fuel filter housing as well and inspect the bolts. There will be a small hole drilled in the side of either bolt, and a channel down the centre of the bolt. Ensure that this is clear at both the fuel filter side and the injection pump side of the pipe.

If you're happy with the fuel reaching the injection pump, slacken the injector pipe bolts at the injectors and then pull the pipes away from the injectors. They will be stiff but they should "ping" out. Again, turn the engine over, fuel should be gushing out of all four pipes, and at the same rate, but not necessarily at the same time (not sure whether it's a constant feed or whether the pump feeds the fuel when the injector needs it). If there's fuel leaving each pipe, then you may have faulty injectors, but check everything over first.

When the engine is running, is there any smoke leaving the exhaust, and if so what colour? There shouldn't be any visible smoke, besides a puff of black smoke on startup. Also, with the engine running, remove the oil filler cap and place your hand over the opening. Is there a "chuffing" and any smokey / oily mist being blown out?

-Pos

Also make sure your turbo is spinning up and boosting at the right rev, if its boosting too early and dumping too fast you have a wastegate problem. There is an actuator on the wastegate to add or take off boost pressure and for every turn clockwise you add 1 bar boost pressure and for every turn anti-clockwise you drop 1 bar boost pressure.
Also check that the wastegate isn't cracked anywhere of even flapping...

This sounds like a basic fuelling issue. Filter good?

Check your diesel system from A to B, the system on this engine works by pumping diesel from the tank, through the lift pump, through the filter, into the IP some gets used and the rest goes back to the tank, the fuel is cooling the pump.

If you disconnect your fuel RETURN from after the injection pump with the engine idling you should get a continuous heavy flow of diesel. If not there is something wrong.

That rules out a few things in one go.

If all that above is OK then check your Timing as the pump timing could of slipped .

The issue with low revs only occurs from cold. After a couple of minutes it's a lot better. Any ideas??

Do the check above to make sure plenty of fuel is available. If you are sure that you are getting fuel I would suggest you look around the turbo. Check the vacuum between the diaphragm and the adjustment of the diaph. Turn it up and take it for a drive and see wat happens. Check all your piping you could have a blocked/leaking pipe or intercooler. From what you are saying I sounds like you might have a stuck waste gate, blocked pipe and other problem with the turbo. You are getting basic functiomality from the engine but not performance at the higher revs. Its really hard to diagnose thi stuff on here without looking/driving it.

sypher said:

If all that above is OK then check your Timing as the pump timing could of slipped .

Click to expand...

How do you check timing on this engine??

I have checked all the hoses and the turbo is spinning from tickover.
It does kick out some blue smoke under acceleration until warm.

I am a bit concerned about the CAF to the turbo. It has a wolf airbox mounted on top of n/s wing and hose goes behind the alternator which causes it to flatten the hose. Would this cause probs? Should maybe look at re routing this hose??

M8CPK said:

How do you check timing on this engine??

I have checked all the hoses and the turbo is spinning from tickover.
It does kick out some blue smoke under acceleration until warm.

I am a bit concerned about the CAF to the turbo. It has a wolf airbox mounted on top of n/s wing and hose goes behind the alternator which causes it to flatten the hose. Would this cause probs? Should maybe look at re routing this hose??

Click to expand...

Before you mess around re-routing the pipe, remove the pipe from the intake side of the turbo and ensure that there is nothing that will be drawn into the turbo when you start the engine (i.e. start the engine in a garage, not in a dusty area with lots of wind and then start the engine and see if it makes any difference. My CAF pipe is slightly flattened but it runs absolutely fine. If theres blue smoke, you're burning oil, which could be a number of things:

1) Blown head gasket (oil seeping between oil channels and cylinders - BAD)
2) Worn piston rings (oil getting past the rings and compression escaping - low power)
3) Worn valve seals (lost compression / oil leakage)
4) Worn turbo oil seals - near fatal if it goes completely)

There should be NO blue smoke. Blue smoke is engine oil being burned.

Let your engine heat up and then remove the oil filler cap. Place your hand over the opening - is there an oily mist forced out, or a chuffing sound at all? Also remove the oil dipstick and press your thumb firmly over the end of the tube for three seconds. Quickly release your thumb - does it launch oil at you or hiss violently?

-Pos

Have you checked the fuel filter - after mine stoped at 40mph i found a ball of alge in the fuel filter (growing on my WVO no doubt) but could be fuel starvation? - The balddy thing is going like the clappers now at crusing at 80mph fully loaded (and thats a 2.5TD )