Hey guys,

Starting to get a little worried here and I did a search but nothing particular to my issue came up. Here is what's happening;

Get in car, engine cold.
Press start
Engine turns over for 5-10 seconds
Finally starts.

Outside temp was 6 Celsius (42.8F) at the time
Gas is 3/8 full


Basically happened before here and there last winter but with no real pattern. It can happen if the car is warm, cold, full tank, half tank, 1/4 tank. I can't really think of a way to duplicate the problem but I will say that it was trouble free all summer and there were no issues with engine start. Now that the weather is getting a bit cooler it's coming back. I'm betting that this morning when I go to fire it up again the engine will start no problem. Then the problem will come back when I least expect it. Has anyone ever had this problem?

I'm gonna check the breathers today and clean the MAF sensors and see if that helps at all.

Other than that. Can someone please tell me where the fuel pump and fuel filter is located on the 2010s? Only seeing stuff for the 2006-9

Thanks for reading

UPDATE:

Started the car cold, same 5-10 second hesitation before starting. Pulled the car out into the driveway. Just cleaned the MAF sensors, and checked the breathers. Everything looks fine and clean.

Started the car again and same 5-10 second hesitation before starting. Drove it around for 5 mins to get to running temp. Shut it down at a stop sign for 10 secs. Started and it fired back up in less than a second, like it should. If this pattern persists, I'll assume that it's happening only when the engine is cold which would explain why it's happening now that the seasons are changing. Next troubleshooting step will be filling it up to see if a full tank improves the situation. If-so, it may be a fuel pump or fuel filter issue.

Just a side note. I have also posted this on rangerovers.net as their site caters more to the petrol engines but no one seems to know where the fuel filter and/or pump is located on the facelift gen of RRS's

I really hope someone can chime in with some useful advice other than "get a diesel" lol

Good afternoon lads,

I just wanted to bump this thread so it doesn't get lost in the myriad of posts here. I know that UK owners are partial to and buy mostly diesel Range Rovers but can't anyone chime in here? I'm starting to get the feeling that there is no love for the petrol versions due to today's gas prices and how thirsty these girls are.

Best regards from Canada and hoping for some help soon.

CANROVER wrote:

Hey guys,
Other than that. Can someone please tell me where the fuel pump and fuel filter is located on the 2010s? Only seeing stuff for the 2006-9

Sounds like a combination of cold temp, and weak battery, old spark plugs, old HT leads, damp/worn distributor parts.

You are keeping your foot away from the throttle when trying to start?

The usual petrol engine suspects. Don't fuel pump and filter problems usually manifest themselves when the engine is running on a high demand for fuel i.e. at high speed? 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE

Hey guys thanks for the replies,

To answer Paddi, I experience no issue whatsoever while driving at low speeds and under severe load. I tested it out in Sport mode with the dynamic setting and the car runs fine under all conditions. It is just having problems starting up.

Col,

Come on man, Really? I saw a YouTube video of a guy who modified his truck and cut into the seat compartment to gain access to the fuel pump but I'm pretty sure the video doesn't say it's on a 2010+.... I'll see if I can find the video again and post it.

I don't know who the genius was behind that design but I hope he was fired lol.


OK i found it and by looking at how the rear seats were flipped up I know it is not a 2010+



Col, I don't doubt what you're saying, I'm just hoping I won't have to drop the tank to get at the pump.

"Quote from Workshop Manual"

Fuel Tank and Lines - V8 5.0L Petrol/V8 S/C 5.0L Petrol

Fuel Filter - Located in Fuel Tank - If the Fuel Filter becomes Blocked a New Pump and Sender Unit must be Installed.


Cheers
Col

Thanks Col much appreciated.

