Help please - I have a Range Rover 2.5 DSE (BMW motor) and am having trouble with apparent fuel starvation. Usually when the fuel tank reaches 1/4 and below I battle to get any power. If I put my foot down or drop a gear 'manually' (autotransmision) it just does not respond.

I am based in Lusaka in Zambia where there is only one dealership who have no idea what the problem could be. Is there anyone out there who has encountered a similar problem and has a potential solution?

Many thanks in advance
Mark

 

Not too many diesels on here. Check all of your filters. Fuel filter, air filter, also it looks like you have a heater in your filter. Might have them check fuel pressure. I am just throwing shots in the dark. If you post this in the Range Rover section, you might get more responses.

Good Luck!

 

Is your fuel tank pressurising as you drive? Try taking the filler cap off after a good run - if you get a 'hiss' of air going in then the breather is most likely blocked. If the hiss is air escaping, you'l know if it is as you'll probably have to catch the filler cap, likely there's something up with the injection pump.

 

hi i have 2.5dt range rover and have the same problem , i have spoken to my local landrover center and they have ones with the same problem , i am going to try a one way valve on the flow pipe it seems to me the fuel is flowing back to the tank when it is 1/4 , the fuel pipes run under the right side and under the back door near the chassie there are two pipe connecters this is were i am placing my valve its about a foot away from the tank i will keep you posted

 

You maybe got a low fuel pressure. Check your Fuel filter and Fuel pump. I think thats your problem.




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volkswagen parts

 

Its a different make, model and fuel but the principles of tracking down the fault may be similar. Years ago I purchased an Audi 100 estate car. It was cheap because the seller no longer trusted it. The engine was a five cylinder 2 litre petrol with Bosch K Jetronic fuel injection. The car ran OK on short trips (trips of up to fifty miles actually!) It ran OK in winter so it looked as if the fault had gone away. On a long trip the car travelled up from Cornwall and had passed Bristol when the power died away once more. That was a distance of about 120 miles! I managed to drive to a car park and camped for the night. Next day the car was OK so I drove to a parts shop and bought HT leads, distributor cap, rotor arm and the ignition module that drives the coil. After this the car ran splendidly even though it was raining. The weather improved near Birmingham and after a few minutes in the sun the power was lost again! If the car was rested for ten minutes it would drive for five minutes so it was a heat problem. The day had become hot and sunny and it took several hours to reach a VW dealer. (if only I'd had a pound for every V sign, the shaking fist and the one fingered salute) VAG wouldn't look at the car saying it was too complicated and at closing time they pushed me out onto the double yellow lines! I drove to a quiet street and started work. The fuel tank inside was as-new and the filter was clean. The petrol was quite warm which seemed odd but the pump consumes about 100 watts so perhaps that is what heats up the fuel. In the engine bay there was a Fuel Pressure Regulator. I guessed that the problem might be not enough fuel pressure causing the injectors to not spray properly. I unscrewed a big nut that one is not supposed to mess with and inside was a shuttle type of device. The rubber O ring inside fell out in three pieces which was "interesting" to say the least. A bodged-up O ring was made out of PVC sleeving and the regulator was put back together. To my great relief when the ignition key was turned the car was like Popeye after he had eaten his spinach. I found out later that three previous owners and their garages had been unable to find the fault so it looks as if the right staff are hard to find. Evidently when the fuel was cold the pump could build up pressure but when the fuel became hot the pressure was lost.

Someone I know had similar trouble with a VW Caddy van (Audi 110 BHP common rail diesel engine) Its a great pity that he didn't talk to me first even though I don't claim to be a diesel expert. The Main Dealer replaced the injectors, the camshaft, the cylinder head and the turbo during numerous attempts at trying to find the fault (check engine light coming on and the van going into limp-home-mode) £3,500 spent to no avail. With these engines it is a good idea to replace the injector wires and the plastic cradle that holds the wires every 30,000 miles as the vibration can cause the wires to crack. The other possibility is warm fuel and the high pressure pump losing pressure just like the Audi 100.

Someone else had trouble with a Citroen Picasso (common-rail diesel engine) The problem was caused by using an old container that had once held truck cleaner (detergent) to get diesel fuel. The tiny amount of truck-cleaner in the fuel destroyed the high pressure pump and the engine would not run. Vehicle recyclers normally sell the pumps complete with the engine but luckily a car came in that had a ruined engine. When the £150 reclaimed pump was fitted the Citroen started up instantly. Common rail diesel engines are very sensitive to bad fuel so one does have to be extremely careful. In particular never fetch fuel with containers that once held something else.

Hope this has been food for thought. Good luck!

 

When the tank is low you will get fuel sloshing about and air mixing with the fuel. I had a Rover 2.6 (petrol) that did that. The last bloke couldn't make it go properly so he weighed it in and I bought it for £75! The number one fault was about a quart of water in the fuel tank. This was soon solved. Unfortunately the tank had rusted internally and the rust used to come off and clog the fuel filters. On straight roads with a full tank the in-tank pump could make adequate pressure. On twisty roads with a low tank the car would stall as when air was in the fuel the pressure was very poor. Eventually I got very good at reverse-flushing the filters but the rust was an infernal nuisance.

Another thought, is the lift pump sucking air when the fuel is low? Many years ago I was given an end-of-life van (petrol) for moving house. The van had trouble getting started in the morning even though bro had rebuilt the lift pump twice. On its last day outside the knackers I tried to salvage what I thought would be a copper fuel line. It came as quite a surprise when the "copper" fuel line turned out to be a tube made of rust! Porous fuel lines are one of the most common faults with diesels and all makes seem to be affected. The local HGV repairers always use Kunifer as having forty tons broken down in the middle of nowhere can be rather costly.

Porous lines have been found on Rover 825SD (early), Discovery and numerous Renaults. There is a lot of bad pipe out there.