My 2004 Disco S is stalling at low speeds. If I try and restart immediately, the engine cranks but doesn't fire. If I wait a few minutes, it cranks up just fine. I've taken it to a mechanic who said the car isn't throwing any codes. Unless the car is in failure at the moment they look at it, he said they'll have no way to know for sure which the problem is. He said I have 3 options:

- Do special testing where they drive the car around with some equipment hooks up with it and that should pinpoint the problem. $276
- Replace Crankshaft Sensor $245
- Replace fuel pump- $958

For what it's worth- I've had some problems with the battery terminals as of late. The screw holding the terminal broke off. I had the screw replaced and terminals and posts cleaned. Whenever the car stalls, I firmly tap the terminals with a blunt object and wiggle them. The mechanic says this doesn't have anything to do with the car stalling out or restarting. He says he checked and tested the battery, terminal, and cables and they checked out fine.

I'm really hesitant to do anything without knowing more. I've never used this guy, am new to my area and can't say I really trust mechanics.

Anyone have any advice or experience on how to get a more definitive answer on this? Does this sound more like fuel pump failure, crankshaft failure, a battery connection issue, or something else?

 

Did this start all of a sudden? Is the service engine soon light on?

 

It's been going on for several weeks but has gotten more frequent (about every other time i drive the car) in the past 4-5 days.

 

I had the very same issue a few weeks ago. The fuel pump is not a very problematic component as the crank position sensor. You can test the functionality of the fuel pump by having someone crank the engine while you place your ear at the open gas cap. My bet is the crank position sensor. 60$ at Autozone typically a two day special order for a Duralast sensor or at Atlantic British for $80 a Bosch unit which I just installed. The most difficult part of the job is getting the sensor disconnected otherwise very simple to install. If you up for the install PM me and I'll you through the replacement.

 

So if I were to do this to test the fuel pump, what should I listen for?

 

is the service engine soon light on?

 

It was on a few days ago. I didn't get a chance to have the code pulled. However when the car stalled out Wednesday night, it went away after the car restarted.

 

You should hear an electric pumping sound with the cap off and your ear to the filler neck.

 

Okay I'll give it a shot.

Thank you!

If anyone out there is in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC and you're in need of some extra cash I always have work that needs to be done on my Disco!

 

Well perhaps someone else can help more but I haven't seen a lot of fuel pump related posts on here, and as far I know the crank position sensor either works or doesn't so I would go with neither. You should go to advance auto parts and have them pull the codes for you, see if there are any pending. How many miles on your truck? Its not going to be the battery so forget about that possibility. Provided the engine is actually turning over.