Hello all !
I signed up to this site literally 5 minutes ago as I think you people are great!
I just want to say how impressed I am with this site and all of your comments\advice. I have found it so useful resolving the same issue my fellow Newbie was having.
I have a 1996 300 TDi 198,000 miles, rotten under the bonnet and looking pretty scruffy all round. I love it ! Suddenly one morning it took a while to start and I lost power at junctions but it was fine on a run revving over 3000 rpm. It started drinking the diesel too.
I am by no means an expert with Land Rovers and especially Diesel engines so your posts were very welcome. It transpires that the metal topped sender (I think) in the fuel tank had corroded so badly that the return pipe joint had sprung a leak and was squirting diesel all over the place so I replaced the sender and pipe joints along with the fuel filter.
Unfortunately this only improved the problem slightly and the fuel filter just wouldn’t “brim” no matter what. I did prime after changing but it would just empty out. I then followed all the advice above and was just about to order a new fuel lifter but a neighbour gave me a Haynes manual and I read in there that the pressure in the system is 200-300 bar (surprised me). I loosened and re-tightened EVERY joint (after a clean & soak in WD40 as pretty rusty) from the fuel tank to the lifter, fuel filter (including the banjo) and thru to the injectors. I then bled with the engine running from the screw on top of the fuel filter and the LR is a different vehicle, actually runs better than before
It transpires that due to the work I had been doing there were in fact several minute leaks. I surmise that under the massive pressures on this system even the smallest leak will give you problems.
Sorry for such a long g post and thanks again.
Si.
