Hi

New to all this and trying to fix my old girl (200k mms!) so any help gratefully received. Im not a mechanic so need steady guidance but can follow a YouTube video.

Problem is with my TD4 2007. I'm really just trying to get it to Webuyanycar.com and walk away but now won't start.

A few months ago, I had noticed that there was some oil on intercooler on bottom driver side and some oil on the driveway...not much but enough to notice. Then the engine light came on but no loss in performance. Engine light then went off again and only intermittently comes back.

Having decided to get rid, we bought another car and this has now sat on drive for about 3 months waiting for me to get rid (should have done it earlier....so says the missus!).

Started her up yesterday and drove round for a bit just to warm it all up. "Reduced engine performance" warning came up and she limped home. Thought I'd give it a wash and another run around.

When tried to start up, lots of warnings about HDC not working and ATC not working and turned over but wouldn't fire up....just smoke from exhaust.

Looked at the threads on here and saw all the comments on battery etc regarding HDC. Recharged battery and also jumped from my Defender but no luck in firing (HDC problem now gone).

Bought a cheap code reader and read error codes. Turbo underboost was the only one. Cleared that.

Checked injectors getting fuel, cleaned MAF, topped up with coolant....reset computer.....disconnecting battery..ends together etc.

Tried again today on jump from Defender and after a few turns, she finally burst into life. Took her for a spin but clearly in limp mode as I couldn't get it above 3krpm.

Drove for around 25 miles to give her a fair crack at warming up. Came home, turned the car off. Tried to start again but back to the same old problem (reduced engine performance warning). No codes on reader.

So that's the puzzler........has running the car with the intercooler oil problem (probably done about 500 mls since first noticed) caused her not to start? How do I check?

Or is it all electronic, battery connected?

Strange that it has started, but then cant restart. Could that just be a sensor problem?

I'm not looking to spend any real money as I just want rid tbh...hence the webuyanycar option.

Any pointers gratefully received.

Or if somebody on here fancies a project......!

Looks to me like you have answered your own question, Intercooler split/Pipes split? Pipe connections need checking. That's where I would start looking.

Check the intercooler hose near where you noticed the oil leak. Hopefully it's only a split in the hose, common issue which throws up those faults. If so and you're looking to get rid, a few wraps with duct tape should do a temporary repair. Could be the intercooler itself split which you'll not hide as easily. Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

I would be very surprised if the intercooler hose would stop the car from starting. The turbo uses the exhaust gases to compress the incoming gases and at cranking speed there would be little compressor effect.
Now a battery that is stuffed isn't going to come back to life by driving around and giving the alternator a chance, discharged and rapidly brought back up to health yes, discharged and left for a few weeks = stuffed. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

That's my thoughts too. Why would intercooler problem stop the car from starting? its a problem to fix but shouldn't cause the issues that I'm noticing on start up.
But what I can't get my head round is why there is reduced engine performance from start up.

As someone who has had a split intercooler hose and has punctured two intercoolers (don't drive into a frozen pond the sheet ice makes a right mess of your radiators) I can state for the record that neither of the above will stop the car from starting, or indeed stop you from crawling the 60 miles back home from the pay and play site.

reduced performance could be quite a few things (EGR, air flow measurement, throttle body, sticking turbo actuator, fuel pressure come readily to mind) many of which would set a "permanent" fault that continues to be displayed after the fault has been cleared. It gets better, some faults can occur briefly and only be logged as "pending", after a certain number of pendings of the same fault they can then be logged as permanent. Some bless their cotton socks will disappear after a number of starts where the fault isn't detected.

Not very helpful - sorry Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Whopper
I have read your original post several times, and it seems to say your car won't start after quite a short period, but starts once you apply external 12v power it starts.

If your battery is very poorly then the rest of your 'random' faults are quite normal with the FL2.

I would advise a new battery first, before you start changing anything else. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

If it fits try swapping the defender battery into it rather than jumping it.

Also as yours is one of the early ones have you added the extra earth strap? It might be worth doing this as yours may be corroding and not working so well now. A nice fresh additional one might make all the difference.

I'd guess that you probably have two faults at the same time.

The intercooler hose / intercooler causing reduced performance and a combination of an old battery and poor earthing causing it to not start easily.

As an aside
My neighbour with a oldish diesel 4x4 had a dead car after leaving his ignition on all night.

While I was across in his drive loaning him my battery charger, another neighbour turned up with one of these 'magic' small lithium starter packs. It did manage to click a few relays, but did not have the capacity to start the car, and after a very short time it was dead.

I did wonder if it would work as it was in parallel (and in competition) with an enormous (dead) 12 v lead acid battery.

Is it necessary to disconnect the main battery when using these devices, as if the larger battery is flat, surely it is like trying to fill up a 15 gallon tank with the contents of a pint jug. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 77k+ miles) (MY2015)
Metro in its 11th Year of (Extended) LR Warranty / Full LR Service History
(Expensive, but Trouble/Worry free - hopefully?)

I have a Noco GB40 lithium starter pack.

It is supposed to do some rather large engined cars (can't remember what cc, but the Freelander was easily within it)

In all honesty they aren't great.

I tried it in our camper (2.5L TD - 23 years old) with no battery in place and it didn't stand a chance.

With a completely flat battery it will turn it over but struggles to start and flattens fast.

With a pretty dead battery but not completely flat it does a good job of just giving that little extra to get it started.

For a little engine it will probably do the job, it starts our kids quad bike with no battery in place.

Our seems to have some circuitry that detects when you actually start it, the lights change when you start cranking and it seems to give it the burst of power then, it does supply some power when connected though.

I actually bought ours for our EV. Stupidly most EVs still have a 12v battery which powers the computer which lets you use the main battery. If the 12v goes flat (leave a light on etc.) Then you are stuffed. This quickly connects up and let's you power up the computer, then you can start the car and it will recharge the 12v from the traction battery.

Check your PM's

Try unplugging the EGR valve
I had a poorly done remap on mine with egr mapped out and had this issue of no codes but limp mode
Unplugging the egr valve fixed it
You may also need to blank it off with a plate if its stuck open

The other thing I would look at is the throttle valve if that's stuck closed it makes starting hard to impossible

Interesting, but not unusual. I have a Friday Teabreak 2008 I have been trying to get going again. A stripped gear Turbo Actuator will give all sorts of problem codes. 2008 models seem to have trouble within the wiring loom under the Aircleaner body, the plastic cuts the wires. This puts the Can Bus out of action and sends the system into Crash Mode. It will never go again then. Trust me, I have had this happen on both my FL2's.