Yesterday I drove my RR Classic home from the mechanic (needed new CV joint) with no problems. At 4:00 I ran an errand and the car died backing out of the driveway. It started back up just fine. Then it died about 2 minutes later at a stop light. Again, it started up fine. As I drove through the intersection it began to hesitate and would not go past 30 even though I was accelerating. I stopped at a gas station and filled her up and let her run for about 10 minutes. No problem.

Later I drove about 30 miles to school and still had no issue. When I was coming home it started to hesitate 1x and wouldn't go past 40. It felt like it was going to die. I pulled over to the side of the road, reved up the engine, turned the car off, turned it back on and drove it home, no problem.

This morning I had to go back to class. It was driving fine but after I got some coffee and got back on the interstate it acted up again. I pulled over and the car just about died. I turned it off and turned it back on and drove off with no problem.

I did notice that it did not seem to have much power. I was going to drop it off at a mechanic later but wanted to check with you guys first.

Wasn't sure it may be a fuel filter, fuel pump, or some or issue like this. . . or the gearbox. I'm not a mechanic. . .

Any thoughts?

I have to drive back to Boston today for school. . .

Brandon

 

The gearbox can cause this but usually only when its stopped and not while its moving. How old are your 02 sensors? Does it only do this after its warmed up? You could try replacing the fuel filter and seeing if that helps. You can also try unplugging the MAF sensor to see if you notice a difference. I am not an expert on the classic, but I'll bet what is happening is that the rover is warming up and then starts trimming the fuel with the 02 sensors. It hesitates or stalls, and then you restart it and it resets the ECU a little so it won't take the readings from the 02 sensor until a certain amount of time has passed... This is only a possibility and I wouldn't go replace the O2 sensors until your sure that is the problem. I believe you can test the voltages on them with a voltmeter to see if they are functioning properly.

 

can you tell me where the maf is? i will unplug it after class and see if that helps...

 

Make sure the engine is OFF when you do this! Its right after the air filter

 

Thank you! When I got home I realized I had one of those CD manuals and will reference that in the future. I drove it to the parts store to get some cleaning spray. I disconnected and reconnected the MAF sensor in my garage. When I backed it out of the garage the car was running really rough in partk. It died 2x once at a stop sign just down the street from my house and then about a block later. It just died will driving. . . I started it back up again and IT RAN JUST FINE. I was able to make it to the parts store and back with no problem.

I unplugged it and plugged it back in. I got some MAF cleaner spray and unscrewed the MAF disconnected the houses and sprayed it out. I also cleaned out the connectors with an eletrical cleaner (I noticed some build up on them).

I started it up and it ran fine. I was in the driveway. It died. I started it back up again and it is still running

I guess I still need to check the voltage on the MAF?

I am still going to change the fuel pump later. Could it be the fuel pump? Also, do I have a coil pack? I'm not able to locate it. . . Do you mean the distributor cap? Guess I'm learning how to be a mechanic on this vehicle.

 

I would test the fuel line pressures first before going and replacing the pump, considering they are about $200. I wouldn't think its your MAF sensor at this point. Cleaning it is definitely a good thing, I noticed a 3 mpg increase when I cleaned mine. How long does it run for until it dies? I think its a distributor cap and its located on the back of the engine and is where all the spark plugs connect. I doubt its the distributor cap, if it was having a problem you would probably have all sorts of misfires and the engine would sound terrible. The fuel pump really depends... my boss's classic had a similar issue and buying a new pump didn't solve anything. You might try swapping your EFI fuse with one you know is good. That ended up being the problem with his after it refused to start one day. It still dies though, but only on longer trips. Handsomrob on the forums here had an issue with his P38 randomly dieing and it ended up being his fuel pump fuse, it had a hair line crack in it that would open up as it got hot.

 

I found the EFI fuse under the passanger side front seat. I have a 3.9 and don't know if they fuse placement differs from 4.0. The manual says that the two on the FAR RIGHT are the EFI and they are (1) 10A RED and (1) 20A. I will replace both.

I also don't know where to locate the O2 sensors to test them. Any help here would be appreciated.

Also, is this the breather filter? In this picture? It looks a little worn down and I was going to replace it. Could this possibly be the culprit?

 

It really can be a number of things. I found this article for you online: http://rangerovers.net/rremedies.htm#stalling , it seems there is a lot that can cause a classic to stall.

 

Okay. . . It's been a few days and I drove my vehicle about 100 or 200 miles. . . The problem has not come back. I changed the fuses, and cleaned out the MAF and the sensor. I also noticed that my crankcase breather filter was heavly gunked up with sludge and I cleaned that out too (I'm going to order a new breather filter). . .

I saw build up of sludge under the valve cover (if that's what my crankcase breather screws into). . . I'm wondering if I should get that cleaned out?

Regardless, the problem has not resurrected. . . since I cleaned out the crankcase breather and MAF.

 

If it happens again, check the codes from the ECU. Its a display under the front pax seat near the door. Might have to remove the plastic trim to see it. I took it off its mount so i could see it from the front access of the seat. It will make since when you find it.
It should throw a code or two if that sort of problem resurfaces. The codes are in the Rave manual, or just ask here. The rave has a series of test to do on the ECU so you can find the part that is causing the problem. Much easier than throwing parts at it.
I would check the idle air valve if you had that much gunk in the top of the engine. here's the link
http://www.okierover.com/airidlervalve.htm