Shell have called me back... apparently it was my fault for leaving the car out in the cold all night.

They asked what the temperature was - I replied -15°C. "There you go then"

"There you go then what? Your tech department told me the DPPF was between -15°C and -20°C".

They're going to call me back again! Freelander 1 TD4 HSE - gone, 2 weeks after the Cat.Converter!
Freelander 2 TD4 SE Auto MY08 - Santorini black

Well then how do they explain that last winter temps of -17C and -18C had no effect on my car which was sat on the drive all night. The temp on one day fluctuated from -18C on start up to a balmy -16C by the time I had driven 16 miles to work. Then at 6PM I recall it being -17C in the work car park and still no issues

It did cause the air con to malfunction at work though which meant I was sat at my desk with my coat on and a fan heater.  LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

razmabaz wrote:

Shell have called me back... apparently it was my fault for leaving the car out in the cold all night.

They asked what the temperature was - I replied -15°C. "There you go then"

"There you go then what? Your tech department told me the DPPF was between -15°C and -20°C".

They're going to call me back again!

A stupefying response from Shell

What's the betting that no one gets back to you

wingit wrote:

What's the betting that no one gets back to you

Actually, somebody did call back but I missed the call(s). They left a message saying they'd call again (again - they left two messages ) I'm hopeful  Freelander 1 TD4 HSE - gone, 2 weeks after the Cat.Converter!
Freelander 2 TD4 SE Auto MY08 - Santorini black

Just had an update from Shell - still investigating and will call me again in a week. (I even have a reference number now - [28403172 so I don't forget])

Who knows what will happen? Freelander 1 TD4 HSE - gone, 2 weeks after the Cat.Converter!
Freelander 2 TD4 SE Auto MY08 - Santorini black

Shell Shocked

Perhaps they are still selling there 'summer' stock  2002 Honda VFR800
2002 Toyota Celica 140 Silver (mid life crisis - again!)
2007 FL2 GS Manual Army Reconnaissance Green + freel2.com sticker
2004 Toyota Celica 140 Black - Gone
2000 Toyota Celica 140 Silver - Gone
1998 Toyota Celica ST Pearl Green - Gone
1996 Nissan Primera 1.6 - Gone
1994 Rover Montego 1.6 Auto - Gone

I don't believe it's a fuel problem ..... I leave my Freelander out every night. For the past three winters we've had temperatures of -20 at night and the car has started and run without fault. The winter of 09/10 was espicially bad and I even spent new year week in the highlands so, even during the day, the temperature was not above -10! I'd be tempted to look at electrical/cable fault around the battery .... there are posts on here about upgrading the cables off the battery which might be pertinant. Another point is from what I read, deisel is circulated from the tank to the engine, where it's heated and then unused diesel is returned to the tank ... anybody any information on that. If that's true, the diesel in the tank should eventually reach a temperature where the ambient temperature doesn't affect it. 2008 Freelander2 GS TD4
New steering pump and rack fitted 10000 miles (warranty)
Driver's seat started 'dropping' 30000 miles
Rear parking sensors giving continuous tone when raining heavy 35000 miles
Rear parking brake siezed 40000 ... new rear disks and pads (warranty)
Clutch slipping 54,000 ... new clutch ... £800 ! ... (not warranty)
Rear diff bearings replaced at 60,000 and 85,000 (warranty)
New DMF and clutch, rear diff (uprated nose bearing), front and rear disks at 115,000

The Doctor wrote:

Well then how do they explain that last winter temps of -17C and -18C had no effect on my car which was sat on the drive all night.
It did cause the air con to malfunction at work though which meant I was sat at my desk with my coat on and a fan heater.

Just come across this thread and interesed because I too was in the Fens that night at a dinner party and left my friends house a 1am. FL2 showed -12C. I had no problems at all, well except that I needed the heated seats on full. My beast was full of BP Ultimate - filled up that afternoon. So you never know you may have had a duff losd of fuel courtesy of Shell.

PS Mona Geeza - Wind Chill doesn't lower the temperature it just makes you feel colder hence the heated seats for my A...e. A tank of fuel would be unaffected and would be at the ambient termperature.

Is this the same fault that says "HDC fault" when you start the Freelander up then displays "reduced engine performance" on the dash?.

When it's been cold the last couple of month my Freelander displays this a lot but when I take the key fob out and re-insert it the car works fine.

I never had this problem last winter though and last year was a great deal colder than this year in Durham. The only differance is that last year I was putting Reddex in with the Diesel and this year I haven't been.

Would this make a differance to the gelling point of the Diesel? I know that years ago people used to mix a small amount of parafin in with Diesel to stop it gelling.

The HDC fault usually means low battery power, maybe a check with an Auto Electrician could give you more information. Gone, 2007 TD4 SE Auto Baltic blue, clear side repeaters, full sized alloy spare.

English by birth..... Yorkshire by the grace of God.

I'll have a look at the battery at the weekend as I have a amp meter laid about.

Any idea how oftern you should change the battery on a Freelander or how often one lasts, I'd say mine is the original so will of been on for neally 5 year.

I was once told a 4x4 battery should be replaced every 3 because of the large "drain" needed when starting

Mine is a genuine LR battery not sure if it's original or not, car bought used and now has 102k so probably a replacement. Gone, 2007 TD4 SE Auto Baltic blue, clear side repeaters, full sized alloy spare.

English by birth..... Yorkshire by the grace of God.