Thanks for all the info. I've had a look at the injectors today they all seem fine and the wiring is all ok.

The problem I've had with stating it after reading about the immobiliser faults turned out to be the starter switch I wiggled the wires and it come back to life.

So took it to put some fuel in and give it a thrashing on the way back an it's still doing it's crazy dance but seemed a lot better after some abuse
I'll be changing the fuel filter tomorrow and I'll also get a new air filter

Thanks for all the advise I'll let you know how it goes
 
Sounds daft have you checked it brakes arnt sticking somewhere sometimes the shoes get gunked up and stick a bit might be worth nipping the drumms off they'll prob need a clean anyway..
 
AlbertM89 said:
I usually change gear at around 1500/2000 rpm
Click to expand...

I just tried it. It may be -4 here at the moment, but I let the engine get up to temperature before trying.

Unless you are talking about changing down gear when slowing, that's impossible. Changing up at 1,500 is impossible because you'd end up almost on idle speed and even changing up at 2,000 brings the engine down to a speed it doesn't want to accelerate at, or even maintain the same speed at reasonable revs.

The lowest you can probably change up at is about 2,250 and if your accelerating, probably 2,500.
 
1 of the reasons people rave over the L Series is because its so reliable. Going by this thread it appears that it should never break down as there are no components to break! What ever part people suggest is faulty, it appears the response is "the L Series doesn't have 1 of them" !
 
Haha I know mate makes things difficult when you do have a problem

It drives lovely until about 2.5-3k rpm then it goes nuts haha
 
GrumpyGel said:
I just tried it. It may be -4 here at the moment, but I let the engine get up to temperature before trying.

Unless you are talking about changing down gear when slowing, that's impossible. Changing up at 1,500 is impossible because you'd end up almost on idle speed and even changing up at 2,000 brings the engine down to a speed it doesn't want to accelerate at, or even maintain the same speed at reasonable revs.

The lowest you can probably change up at is about 2,250 and if your accelerating, probably 2,500.
Click to expand...

I'm actually talking about changing up...I accelerate, arrive at 1700/2000 rpm, then change, as soon as I leave the foot on the clutch and press the accelerator the engine continues to rev up, no problems at all - although for sure i'm not going anywhere very fast (i think "fast" is not and adjective to be used for the L series, anyway :D ).
Mine is a 1999 Freelander, if you all say this is not normal all I can think about is that the former owner re-mapped the ECU or something like that :confused:
 
Gaj1612 said:
Haha I know mate makes things difficult when you do have a problem

It drives lovely until about 2.5-3k rpm then it goes nuts haha
Click to expand...

I would imagine that it must be some kind of starvation - ie fuel or air - although I'm not sure how that would create blue smoke. I'll join the "Change Air Filter" group - made a big difference for me in reducing black smoke at higher revs - but I didn't have any starvation issues for it to solve (that I could perceive). Hopefully its a filter or wiring to the injector - fuel pump work is a bigger exercise.

Wouldn't wiring to injector 1 cause a rough engine at all revs - not just higher?
 
Well I'm going to change both air and fuel filters tomorrow so I'll see how it goes after that.
I would imagine that it would cause issues at all revs but I don't doubt any of the info I've been given. Worth having a look just to make sure everything is ok
 
AlbertM89 said:
I'm actually talking about changing up...I accelerate, arrive at 1700/2000 rpm, then change, as soon as I leave the foot on the clutch and press the accelerator the engine continues to rev up, no problems at all - although for sure i'm not going anywhere very fast (i think "fast" is not and adjective to be used for the L series, anyway :D ).
Mine is a 1999 Freelander, if you all say this is not normal all I can think about is that the former owner re-mapped the ECU or something like that :confused:
Click to expand...

Maybe you have a remapped ECU, maybe my engine is more worn than yours - but trying to accelerate at 1,500 revs (ie changing up at 2,000) or below will cause judder etc from my engine - it doesn't like it and I'm sure it would cause problems (big ends etc).

Mine's a '99 as well. Mid range and towing performance is fine - but yes - you have to make a lot of noise if you want to pull away at the same speed as most other cars!
 
GrumpyGel said:
Maybe you have a remapped ECU, maybe my engine is more worn than yours - but trying to accelerate at 1,500 revs (ie changing up at 2,000) or below will cause judder etc from my engine - it doesn't like it and I'm sure it would cause problems (big ends etc).

Mine's a '99 as well. Mid range and towing performance is fine - but yes - you have to make a lot of noise if you want to pull away at the same speed as most other cars!
Click to expand...

