Today started out great. My daughter and I went into town to get her some new fish for her aquarium. The weather was perfect LR weather which was cool and rainy. The LR3 did awesome vs all the other vehicles out there spinning their tires at every light or barely being able to stop in the rain.

I thought to myself on the way home what a truly great vehicle the LR LR3 is and as if the LR God's were listening and the thought had just barely left my head I felt the LR3 loose power, surge, sputter, and die.... I coasted off onto a side street. It wouldn't re-start and it was right in the middle of one of TX's famous 12inch per hour rain storms. I finally said to heck with it, and checked under the hood. Nothing seemed wrong, but man was there an extremely strong smell of fuel.

At first I thought it was probably left over fuel from when it cut off, but the smell was too strong. I called my wife and she showed up in my old faithful LR (My 98 D1). I loaded my daughter into the D1, and at that point I was soaked to the bone so I started to diagnose it a little more since I had nothing to loose at that point.

I turned the key, and while it was turning over I stuck my head under the LR3 and just like I had suspected fuel was flooding out all over the place. I crawled up underneath it and found what appeared to be the main fuel line disconnected basically just inches above/behind the passenger catalytic converter!!!! What a lovely place to have fuel just dumping out!!!! I was truly like WTH..... I figured it was somehow broken or something, but oh no it simply went back together with a good solid click and I couldn't pull it apart, so I started the LR3 and boom no more problems, but honestly WTF LR.... Placing a quick connect in the fuel line directly above the passenger side catalytic converter?????? At that moment all I could think of was a Ford Pinto bursting into flames.

My wife is 39 1/2 weeks pregnant and wouldn't have that been a great ride to the hospital when the LR3 blew up or burst into flames on the side of the road. Had it not been raining today I'd probably be posting that my LR3 burnt to the ground.

Only thing I can figure is #1 driving thru some water on the road made it pop loose or #2 at one time before I owned the LR3 some tech didn't fully connect it back together.

I'm going to place a Zip Tie on both sides of this quick connect(brace it to the other line above it) to help it from falling apart during driving thru some rain water on the road......

 

I see you have a history of Land Rover vehicles so you know the reality of them. I also presume that your 06 is fairly new to you.

If so, I think you can expect at least a year of fuss with your 3 before you find all the items ignored by previous owners.

About all I can say is that I regard my 3 as more reliable today than when it was when new back in 2005.

I think the same can be said for the brand new quarter million dollar FFRR's - they need the all up warranty and the loaner vehicle program more than I would need similar now for my +250,000 km 3.

 

Oh yeah they're all different for sure, but on this situation I'm extremely grateful it wasn't 90F outside and dry. I'm pretty sure if it had been and that fuel line popped apart squirting fuel directly onto my passenger side cat that my LR3 would have melted to the ground!!

I'm really thinking the water from a puddle knocked it loose (died 50ft past it). Had it been barely held together all this time before I bought it, one trip down my bumpy gravel road before my house would have knocked it apart for sure.

I've secured it via two zip ties one on each side of the fuel line connector, and they're attached to the solid line that mounts above it. In theory now if my LR crosses a puddle again the line shouldn't have any slack to just pull apart from the water splashing up on it.

If it had just been me driving along and it died no big deal, but the thought of it bursting into flames where my pregnant wife, and daughter couldn't get out due to the flames = scared the **** out of me.

It's fixed for now, but it's certainly something everyone with an LR3 that actually off roads it, or drives in a rainy state should check or secure with zip ties like I did as a CYA.

All my friends kinda act like if you don't sell your car before it hits 100K or that you don't have a new car every 2 years = you're poor & stupid. I honestly think I'm much smarter than that! I have zero car notes (own 5 LR's), and sure I have a LR with 227K, but they're all mechanically sound, clean inside/out, and to me a LR has much much more prestige over a 100% plastic blob with no character! I have one friend that just basically spent (paying off of coarse) 160K worth of brand new 2016 vehicles that she bought in June. Both of them have been to the shop constantly and she's having to cruise around in a Chevy Spark while they try to solve the mystery on her 2016 Escalade that has now taken them a month solid to try and fix.

No thanks my first and last new off the showroom floor vehicle was a 2001 4x4 SE Xterra. It was a lemon, and I lost 15k on it. Sold it for little used 97 D1, and wow zero issues and what a nice vehicle for half the price!!! Ever since then I do my research, look up all the flaws, then look for one to test drive and get an idea if I like it, then find the best one I can for the $$$$$. My LR3 is truly flawless for the 10.9K I paid for it vs an 80K Escalade lol. I've just had an alternator, brake switch, and fuel line issue. They say things come in 3's so maybe I'm done for a while now haha.

 

I did a quick search of Disco3 using "fuel line connector" and the link below presented itself. I am not certain if it was the same connector but it was on a petrol LR3 with the V8.

