Hi,
My wife just inherited a '97 Defender 90 from her brother, She loves it!!! But it has an issue, it won't idle when warmed up. It starts fine, idles fine, if left to idle for 20 minutes, no issues. But if we take it out for a drive, after about 6-8 miles, it won't idle. Every time we stop, it dies. It will start right back up, but won't idle. There is a service engine light on, but I have no idea what it is for, or how to find out. Her brother had a scanner and I tried using it, and the only code that came up was P3666. From what I can find, that number is for company use only. Any help/guidance would be appreciated.
TIA

Jim

 

Gas or diesel? How old is the fuel? Was it being driven recently and was fine and then this started as soon as she received it?

 

It is gas, I believe it is the 4.0 V8. The fuel was old, it started and ran okay when we loaded it on a trailer in New Mexico to bring it to Virginia. But over time it became harder and harder to start, to the point I had to pull the air filter and put some fresh gas in to get it to start/run. Due to some archaic VA laws, it took over a year to get the vehicle registered in VA so we could drive it, so it sat for a while. I drained all the fuel from the tank and put in 5 gallons of fresh E0 mid grade. It now starts fine, it will idle for 15-20 min and appear to get fully up to temp and idle with no issues. If rev'ed up in neutral, it rev'ed fine. But when driven for a while, only 6-8 miles, it will no longer idle. I have no experience with these beasts and don't know where to start.
When I get the idle issue sorted out... it will be time to find the oil leaks.

 

I'd run some quality injector cleaner through it. But, read directions on can...don't over do it...if you overdose it on injector cleaner...more is not better all at once...it can whipout the 02 sensors. Then, l'd start with a good old fashion tune up, plugs, wires, etc. While plugs are out, do a compression test, just to know condition of internels of cylinders. I'd assume there's an external fuel filter, change that too.

You say you checked codes, clear them...run/drive it for a bit and recheck.

 

Could be a dirty Idle Control Valve - can clean with some carb cleaner or replace - they are cheap

 

Thanks, I didn't know it had one, good to know. I'm off to auto parts store tomorrow for injector cleaner and other stuff, I'll add carb cleaner to the list. There is supposed to be a shop manual in one of the many boxes of stuff that came with the vehicle, but I haven't found it yet. Guess it is time to dig deeper. If I can't find one, does anybody have any recommendations for a good repair manual for the vehicle?
I live on the Eastern Shore of VA, I don't know of any shop in the area to reliably work on a LR. Does anybody know of a good shop in the Virginia Beach/Norfolk area?

 

Contact Rovers North and British Atlantic and ask them what shops they do a lot of business with in your area - that can be an indication of a shop that does a lot of work on Landy's

 

I finally got around to pulling the Idle Control Valve. It was dirty and the wear marks suggest it hasn't opened in a while. Cleaned it up, deciding on whether to put back or buy new. I have found new ones priced anywhere between $9.85 and $304.95. The low end one was at an online autoparts place and the high end was at a dealer. I'll price it at Rovers North and British Atlantic.
Thanks for you help, It will be slow going as my time is limited, but I'll keep plugging away at this.
EDIT: RN and BA have the part for less than $100, but they are not genuine Land Rover parts. For something like this, does it matter as long as part comes from a reputable seller?

 

You don't need to spend $300 for this part - it isn't that critical so get from a good source for $100 - probably a Britpart or something that will be fine

 

Hope this solves the problem. Wasn't sure if you had a ICV either. My 2001 4.0 Discovery had one, but wasn't sure about 97 defenders.