Yes Purflux filters do come in Landrover box's and Purflux filters have a thermostat in them, non genuine ones as a rule do not which in most cases can cause problems. 2013 FL2 XS.
Defender 90 300 TDi.
Defender 90 300 TDi CSW.
1964 MGB Roadster.
1944 Willys MB "Jeep" with bullet holes. (gone)
17 hand Irish Drought Thoroughbred (mostly lame)
Nagging Old Boiler.

Purflux are the OE manufacturer of this fuel filter, so obviously it meets the engine manufacturer's specifications. Bosch are a major player, so have the facilities to also manufacturer filters to the manufacturer's specifications.
It's well established in the Freelander 2 community that Purflux filters have the thermostat inside, so eliminating hot running issues. Presumably Bosch also have a correctly calibrated thermostat inside, as those also seem to be OK when hot.

The cheap filters either don't have a correctly calibrated thermostat, or have no thermostat at all. These do cause hot running issues, so are simple best avoided. While it seems counterintuitive that a filter with an incorrect or missing filter should be OK when hot, this isn't the case. The thermostat closes the return flow of warm fuel to the engine, causing cool fuel to be drawn from the tank. When the thermostat is missing, fuel is continuously being returned to the pump getting hotter as it's recycling over and over. The return line to the tank is smaller than the fuel flow line from the tank, so fuel recirculates back to the pump in preference to flowing to the tank. Obviously a small amount of fresh fuel has to come from the tank to replace what is used, but heat soak from the hot fuel and hot engine bay environment soon warms that up.

However this is all moot if the engine isn't even starting. 2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Soon to be sold.
Hyundai Ioniq 5 Ultimate on order.
Gone. 2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE.

Last edited by Nodge68 on 23rd Sep 2023 8:48 pm. Edited 1 time in total

The last time I changed my fuel filter and bled it as per usual, it would start, but not run for long.

In the end i plugged in my icarsoft and got an error code related to the fuel temp.

Cleaned it and and all was well.

What did you clean? Or was that cleared?

Car wasn't running, so no error codes produced.

Now at the mechanic for two weeks, no solution. Not an airlock allegedly. MY11 SD4 SE Auto

Yes, that should have read cleared...

It ran for about 10 seconds and at first i thought i hadn't bled it properly, but bled it again and still the same.

No EML, I just plugged the reader in out of curiosity.

Can't remember the specific code, but it was related to fuel temp...

Hope you get it resolved.

Hm.

The inlet valve stems are bent.

The camshaft timing chain slipped a tooth.

Well, after 3 weeks of taking up space in his workshop that's what the workshop manager claims. I can't see evidence of how they managed that diagnosis.

Anyway I ran out of time and money so (paradoxically) had to buy a replacement vehicle.

Still a "Land Rover" - Ford Everest.

3.2 litre 5 cylinder diesel. Fingers crossed.

Now got a few Freelander bits n pieces for sale. MY11 SD4 SE Auto

Wow expensive resolution!
Ive heard of timing belt breaking and causing engine damage, not so often chains.
The camshaft timing chain on these engines, I have never heard a single report of them failing or needing changed.
Did they strip the engine down, remove the head and show you the bent valves or is it just their 'professional diagnosis'?
Something sounds a bit odd, it was running fine presumably before the fuel filter change, how did this damage occur when the vehicle wasnt under any load?

(Id have bought your rubber mats but imagine the postage from Oz might be a bit ott.) 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 find that incredible.
How on earth does changing oil and fuel filters on an engine that was, presumably, running fine beforehand lead to bent valves ??

Was an excessive amount of "Cold Start" used during the garage's attempts to start the engine? I've read these highly volatile sprays can cause uncontrolled detonation inside the cylinder at the wrong point in the diesel engine cycle, resulting in extremely high cylinder pressures which can damage things.
Or was it simple revved to death with too much "Cold Start"?

I dont recall ever seeing a thread on this forum regarding slipped teeth on the camchain. Jules

I know.

It was running like a sewing machine in the driveway, then just stopped. Even more smoothly than hitting the Stop button.

But it simply would not start again. The (RAC equivalent) patrolman was the first to use the Start Ya Bastard (after the good old petrol soaked rag). The engine did cough once or twice. He was so persistent I WAS worried he was going to damage the engine.

And then I don't know what went on at the workshop. I do know they used SYB. After a week the workshop manager said it wouldn't start even with that. I think they did check the timing belt, as one of the wheel nuts was cross-threaded when I took the new tyres off and put the old ones on for the trip to the knackers.

Nuts ... knackers.

 MY11 SD4 SE Auto

If they cross threaded a wheel nut then that says a LOT !!  2013 FL2 XS.
Defender 90 300 TDi.
Defender 90 300 TDi CSW.
1964 MGB Roadster.
1944 Willys MB "Jeep" with bullet holes. (gone)
17 hand Irish Drought Thoroughbred (mostly lame)
Nagging Old Boiler.

Car is now gone, very sad.

Had a conversation with an ebay member and Freelander owner from Queensland, and had an interesting comment:

"This is what I know about the Ford Duratorq engine that might be related to your issue...

Inside the head there's a secondary timing chain (not the actual timing belt) that drives the cams, and apparently this is known to slip, and when it does the result is the bent valves etc that you're describing.

"For what it's worth, your particular cam chain problem is a known issue, but fairly rare so you were very unlucky. Engine problems seem to be uncommon - it's usually diffs/drive-train failures."

So, not the wrong brand of fuel filter.

Now you know - something else to listen for and sweat over. MY11 SD4 SE Auto

Sounds like awful bad luck - my commiserations

FWIW
The Ford Duratorq engines are not the same as the PSA DW12 that the FL2 uses.


Wiki says "In 2004, Ford introduced the Duratorq ZSD-422, a 2.2 L (2,198 cc) turbodiesel for top-of-the-range versions of the Mondeo and Jaguar X-Type which produced 155 PS (114 kW; 153 hp). This is unrelated to the PSA DW12 2.2 unit used in Peugeot and Citroën applications" Jules

Ah, quite right Jules, it's not the same. Maybe the other guy got the engine name mixed up.

As a matter of interest my replacement car DOES have a Ford DuraTorq engine in 3.2 litre.

Funnily enough back in the 90s I was looking at replacing my Disco 200Tdi with a Brazilian Ford diesel - IIRC that was also called a Duratorq. Shipping was a bit too difficult though.

Cheers MY11 SD4 SE Auto

We had 200tdi, 300tdi and TD5 Discos - the engines never any problems.
The TD5 was such a useful car - I still miss it. - its 23 years old now and still has an MOT and running somewhere. Jules