I am now wondering if there is a common problem? Can you think of any reason someone at some previous time would have fiddled with that connector?

DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - Petrol line spontaneously disconnected!

This is a 5 page thread on the diesel fuel system on D3's but may be of interest.

DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - Robbie's Guide To The Low Pressure Fuel System

 

Yep that is the same line they're talking about. When I discovered it the line was pushed back and up against the rocker area (probably due to the pressure of the fuel squirting out making the line move).

I re-routed it to where the line ran smoothly without being wrapped around the other line. I thought for sure the quick connect line must have broken, but when I put them together it securely clicked into place and would not pull apart with me tugging on it.

It has a plastic support that the two lines run through directly to the left, but it's an open type support so you can just pull them out vs them being 100% locked into place. My Zip Tie solution now gives the lower hose support on both sides of the quick connect, and it's secured to the line above so it can't just pop free and wiggle or "pop" loose. Hopefully that will take care of it for good, but it will always be something I'll check now at each oil change!

As far as anyone previously fiddling with it, I'm gonna strongly have to rule that out. I've put nearly 6K on it and I've been over some very bumpy/rough roads. Had it just been hanging on for dear life it would have fallen apart a long time ago. Also there were no signs of greasy hand prints, or anything that would lead me to suspect anyone ever fiddled with that connection. The only history I know my LR3 went into the shop for were never fuel related. All NAV/Stereo, Bluetooth, and a rattle from the info I was able to locate on it.

I'm also 99% sure the previous owners bailed on my 06 LR3 when it had it's brake switch glitch along with the front end lowering to the ground overnight leaving it's tail fully up, and a battery light on/off due to a bad alternator (clue to me was a brand new battery as a fix vs replacing the actual cause of the problem the alternator itself). They probably got a 1200-2500.00 repair quote from the local LR dealership and like a lot of people they traded it in ASAP.

I got it, had the battery light go off 3 days after buying it, replaced it ASAP, then the true gremlin showed itself, and I kicked its tail along with fixing the EAS. After that I upgraded the NAV and have enjoyed a trouble free nearly mint condition LR3 for 10.9K vs paying much much much more for a newer LR.

It popped apart during me driving thru a water puddle (thank god) and died 50ft after a 4-6inch puddle maybe 20ft long that I drove thru at 35MPH-45MPH. We're supposed to be able to ford rivers, and off road these things. Kinda sad a fuel line can pop apart from a puddle in the street.

 

I do not suppose you could take a picture of either the connector or near where the connector is and post it?

It is something I will also follow up on as this does not sound isolated, but instead a problem that shows up a few years down the road - where my 3 is now.

I agree, it is not a minor concern - the next generation depends upon the current generation.

 

Here ya go. Like I said it's on the passenger side directly above the cat and towards the back mounted on the front of the fuel tank. It looks to be a secure area, but apparently water can make it pop apart.

My wife had just driven it up the road to church and you can see it does get wet while driving. The Zip Ties I added for extra support to help prevent the issue from ever happening again.

 

Here is a wider shot of the fuel line/connector with the issue. To the left you see the little clip that is supposed to secure it. The lower hose part to the left of the connection was still in the clip, but the opposite side of the quick connect was able to just blow away from the quick connect and squirt fuel everywhere.

 

This might just be something to investigate.

To me, other than just normal vehicle frame twisting, there is not much reason the quick connect should have released.

Is there some procedure in the States where one sends incidents like that to the Vehicle Safety Administration? Here in Canada, unless the US acts first, our Feds are afraid to say boo, let alone act unilaterally.

I will be down under mine in the next week or so for a look - perhaps if others did as well, we might discover a concern.

The way the front wheels of the 3 throws water and rocks up on the front windscreen, I guess I could believe that water squashed from the rear tyres could create a force big enough to dislodge the hose if it was already loose, plus there is the fuel line pressure inside to help out.

 

Yep it had to water related or she'd have blown apart on me a longtime ago if it was rough road, or bump related. I thankfully hit the water puddle during a heavy rainstorm, the LR3 sputtered and died, I safely pulled off the road, and eventually found the issue.

Had this been on a normal TX day with temps in the 90's and dry as a bone I think I would have coasted to a stop already on fire, and would just have had enough time to exit the vehicle before it was engulfed in flames. If my wife been with me I truly don't see how we'd have escaped in time. She'd have had to crawl thru the front seats into the back only to have two child seats blocking our exits. Then I'd have had to rip one out LR passenger side, and hopefully by that time the fire hadn't spread to the cabin, or worse case melted a hole in the completely full fuel tank causing fuel to dump out all around the LR3 trapping us inside.

That is the exact situation that buzzed thru my head as soon as I saw the fuel leak and the unclipped line..... Not something I have repeated to my pregnant wife BTW.

I'm okay with it for now and like I said I'm gonna check it on every oil change, and try to avoid puddles, but it'll always be in the back of my mind now.