Low power on hills

[cefn_bran]

My 300TDi '94 Disco needs exsessive throttle to get moving uphill, especially when cold. Any first thoughts?

[BogMonster]

I think they all do?

Does it feel OK when on the move? Is it something that has just happened, or a vehicle that is new to you?

To be honest, hill starts in a cold Tdi of any description aren't great fun...

[cefn_bran]

I think they all do?

Does it feel OK when on the move? Is it something that has just happened, or a vehicle that is new to you?

To be honest, hill starts in a cold Tdi of any description aren't great fun...

Once the engine is warm, it's pretty much OK - will bat along at 55 to 60 mph with no issues, though maybe still a little sluggish on hill starts, but not nearly as bad as when cold.

I've had the vehicle about 6 months and it has always been like that. Replaced the turbo early on, and of course a new timing belt, neither of which have had an effect on the cold hill start issue. The timing was VERY advanced when I got it, probably to get it through the auction without filling the hall with smoke ;-) New timing makes the engine run cooler now. I did have a problem with a hot engine not starting - felt like the starter motor was struggling. But that's sorted by the retarded timing now.

Guess its just a TDi thing. I'll just have to not be in a hurry if I need to drive in THAT direction. It is a fairly nasty hill straight off my track and I have to use lots of throttle and a bit of clutch slip to do it smoothly. I could always turn right!

Thanks

Ivan

[BogMonster]

FWIW I once drove a 300Tdi auto on our company fleet and tried to take up off only a modest hill when it was stone cold - and I had to change to low range because it wouldn't move!

You may find a little tweak on the injector pump improves things a bit, see tech archive for details, some of them are adjusted to run very lean, good for economy but boring as hell to drive. Doesn't take much to wake them up without any risk to the engine, just be careful of the smoke levels and don't overdo it.

[simonb]

My 300TDi '94 Disco needs exsessive throttle to get moving uphill, especially when cold. Any first thoughts?

Diesels need heat to work, a cold engine will always be low on power as there won't be proper efficient combustion. All Tdis are very sluggish when cold, however a tweak to the injection pump (see elsewhere on the forum) will greatly improve matters.

[JimAttrill]

The 300tdi with the electronic injector goes quite well up hills from a standing start. (I did drive one, just didn't look too closely at the injector pump at the time). The terrible beast is the TD5 auto. You can stand outside the car and push the pedal down by hand without getting left behind. The 5000ft altitude doesn't help much when off the turbo either. We remap the ECU (with a map from the UK) and the TD5 then goes like a bomb. Maybe not for long, though, so we are going to fit a larger intercooler as well.

We had a Disco I 300tdi manual which had the engine overhauled by us, the owner brought it back complaining of lack of go. We agreed, and fixed the first problem which was loss of coolant. It was the tank cap, even though it was less than a year old. Also the viscous fan was poked. But it still didn't go properly. The EGT was down on what it should be. Eventually we found that there was a leak at the banjo on the injector pump where the pressure comes in from the turbo. Someone had cut the pipe and fitted a rubber sleeve which had perished. We also checked the timing and found it to be 8 deg BTDC rather than 10 degrees. (We use a Snap-on sensor and a timing light for this). It now goes like it should, no ball of fire but much better.