My Disco keps stopping!

I though vapour lock applied more to a petrol engine as petrol will evaporate at a lower temperature.

Does the TDi (300?) have an electronic engine control unit ? I think not?? Apart from that - there's nothing much to stop a diesel engine apart from starving it of fuel.

I had a similar intermittant cutout problem on a petrol engine where the fuel pickup in the tank was getting blocked by particles of rust from a corroded filler pipe (the bit you screw the filler cap into). Maybe a diesel can suffer the same. Perhaps check the fuel filter for rust / water and your filler pipe. Doesn't cost anything to check!

If no probs - I would check the fuel cut off (the fuel valve that stops the engine when you switch the ignition off). This is a bit more complicated and needs a service manual for a wiring diagram and an electrical meter - (oh and for the fault to be happening at the time you check !).

Next would be the injector pump itself... but I think this is a fuel starvation/electrical problem due to the intermittant nature.

If you fix it - please post the solution - I would be interested to hear.

Good luck!

Rob

How many kms on it?

Friend of mine traded his 96 Tdi with almost 400k on it years ago. Don't remember him ever having this problem.

Will ask him when I see him.

Have you checked the water trap located near the fuel tank. I have 97 TDI & everytime I change the fuel filter I clean the water trap out as well. Its amazing how much gunk gets trapped here & usually there is a jelly substance that builds up & I gather its a result of water mixing with the diesel. I have installed a clear bowl type filter that uses the cheaper lucas cav filters & the glass bowl is handy for checking fuel starvation problems too. Also check the wire that controls the stop valve on the injector pump as a lose connection here is like turning off the key.
Cheers

Air in the fuel line maybe, if so try bleeding fuel line had this problem with my diesel hilux.

Baz.

As has been stated the only way to stop a diesel is to cut the fuel off.
If you had an air leak it would not restart without abit of cranking to self bleed the system.
If you had a fuel restriction you would notice the drop in performance.
From the symptoms you describe I'd say the problem is electrical, the ECU is stopping the fuel.
As someone mentioned it could be an electrical connection to the stop/fuel solenoid but if it was loose it would more likely to come and go on bumps etc.
I'm not familiar with Landies to be more precise.

Does it happen in the city or in the bush?

Not sure if the TDi Disco has an immobiliser like the Freelander petrol, but there is a known problem with the immobiliser in the Freelander and some Discos (not sure about deisel). The immobiliser picks up signal from store security devices and shuts off, sometimes the vehicle needs to be pushed out of range of the store device before it will restart. Seems in the UK they dont have devices operating in that frequency range.

I could be way off the mark here but thought it was worth a mention.

Greydemon,

Does it bellow black smoke out as it dies? Check the heat shields on the exhaust manifold as if they are missing it causes the air intake to soften and restrict. Replace the shield and hose to remedy.

Other possibility is the air filter, if really old, can get sucked & restrict air flow.

Seto.

Unlikely to be water in fuel or fuel problem, Check ignition key barrell - the ends on the barrell can become loose (press fitted) sometimes cause a poor contact which becomes intermittent - with no rhyme or logic as to why it does it or when it does it. Otherwise it may be a solenoid with a bad contact. Systematically work through those. This problem is more common with British Offroad vehicles than others. (Including Range Rovers)

Nick

There is no ECU on the 200/300TDI so if the stop valve, cable & ignition swich are ok then it can't be electrical & must be fuel related. A good forum for specific Land Rover queries can be found here if you continue to have problems. http://www.lrenthusiastforum.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php
Cheers

when engine cuts out .while still coasting press clutch let engine stop let clutch out to restart engine or restart with key if the engine starts problem more than likely is low voltage to stop solinoid on fuel injector pumps or bad connection to solinoid or faulty solinoid. my hilux recently had sim. problem turned out to be water in tank would run for 5-10 kms then almost cut out wait 2/3 min start up go another 5-10 kms. water would build up on strainer in tank block fuel & stop eng. after waiting a few minuts water drained from strainer & away we went again.drained tank but could not get all water out had to remove tank & clean etc about 2 hrs work. HOPE YOU CAN SORT THE PROBLEM

dmech

I had this problem in an old Suzuki Sierra.

In the end, it was the petrol tank rusting from the inside - little flakes were floating around, and covering up the intake hole in the tank. It took me a couple of months to find. The silly thing was, I saw all the reddy-brown coloring in the fuel filter, but put that down to dust!

Anyway, the symptoms were the same - as soon as the engine stopped, the flake would be released, and it would start up no problem.

Chris

Sounds to me like an imobilser/alarm problem. I've seen people spendbleeploads of money trying to solve mechanical, fuel and computer problems to find out the imobilser was rooted. Most of these alarms and imobilsers are literally thrown under the dash, the wires are black taped on and they cause havok!
Even if it was a "factory" imobilser, quite often they are just whacked in when they enter the coutry to meet australian standards.

Greydemon. If you're in Perth and all these possibilties fail, try Kevin at Rovertech in Bentley or Russel at ARB Osbourne Park.
If either of them can't find it I don't know who can!
Good luck
Alan.

Greydemon

What is the VIN no of your Disco? Just to make shure it is a 96 because that's
the year when the immobilzer system changed.

siegucci

My petrol Disco did the same thing several times and finally the Land Rover dealer in Ferntree Gully told me that it was most likely a something (cannot remember) 'spider' that is located up near the radio. It was quite common that a dry joins develops over time causing intermittent connection resulting in total power loss.

The part cost $14 and an auto electrician fitted for me for $60.

It was a couple of years ago - if this sounds like a possibility try your nearest dealer or call Service Dept at Lifestyle Landrover Ferntree Gully Melb.

Regards

Keith