Land Rover Forums - Land Rover Enthusiast Forum - Hard Starting Solved, with Hubris

I accumulated my ‘95 Disco I in December 2007 from oldest son, who didn’t have the temperament to deal with its issues: hard starting, rough idle, other problems. We tried the Seafoam thing, etc., idle air control valve, vacuum leaks, sparking plugs, and the like, and never got the problem solved. Youngest son begins driving it, and, being much more mechanical, is able to put up with its idiosyncracies. Such as, turn key to run, prime pump, give it a little throttle but no more than a quarter, turn key to start, feather throttle, pray.

Fast-forward to October 2008. Youngest jumps into the D-I and starts over to the school to take the SAT Physics test. Lots of starter grinding, and angry words, but no ignition. He takes Mom’s Honda. Dad jumps into the L-R and turns the key. No nothing, not at all. Hmmm. Voltage at the bat-tree, at the starter, at the solenoid wire, not even a click from the thing. Off comes the starter, AutoZone has a new one, son installs it himself. Turns the key. Hmmm. What’s that high-pitched noise? Seems like the new starter is turning at about twice the RPM of the old one. Egg-sucking-dog starts much easier then. Problem solved?

Skip ahead a week. There’s no gas, and especially no premium, to be had in Atlanta. Wife sees a station with the juice, decides to do her baby a favor and fill up the green bomb. Puts in ten gallons, pays with an arm and a leg, and starts up to leave the Wally World gas station. Disco stutters, shakes, and quits. Wife then realizes that she has put in ten gallons of diesel. Calls AAA and has it towed to the house.

Several hours later, we have the fuel pump out and have siphoned out all ten gallons of the 80-cetane plus the couple of gallons of 93-octane. This is mother’s milk for the Power-Stroke Excursion, and sixty bucks saved.

Okay, what next? How to get the rest of the diesel out of the system? We’ve got the fuel lines disconnected. Brake bleeder pump? No - too slow. Dad spies the air compressor and attaches the (non-OSHA-compliant) high-pressure air nozzle. Careful not to point the nozzle at anyone’s nether regions, he jams the nozzle into the fuel line from the pump discharge side and gives it a shot of air. Hmmm. Nothing out of the fuel return line. What’s with this? He removes the nozzle, and about a beer can’s worth of chocolate brown diesel sludge erupts from the fuel delivery line. All over Dad, so the evidence is plain even to self. The eureka moment.

Once again to AutoZone for a fuel filter. Segue following much cursing and grunting (by the way, kids, don’t detach the fuel filter from its mount before removing the fuel line fittings; and bolt up the new fuel filter first. Makes it much easier to hoss the fittings off and then back on). Build date on old fuel filter is September 1999.

Dad with much trepidation turns the key. Fuel pump buzz, no fuel leaks, can it be that I’ve put it back together properly? One round of the starter, no fire. Second hit of the key, it starts right up, settles down to a proper (if somewhat smoky) idle. Turn it off, hit the starter again - doesn’t even take a second for it to be purring again. Success! Beyond wildest dreams!

Moral of the story: try the simplest, cheapest things first.

Unlike I normally do.