Defender intermittent engine light and power loss
Discussion
Help please guys 
I've a 53 plate, 43k mile Defender 90. Well and regularly maintained.
Been flawless since I got it in June-ish this year. No problems at all. Bought from a mate, know its history, had a few JE Engineering mods.
I was away this weekend and the car had been kept nice a dry in the garage.
This morning, she fired up first time, but then about half a mile from home, the engine warning light came on, and the power seemed to die off a little (limp home mode maybe)? So I pulled over. I didn't turn the ingition off...the light went out, I drove off aghain, it did the same again (warning light + power loss) and then light went out and the vehicle drove fine for the 5 mile drive to the station.
There were no other warning lights. No strange temp guage readings. And as soon as the engine (amber) light went out, the car drove completely normally.
I've googled around a bit and seen a few possible issues.
Any ideas of what this could be? I'll naturally be dropping it into a garage asap. Probably tomorrow morning. Just wanted a rough idea of what it might be.
I've a 53 plate, 43k mile Defender 90. Well and regularly maintained.
Been flawless since I got it in June-ish this year. No problems at all. Bought from a mate, know its history, had a few JE Engineering mods.
I was away this weekend and the car had been kept nice a dry in the garage.
This morning, she fired up first time, but then about half a mile from home, the engine warning light came on, and the power seemed to die off a little (limp home mode maybe)? So I pulled over. I didn't turn the ingition off...the light went out, I drove off aghain, it did the same again (warning light + power loss) and then light went out and the vehicle drove fine for the 5 mile drive to the station.
There were no other warning lights. No strange temp guage readings. And as soon as the engine (amber) light went out, the car drove completely normally.
I've googled around a bit and seen a few possible issues.
Any ideas of what this could be? I'll naturally be dropping it into a garage asap. Probably tomorrow morning. Just wanted a rough idea of what it might be.
Car in garage today. Will follow up later.
I'm wondering if the symptoms could be caused by battery issues?
I'm not using the car as much as when I first got it. Just 2x5 mile trips a day to the station and back. But I am using heated seats/windscreens etc. And I wonder if they're draining the battery more than it's getting time to top back up on it's short runs to the station?
I did notice over the last month or two it was sometimes reluctant to turn over when starting.
Hmmmm.
I'm wondering if the symptoms could be caused by battery issues?
I'm not using the car as much as when I first got it. Just 2x5 mile trips a day to the station and back. But I am using heated seats/windscreens etc. And I wonder if they're draining the battery more than it's getting time to top back up on it's short runs to the station?
I did notice over the last month or two it was sometimes reluctant to turn over when starting.
Hmmmm.
Always worth watching out for the oil-down-the-injector-cable-to-the-ECU issue - almost regarded as a matter of time, for many TD5s.
The injector loom has two sections - engine-side, and then beyond that down to the ECU. If you've got oil ingress issues, you'll see it at the connector between the two.
The top one's quite easy & cheap to change - the bottom one a little less so.
Hopefully it was just your MAF this time, but do keep an eye on the above.
Arif
The injector loom has two sections - engine-side, and then beyond that down to the ECU. If you've got oil ingress issues, you'll see it at the connector between the two.
The top one's quite easy & cheap to change - the bottom one a little less so.
Hopefully it was just your MAF this time, but do keep an eye on the above.
Arif
Hi!
The thing here is - because the problem (if it rears its head) will be a question of the ECU being fecked by engine oil - the symptom could therefore be absolutely anything. Historically, the symptoms have tended to look like 'engine management' issues - as opposed to the myriad other systems that box controls (e.g. ABS). It's just therefore the first thing you should look for, if experiencing any sort of problem at all, if in your mind you can link it with an ECU fault.
And when replacing the ECU - yes each injector does have to be reconfigured for this change. It won't work optimally without this - so you can't just 'swap' in an ECU from an equivalent vehicle - you'll need a laptop/Autologic or equivalent.
It's perfectly possible that it never happens - on mine (MY02 TD5), I think I saw evidence in the upper loom at around 50,000 miles.
Good luck buddy!
The thing here is - because the problem (if it rears its head) will be a question of the ECU being fecked by engine oil - the symptom could therefore be absolutely anything. Historically, the symptoms have tended to look like 'engine management' issues - as opposed to the myriad other systems that box controls (e.g. ABS). It's just therefore the first thing you should look for, if experiencing any sort of problem at all, if in your mind you can link it with an ECU fault.
And when replacing the ECU - yes each injector does have to be reconfigured for this change. It won't work optimally without this - so you can't just 'swap' in an ECU from an equivalent vehicle - you'll need a laptop/Autologic or equivalent.
It's perfectly possible that it never happens - on mine (MY02 TD5), I think I saw evidence in the upper loom at around 50,000 miles.
Good luck buddy!
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