Daft question you might think, but I'm still getting used to the RR & can't work what actually happened while driving yesterday (2006 3.6 TDV8)
It's a long winded description, but can anyone with relevant experience help / tell me which is more likely - fuel too low or intermittent fuel pump problem ? Ie can I ignore it or not - lol.
Any guidance gratefully received

Car had been running fine for 10 miles, remaining fuel was showing as 83miles (maybe just under an 1/8 full on the gauge), I was driving round a mini roundabout at maybe 10mph & there was suddenly an audible bong, the yellow warning triangle in the dash display & a message possibly about reduced performance & something else ( due to traffic, steering etc I wasn't concentrating on the dash lol !).
The engine performance felt odd & then within a couple of seconds it decided it wasn't accelerating at all (limp home mode I assume ?).
I just had chance to pull onto the side of the road & the engine stopped.

After turning the ignition off & back on, there were no warning messages on the dash, the engine would spin over fast, but wouldn't fire.

A couple of times previously, I've run slightly lower on fuel (according to the remaining range), until the yellow warning light came on, without any problems before re-fuelling, so didn't think low fuel should be the problem.
However, as I'd used my Gap tool only a few days previously & not identified any faults, I decided I'd better add 5 litres after a quick walk to the nearest petrol station.
After adding the 5 litres, the gauge showed just above an 1/8 full & range was maybe 100 miles (surprisingly small increase).
The engine again would spin over, but wouldn't fire. A few more attempts & it coughed once, but wouldn't start.

Breakdown service called & they agreed to recovery home (without any further discussion !)

They arrived after an hour & I tried the engine again. It fired & ran for a few seconds while lining up the car for recovery - then died again.
It was winched on & brought home.
At home it started immediately & kept running.

It now seems fine, but there were 3 engine related fault codes stored - as follows :

PCM-Engine TDV8

• P2290-00 (6 Injector control pressure too low

• P0087-00 (6 Fuel rail/system pressure - too low

• P0191-23 (6 Fuel rail pressure sensor range/performance - General signal failure - signal stays low

Do these indicate a pump failure or that it had no fuel to pressurise ?
(After clearing, they've not re-appeared after a 10 mile drive today) Paul,
2001 Discovery 2 TD5, 211,000 miles & climbing
2006 FFRR TDV8 Vogue 145,000 miles & climbing
Member of Midland (Land) Rover Owners Club, www.mroc.co.uk

My guess is the fuel drained away as you went round the roundabout, starved the engine so it stopped and went into limp mode, it wouldn't start because you've sucked a load of air in it and you had an air lock in the system.

Either that or you've sucked a load of crap out of the bottom of the tank into the fuel system, I never let any of my vehicles get under 1/4

I can't tell you if you have a problem with your fuel pump, but I have had a similar experience myself.

Last year my RR just died on me and the IID tool pulled up low fuel pressure warnings. My gauge was 1/8 tank. AA decided that my fuel pump had gone and pushed me to local landrover dealer (it was only 50 yards down the road).

Local dealer put 10 litres of fuel in, gave me a bill for £200 and told me I had run out of fuel as one of my fuel senders had failed. The fuel senders are a known issue as there is a connector block in the tank that can get diesel in it

I would suggest adding some more diesel, clearing the fault codes and see if the fault codes reappear 56 TDV8 Vogue SE
9 Freelanders, 2x 2002 TD4ES, 2001 TD4, 2002 1.8GS, 2000 XEDI, 2x 2000 1.8ES, 2004 1.8 & 2000 1.8 GS (rolled)
91 Lotus Carlton (sold)
90 Lotus Elan (BRG)

wack61 wrote:

Either that or you've sucked a load of crap out of the bottom of the tank into the fuel system, I never let any of my vehicles get under 1/4

I don't know the design spec of your model but my 2002 TD6 had a similar issue a few years back. It turns out that there is a 'Saddle tank' fitted to clear the rear diff. This tank has the fuel sender fitted in one side opposite to where the fuel exits the tank to the fuel pump. To clear fuel from this dead side of the tank to the side where it exits the tank, there is another pump mounted in the tank. When this fails you have a gauge showing fuel but no fuel in the side where the main pump draws from the tank. Topping it up and then cranking the engine constantly will eventually bleed the system and allow it to run. This is probably what happened to your car. You can either make sure that you always have enough fuel in the tank or get the secondary pump replaced. I hope this helps? The Best 4x4 by far, so long as you have deep pockets.

Since filling up & clearing the fault codes, there've been no other odd behaviours so I think it must have been a sender accuracy issue / low fuel problem rather than main fuel pump.
From the various semi related forum posts I have seen that there are 2 fuel level senders, 1 each side & as you say a pump that balances the fuel each side
I'm not sure if there's any easy way of testing senders or in tank pump, so as a few have suggested, I'll be re-filling earlier than I was to make sure I don't run out again ! Paul,
2001 Discovery 2 TD5, 211,000 miles & climbing
2006 FFRR TDV8 Vogue 145,000 miles & climbing
Member of Midland (Land) Rover Owners Club, www.mroc.co.uk

I know that if the fuel senders have been taken out and then someone turns on the ignition it loses the memory. This will then results in incorrect readings from the fuel senders because they then read/signal at what ever position they are in when turned on. Perhaps this has been done to yours in the past? The Best 4x4 by far, so long as you have deep pockets.

I find it best to fill up when fuel gauge gets to just below a quarter full. I've been embarrassed a couple of times but luckily was close to home. I probably have a duff transfer pump or fuel sender. The miles to empty shows 60 - 80 miles to go. Previous cars:
S-Max 2007-2013 (only diesel I've had, good car but expensive when diesely bits go wrong, so what's the point?)
Galaxy 2001-2007
Mondeo Estate 1997-2001
Sierra Estate 1993-1997
Uno Turbo 1987 -1993
Fiesta 1984 - 1987
Fiat 127 1982 - 1984

I've now accepted the distance estimation can't be trusted & am also filling up when the guage is showing just under 1/4 full.
I changed the fuel filter a few days ago, bled the system a few times & tried starting the engine.
The engine started briefly, then stopped. After a few more attempts at bleeding the engine finally started & ran smoothly.
The symptoms were very similar to when the car originally stopped when I didn't know what had happened.

I'm now fairly certain that original problem was running low on fuel - not to be repeated - lol.

Thanks for everyone's input - it has helped understand what was happening. Paul,
2001 Discovery 2 TD5, 211,000 miles & climbing
2006 FFRR TDV8 Vogue 145,000 miles & climbing
Member of Midland (Land) Rover Owners Club, www.mroc.co.uk