Hi, I know a little about petrol engines having a few. Don't know much about your RRSs/c but I have an earlier version.
A couple of things
1. Although we don't get really cold weather down here but the Petrol companies still have Summer and Winter blends.
The winter blend is for cold starts. Therefore maybe its your fuel /supplier.
2. There may be a fault in the Air/fuel ratio which should be richer for a cold start.
3. Haven't heard of this one with an RRS but if the battery does not have a high enough CCR rating or is not the best with other similar SUV's the starter drags too much power and plays havoc with the EMS/ECU systems making them hard to start when cold.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for your reply CRACKA,

The starter is turning over solidly with lots of power so the battery is not an issue. Also the engine doesn't *try* to start it simply doesn't start and then -VROOM-!

I spoke with my service manager who was just promoted up from master tech and he said that my model and year have both a low pressure fuel pump and a high pressure pump. The LP pump primes the fuel in the tank and fuel line. That builds the pressure to something like 10-15psi, I can't remember, but the HP pump which resides somewhere near the engine block ramps up the fuel pressure to as high as 2000psi (yes TWO THOUSAND) once the fuel reaches the engine. He says that it's most likely the high pressure pump that is starting to fail.

Now here's the rub... Roverguy on the range rovers.net site (LR master tech) told me that it's probably the fuel pump valves that are sticking and as a first step to try fuel system cleaner so I added Lucas fuel system cleaner to a full tank of 94 Octane gas and ran it. The problem went away until the fuel level dipped under half tank and then it was back to the delayed starts. As the level went down the length of delay increased. Back to filling the tank to confirm that it was indeed a low fuel tank issue to confirm that is was a pressure issue. This time around though I used Seafoam fuel system cleaner and waited. The problem came back on a FULL tank and then it mysteriously went away. At this point I was certain that it is a failing pump and scheduled an appointment with the dealership who will try to recreate the problem. It's due to go in on Friday morning and it's now a little over 1/4 tank and the problem has completely vanished like a fart in the wind.

I'm fearing that now the dealership won't be able to recreate the problem and I'll end up looking a bit foolish but we'll see. I still have a 1/4 tank to go and the weather is getting colder so hopefully this problem rear its ugly head again soon.

Yes, it can be a number of issues.
Just clarifying the problem with the starter motors, although they seemed to be working fine, they were drawing too much power and this was causing a voltage drop to other systems.
Hope you locate & fix the problem.

Thanks CRACKA,

I managed to recreate the problem yesterday and sent the video off to the service manager. He thinks it's the high pressure fuel pump but let's see what they find tomorrow. I will post an update in case our friends across the pond experience the same symptoms.

CRACKA I bow down to your infinite wisdom and beg for forgiveness for ever doubting you lol.

Turns out it was the battery after all. When I bought it in Montreal the dealership put in an H7 battery which is too weak to start it properly. My dealership in Ottawa put in an H8 battery and so far so good. The service manager said that it is a safe bet this will fix the problem and explained why. If it doesn't, the fuel pumps should be covered under warranty so the most basic trouble shooting step is done. Hopefully that's all we will need because taking a fuel tank out just to replace the pump, sender and filter is a royal pain in the ass.

Cheers from Canada!!!

Last edited by CANROVER on Thu Oct 29 2015 9:40am. Edited 2 times in total

CANROVER,
Glad that you seem to have resolved the problem, with a little help from down under.
I came across this with another brand of SUV sold here in Aust. All seemed well but after 6-12 months the orginal batteries voltage dropped when trying to start below what was required to run the other systems properly.
Not sure what your H6 H7 means but we having been putting Batteries with more Cranking power and bigger Amph reserves than the orginals with success.
As you know there is a lot of electronics to run in an RRS so the bigger the Battery Capicity the better.

Ok so a bit of an update:

Last week I took the rangie in to the dealership and they discovered that it had an underpowered battery (H7 vs the more powerful H8s). They convinced me to change it for a few good reasons stressing that it may not solve my problem but would be the best trouble shooting step to start with and offered me a good price to boot.

