Discovery Diesel: Boost Control Issues or Turbo Failure?

Hey! I had a similar issue on my 2014 Range Rover with the diesel engine. I have some experience working on cars but nothing too fancy. The symptoms you're describing sound exactly like what I dealt with last month. My mechanic found a damaged wiring harness connected to the boost pressure actuator. The wires were basically worn through, causing all those exact symptoms, the black smoke, power loss, and that annoying whistling noise. Got it fixed at my regular workshop, cost me around 155 Euro including labor. The car runs like new now, no more smoke, normal power, and fuel consumption is back to normal. Before I can give more specific advice, what's the engine size and mileage on your Discovery? Those details would help me share more relevant info about what to look out for.

Thanks for the detailed response! My Discovery has 183681 KM on the clock and had its last service about three months ago. Your experience with the wiring harness issue is really helpful, the symptoms match exactly what I'm experiencing. Good to know it might not be something catastrophically expensive. Did you notice if the problem got worse gradually or did it just suddenly appear? Also wondering if you had any warning lights before the main symptoms started showing up? I'll definitely get my mechanic to check the wiring harness first, seems like a logical place to start.

Hey again! Yeah, I remember dealing with my Range Rover issue pretty well. About your questions, in my case, the problems actually started pretty gradually. First, I noticed a slight whistling noise that I initially ignored (bad move, I know!). Then over about 2-3 weeks, it got progressively worse, the black smoke started showing up, and the power loss became more noticeable. The warning light was kind of interesting, it flickered on and off a few times before staying on permanently. I learned the hard way that I should've paid attention to those early warning signs! Just to add to my earlier reply, when my mechanic was fixing the wiring harness, he mentioned that these issues are pretty common in our engines after about 150-180K kilometers. The wire insulation tends to wear down due to engine heat and vibration. One tip, while you're getting it checked, have them look at the surrounding connections too. In my case, there was some minor corrosion on nearby connectors that could've caused problems down the line. Better to catch all these things while they're in there, right? Let me know how it goes with your Discovery, I'm curious if it turns out to be the same issue as mine!

Thanks so much for all this valuable info! It's really reassuring to hear about your experience, especially since our situations sound so similar. What you're saying about the gradual progression makes total sense, now that I think about it, I did notice some minor whistling a few weeks before things got bad, but like you, I brushed it off (guess we both learned that lesson!). That's a great tip about checking the surrounding connections. I'll definitely mention that to my mechanic when I take it in. The fact that these issues are common around my mileage range makes me feel better, at least it's a known issue and not something totally bizarre. I've already called my mechanic and booked it in for tomorrow morning. I'll update you once I know what they find. Really hoping it's just the wiring harness like in your case. You've saved me a lot of worry, I was imagining much worse (and more expensive) scenarios! Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience in such detail.