Re: Disco Engine randomly dies

Many thanks for that - I will pass the message on to her today

Yes, this sounds like a stop solenoid problem. Don't try to save money by choosing a cheap copy. Bite the bullet and get an approved spare from a Land-Rover agent. The cheap versions on offer are very prone to fail again - one I used even caught fire! And engine cut-out means the Disco's power steering and braking fail. Suddenly you are driving an unresponsive, power-less vehicle. The thought of this happening at 60 mph in a middle lane on a crowded motorway is alarming. In my view it is a serious design fault that failure of an electrical connection or the solenoid causes the Disco abruptly to loose power and control. The fail-safe default should be that failure leaves the engine running. I expressed these thoughts to Land-Rover. The response was that solenoids are very reliable and don't fail ...

Alan

my 1996 disco died suddenly.. just cut out to the check engine light coming on.. done it for 6 months and no-one could find...turned out to be a bad earth on the accelator pot.. if its electronic accelator worth getting checked pedro

Thanks very much Alan, my Sister is going to get this part replaced at the week-end to see if that cures the problem.

Thanks Pedro, I have told my Sister your message and she will get the garage to check this out when she has the new stop solenoid fitted.

Everyone is being very helpful, thank you :-)

Lofty

snaip

Lofty, I think most people would suggest the stop solenoid closing as the problem. I've experienced this on a couple of Tdi Discoveries and both times it was the wire contact that was the actual problem. It is a simple spade connector and beinf exposed to the dirt and muck of the engine bay can become corroded creating an open circuit. This is a well known "feature" of the diesel Discovery.

Before your sister heads off to the dealer - who will undoubtedly change the solenoid and charge her a fortune for the priveledge - I would strongly suggest pulling the connection off (it's a single white wire attached to the rear of the solenoid) and cleans it up a bit.

It may be the solenoid itself, but it must be worth 10 minutes of someones time to check the connection first just in case ...

Regards Steve G

remove the nospam to email me

Many thanks Steve, I will get my sister to get my Brother in Law to get his hands dirty before taking it to the garage.

Very useful advise - thanks :-)

Going back to Alan's comments. I have always said that having electrical fuel cut-offs on diesels is simply designing-in problems. This is now a serious issue for power boat owners as engine loss in bad weather can literally be fatal! Yet the latest marine electronic injection engines still have electronic fuel cut offs. Convenience over reliability. What chance have us road users got! Peter