Yes, it's more, how can I say it, agricultural and noisy than most other cars' turbo-diesels...but I personally prefer the "less power, more reliability" approach which was at the origin of the diesel engines engineering but nowadays is, like, forgotten.
I never towed anything so probably my engine and trasmission is less worn than yours, but if there are a lot of judder etc you can also check the hydramount engine mountings...last march I noticed some vibration at low revs and the cause was a broken engine mounting (60 € here in Italy).
Apart from that, let's change gear at whatever rpm our engines are more keen on ;)
Gaj1612, let us know if u solve the issue changing the filters ;)
 
Last edited:
Are you losing any oil? your'e saying you got a cloud of blue smoke which will be a indicator of burned oil. Could be turbocharger, valve stem seals(not likely on the L series.) etc.

Maybe you need to clean out your intercooler. Check if all pipes are oil free. Could also be breather oil built up being burned.

My bet will be turbo related :yawn:
 
Moonlit spark and a diagnostic might be worth the 40 quid also anyone suggested a sticky injector?
Try turning the turbo boost up maybe someone's turned it down mine had these symptoms when I turned the stud the wrong way..
 
thequeenscheese said:
Moonlit spark and a diagnostic might be worth the 40 quid also anyone suggested a sticky injector?
Try turning the turbo boost up maybe someone's turned it down mine had these symptoms when I turned the stud the wrong way..
Click to expand...
Moonlit spark haha bloody tablet hahaha should read mobile sparkie haha:)
 
GrumpyGel said:
trying to accelerate at 1,500 revs (ie changing up at 2,000) or below will cause judder etc from my engine
Click to expand...

Lack of boost, lack of fuel... bad ground on ecu, bad contact on ecu plug...
or 1.8 PG1 fitted :p

Mine goes up on 5rd gear from 1500 with no problem. (even when set it to stock boost and fueling) . When accelerator pressed to floor it response with quick boost building (5 to 16 psi within a 1-2sec.) and drives away :D

here you got boost response on stock boost settings and fueling (just EGR removed, with rubber pipes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QgBrUCjd9U
 
Last edited:
Winu said:
Lack of boost, lack of fuel... bad ground on ecu, bad contact on ecu plug...
or 1.8 PG1 fitted :p

Mine goes up on 5rd gear from 1500 with no problem. (even when set it to stock boost and fueling) . When accelerator pressed to floor it response with quick boost building (5 to 16 psi within a 1-2sec.) and drives away :D

here you got boost response on stock boost settings and fueling (just EGR removed, with rubber pipes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QgBrUCjd9U
Click to expand...

Hi Winu, thanks for your thoughts :) I admire what you have achieved with your L Series Freelander.

Hopefully I've got the right gearbox! I suppose they look the same from the outside - would just be different gearing inside. I've had the car about 4 years now and its always been the same - at the time we got it I thought that it was lacking in power/refinement at low revs when I slowed and dropped gears to go round a corner and discovered it would not pull from anything under 1,500 revs - eg I needed to be in 2nd not 3rd. I just thought that was the way they were and haven't investigated it. I'm very happy living with the car the way it is.

But if I can make it even better then that's a real bonus :) 1,500 is a 'magical number' for my engine, from there all the way up there appears to be plenty of power and its very smooth.

Occasionally at high revs I'll get a lot of black smoke - if I try to reproduce it, it doesn't happen, just occasionally at high revs. I have changed the air filter which reduced the occurrences a lot.

I don't think there are any issues with fuel supply to the engine. If I had ECU connection problems, would they not appear throughout the rev range? Maybe I need to service the air supply/turbo system.

TBH other than rebuilding my IRD, all I've done to the car is general servicing. That's all its needed in the 4 years - plus the ABS modulator that a local Rover garage/breakers supplied and fitted for a ridiculously small amount of money! Its been a really great car - this weekend just gone it did another 1,000KM trip in reliable comfort :) So maybe I should repay it by checking the air system - and maybe fitting one of those boost gauges to make sure it keeps performing!
 
Tbh I'd seriously look into one of these gone flush/cleans it cleans the injectors intercooler and more not cheap but if us taxi driver swear by it., it must be a good thing just for the mob if nowt else..
 
Well today I changed the air filter and put an injector cleaner in the tank and gave it a blast it has cleared up about 99% I will be changing the fuel filter as well as soon as it stops raining for ten mins
 
Gaj1612 said:
Well today I changed the air filter and put an injector cleaner in the tank and gave it a blast it has cleared up about 99% I will be changing the fuel filter as well as soon as it stops raining for ten mins
Click to expand...
I'd drop the oil and filter while yr at it if I haven't already..
 
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