I took the deal and the problem seemed to have disappeared. As of a few days ago the nights are now at the near freezing mark and the hard start issue is popping back up so its back to the dealership on Tuesday. The service manager assured me that if the battery doesn't solve the issue the next things to replace (fuel pumps, sender unit and/or filter) will be covered under warranty so aside from the inconvenience of it all, no money out of pocket.

My gut tells me it's the HP fuel pump like Roverguy said but let's see what happens. Fingers crossed.

For a closer look at my little adventure go to this site

http://www.rangerovers.net/forum/9-range-r...olved.html




OK,

So I've gotten some PMs about elaborating more but things were explained in a very techie way to me when I asked THEM to elaborate. "Ground Strap" was the term used and every time I would research that word those idiotic thingamabobbers hanging off GM owners bumpers and dragging on the ground with a baby reflector kept showing up on Google. Well boys, I think I found the holy grail of answers coupled with a good beer/wing session with the service manager.

When we were talking about this "ground strap" he said that it was the one off the battery but not the apparent one that you can see when you lift the battery cover. I said; "OK". Then he went on to say that when they found it it was just "hanging there"; which confused me a bit because the last time I checked the only ground connection I could find was the one that lead from the battery to the fender and it was in pristine condition and firmly attached to the right fender so he obviously could not have been talking about THAT "ground strap".

But that phrase, "just hanging there", haunted my thoughts as I drank my beer. Then we started talking about cars, girls and other stuff and the beer made me forget soooooooooo, yeah.

Now we come to this morning. 3:33am and I was having my mid sleep bathroom run and Boom Beach attack when I Googled; "2010 range rover sport battery ground strap" and found THIS

http://forums.roversnorth.com/showth...strap-question

Still drunk from my Boom Beach victory high I started reading not expecting to find much when the guy said THIS;

"I got back underneath the rover and found what looks like a ground strap hanging in air...the other end attached to the frame near the starter."

There was that word again "HANGING"...

I kept reading and the guy eventually fixed the issue by re-attaching the "GROUND STRAP" that was just "HANGING" in the air. The result was like night and day and accurately describes how my starter now cranks as I mentioned before in one of my previous posts.

You guys HAVE TO READ THE CONTENTS OF THAT ENTIRE LINK ABOVE BECAUSE IT IS EXACTLY WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO ME.

This must have been what my service manager was talking about because he said that as soon as they replaced and reinstalled "the ground strap" the problem went away.

And I'm happy to report that after a week of crappy cold weather the delayed start problem has not come back.

So folks, in an effort to make this real simple for those of you who are out of warranty and need your 120 per hour tech to pin point the problem have him check the ground strap for the starter and MAKE HIM SHOW IT TO YOU!!! Then have him check all the battery connections and follow each and every related cable from start to end and see if something is loosely connected or not at all. This may be your problem but keep in mind that in my warranty adventure, my service manager replaced the LP fuel pump, fuel filter and I'm guessing the sender unit because it all comes as one piece as well as the Battery and the Crankshaft Position Sensor on LRUKs recommendation. None of these three things fixed the issue until that "ground strap" was replaced and like the guy said in the link I provided above, the starter spun the crank with mucho gusto!

READ THAT LINK! it will really help you and the tech when you SHOW HIM THE LINK. Don't just tell the tech. Show him this post and make him show you what I'm referring to. This way, YOU get to see that starter ground connection and together you may be able to save a heap of time uselessly troubleshooting. If I were in your position this is what I would do to make sure the tech is actually doing what I'm asking him to do. Sorry if this sounds redundantly bossy but I don't want to see anyone write back saying; "I talked to the tech and he still can't find it." When I'm out of warranty and desperate I don't just talk to the techs I make them show me and try to help them... Especially if it was an issue like this.

Good luck lads and I hope you all get your cars starting smoothly and by the way, please PLEASE share it on this forum as I have so we all benefit from your experience.

Hope this helps someone