Hi Guys

Bought car a year ago. Asked my service guys doing service/mot to look into fact that starter turns over quite a long time before she fires. Sometimes cuts out after turning over - but then will start instantly. My guys say it sounds like a fuel problem but diagnostics don't indicate any faults. Other than that she runs beautifully. Any thoughts ??

If it hasn't already been done add a second earth cable from the battery. Common sense isn't very common.
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2007 Land Rover Freelander2 I6 hse Auto

Sounds quite hard to track down. Good Earths as already suggested and fuel filters clean plus fully charged good battery. A starter motor kit may help and its not that expensive (do a search). FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Glow plugs ??




im no mechanic but in my experience petrol engines normally have starting problems due to poor fuel feed, poor spark or poor earth.

as has been said, add the extra battery earth lead (cheap and can only benefit things even if it doesn't fix this fault), check the battery/alternator are in good order (FL2 don't like low voltages), check there is a good spark getting through to each cylinder and check the the fuel is good coming through the injectors.

axle wrote:

If it hasn't already been done add a second earth cable from the battery.

There is quite a bit of discussion on this site about it... think there is even a sticky thread as its that's common a mod/issue

its from the battery to the gearbox housing normally I think.

http://www.freel2.com/forum/post194279.html

Thanks again. I'll try it and let you know any results.

Going back to the fuel system as a potential source of the problem - might be worth trying a bottle of Wynns Injector Cleaner just to give the fuel system a spring clean No Longer the owner of a 2013MY Fuji White GS

"Fiat Lux" a philosophy not a car

First I need to know a few things

Is there a delay between pushing the start button and the engine cranking?

Is the cranking slow?

Does the engine crank fast for a few seconds and then give up and you need press the start button again for the engine to start?



A few recommendations - depending on how you answer the three questions above some of these may not apply

1. Charge the battery - does it start faster

2. check the voltage at the battery when the engine is running - is it about 14 Volts

3. check the voltage drops when cranking - B+ to B-, B+ to starter, B- to engine block

4. consider getting a amp meter that can check the current going to the fuel pump


There are other areas to look at but this is a good place to start

Happy Motoring

Paul

Thanks for the response. I am no technician so I am getting my mechanics to fit an extra earth lead as suggested by others. The engine cranks normally but seems to take a longer time to fire than most cars I have been familiar with. Occasionally it cranks as described and then cuts out. When this happens and the starter button is pushed again it always fires immediately.

I will pass your comments to my mechanics for when they do the earth lead and see what they make of them. Thanks again.

Frank,

I measured the voltage drop on my Freelander 2 about a year and half ago



Here are my results for the voltage drops for your reference

I removed the fuse for the fuel pump so that my LR2 wouldn't start it will only crank (the fuse in in the box by the front passengers feet)

Battery voltage (initial) 12.25 Volts

Battery voltage (cranking) 10.97 Volts (less than 9 Volts, replace the battery)

Voltage drop (cranking) B+ post to exposed copper on the cable .047 Volts

Voltage drop (cranking) B+ post to alternator cable .240 volts

Voltage drop (cranking) B- post to valve cover .381 Volts

As a general rule the total voltage drop (excluding the starter) should be less than 1 Volt

In my case .047 + .240 + .381 = .668 Volts total drop (not including the starter)

A good target is .3 Volts for the positive and .3 volts for the negative

In my case positive side is .287 volts and negative is .381 volts

If its not clear where I made the measurement let me know and I'll take some pictures


Note: the extra earth lead fix will help with the voltage drop on the negative side of the connection in my case .381 volts


If your measurements are the same or better than what is shown above I wouldn't make any changes to the positive or negative connections.

Happy Motoring

Paul

Frank,

I did recently replace my starter and the new starter is significantly faster than the old starter.

The part is not expensive and it isn't difficult to replace.


For reference here is what I bought (Note: this may not be the cheapest option for you due to international shipping)

http://www.rmeuropean.com/Products/LR029180-MFG14.aspx

The starter is brand new and I didn't need to send my old starter back for a core charge.


It may be a good preventative maintenance item to replace your starter.

My died without warning.

In fact this is the only time that my Land Rover wouldn't start except for the time that the battery died (but that was during the warranty period so it was no cost to me)

Good Luck

Paul

Thank you so much for all the info Paul. I'll pass it on and we'll see where we get to.

Regards,

Frank

Frank,

Sorry for the triple reply but the three items are not related.

One last thought.

Like you I also noticed that my Freelander 3.2 was somewhat delayed in starting.

I checked several things to see why.

One of the items that I checked completely changed my expectation.

I bought a meter that measures the current (amps) going to the fuel pump module.

The meter that I bought can be found here

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W8FM...&psc=1

I removed the fuse for the fuel pump module and I used the meter to measure the current flowing to the module.

What I noticed was that the fuel pump module doesn't turn on until the engine is cranking and that as soon as the meter registered that the fuel pump module was using current (a few amps) then the engine started.

The delay was inherent to the design.

As soon as I saw that the starting delay corresponded directly to the current flowing to the fuel pump module I stopped worrying about it.

This is as the Volvo engineers intended it to be.

And only Land Rover owners with Volvo Engines even notice the delay.

Good Luck

Paul