You might want to settle down with a cup of tea to read this one. Its quite a saga
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A few months ago I became the proud owner of a 1991 Range Rover. Slightly unusual in that it was originally a V8 auto, but converted to a 300tdi about 10 years ago. Generally in fair condition for a Classic although I will need to weld the sills in time for the next mot. Drove really nicely; quite sprightly performance compared to a P38 I used to have, and surprisingly economical. Now Ive replaced the sagging roof lining and valeted the interior, it actually looks quite respectable and I was feeling quite chuffed with my purchase.
However, a couple of months back, driving along quite happily, I felt it splutter slightly, giving the impression of running out of fuel. A glance at the fuel gauge suggested that there was still a good quarter of a tank-full remaining but, still being new to the vehicle, suspected the gauge may be miss-reading so carefully headed to the nearest fuel station and filled up.
The problem didnt recur for a while, but when it did there definitely was fuel in the tank so this was clearly a more significant problem. And it soon got worse to the point where it was spluttering most of the time. As it happens, there is a LR specialist just round the corner from me (who shall remain nameless for the moment, but I might be tempted to reveal), so I dropped it in with them to have the problem diagnosed. Oh yeah, thats your lift pump they declared so, happy it was such an easy fix, handed over the credit card and drove off in my sorted motor.
Except, of course, it wasnt sorted so I returned to the specialist a couple of days later. Well, we could get the injectors checked I suppose was the verdict, so I left it with them and called a couple of days later to hear the result. Three of the injectors need cleaning, but ones quite bad and needs the nozzle replacing I was told, so agreed to have that done and the credit card took another pounding.
Picked it up from them again only to find it was no better than before. Well, its got to be the injector pump then they suggested. At this point Im thinking I could have replaced the complete engine myself for about £500 and any further expense on this one will take me well beyond that figure. So I baulked at the idea of letting them take another £2k off me to replace the pump and found a used one on fleabay.
After making a pulley retaining tool, fitted the pump myself and, only slightly nervously, turned the key to fire it up. To my delight it burst into life straight away knocking somewhat, so I backed off the timing a tad to get it to run smooth and even. A test drive up the road showed the spluttering to be cured but now the performance just seemed very lazy. Maybe the timing is too retarded now, I thought, so tried a range of adjustments and then road tests but, whatever the setting, the engine had just lost all enthusiasm. Once moving it would drive ok, no smoke, and would get up to 70mph or more, but all the torque seemed to have gone. Pulling out of a T-junction was particularly scary as it would take so long to build any momentum, oncoming traffic would be on top of me before Id even got across the road.
Reading through the forums has suggested a number of potential problems to check for, so dutifully Ive been through all these checked the air inlet, filter and charge pipes for blockages/leaks but theyre all fine. Checked the turbo impellor, and that spins freely. As a last resort I went back to the LR specialist to ask advice; Well, you should have replaced all four injector nozzles in the first place they chastised, so, feeling humbled, I agreed to have the other three replaced and left it with them. Another credit card hammering, but surely it has to be sorted now virtually the whole fuel system has been replaced. Surely not. Its simply no better at all. The original spluttering problem has gone clearly that was the injector pump but, having now spent a small fortune on the vehicle, Im still left with it virtually undriveable and Ive no confidence remaining at all with the Land Rover specialist who I had trusted to correctly diagnose this and yet have left me a lot poorer.
Am I missing something? Any other (good) ideas would be welcome . Please?
A few months ago I became the proud owner of a 1991 Range Rover. Slightly unusual in that it was originally a V8 auto, but converted to a 300tdi about 10 years ago. Generally in fair condition for a Classic although I will need to weld the sills in time for the next mot. Drove really nicely; quite sprightly performance compared to a P38 I used to have, and surprisingly economical. Now Ive replaced the sagging roof lining and valeted the interior, it actually looks quite respectable and I was feeling quite chuffed with my purchase.
However, a couple of months back, driving along quite happily, I felt it splutter slightly, giving the impression of running out of fuel. A glance at the fuel gauge suggested that there was still a good quarter of a tank-full remaining but, still being new to the vehicle, suspected the gauge may be miss-reading so carefully headed to the nearest fuel station and filled up.
The problem didnt recur for a while, but when it did there definitely was fuel in the tank so this was clearly a more significant problem. And it soon got worse to the point where it was spluttering most of the time. As it happens, there is a LR specialist just round the corner from me (who shall remain nameless for the moment, but I might be tempted to reveal), so I dropped it in with them to have the problem diagnosed. Oh yeah, thats your lift pump they declared so, happy it was such an easy fix, handed over the credit card and drove off in my sorted motor.
Except, of course, it wasnt sorted so I returned to the specialist a couple of days later. Well, we could get the injectors checked I suppose was the verdict, so I left it with them and called a couple of days later to hear the result. Three of the injectors need cleaning, but ones quite bad and needs the nozzle replacing I was told, so agreed to have that done and the credit card took another pounding.
Picked it up from them again only to find it was no better than before. Well, its got to be the injector pump then they suggested. At this point Im thinking I could have replaced the complete engine myself for about £500 and any further expense on this one will take me well beyond that figure. So I baulked at the idea of letting them take another £2k off me to replace the pump and found a used one on fleabay.
After making a pulley retaining tool, fitted the pump myself and, only slightly nervously, turned the key to fire it up. To my delight it burst into life straight away knocking somewhat, so I backed off the timing a tad to get it to run smooth and even. A test drive up the road showed the spluttering to be cured but now the performance just seemed very lazy. Maybe the timing is too retarded now, I thought, so tried a range of adjustments and then road tests but, whatever the setting, the engine had just lost all enthusiasm. Once moving it would drive ok, no smoke, and would get up to 70mph or more, but all the torque seemed to have gone. Pulling out of a T-junction was particularly scary as it would take so long to build any momentum, oncoming traffic would be on top of me before Id even got across the road.
Reading through the forums has suggested a number of potential problems to check for, so dutifully Ive been through all these checked the air inlet, filter and charge pipes for blockages/leaks but theyre all fine. Checked the turbo impellor, and that spins freely. As a last resort I went back to the LR specialist to ask advice; Well, you should have replaced all four injector nozzles in the first place they chastised, so, feeling humbled, I agreed to have the other three replaced and left it with them. Another credit card hammering, but surely it has to be sorted now virtually the whole fuel system has been replaced. Surely not. Its simply no better at all. The original spluttering problem has gone clearly that was the injector pump but, having now spent a small fortune on the vehicle, Im still left with it virtually undriveable and Ive no confidence remaining at all with the Land Rover specialist who I had trusted to correctly diagnose this and yet have left me a lot poorer.
Am I missing something? Any other (good) ideas would be welcome . Please?
