struggling to start ?

[chris_harvey]

hi all  :D    my car (k reg 200tdi disco) has only recently in say the last 2 weeks started to struggle when i turn it over . it start sumtimes first turn immediately but other times its turning over for about 3-5 seconds before it fires  :-.
once its running it runs fine so i don't know what it is Ive done a fuel filter on it and a bg44k fuel additive that cleans injectors and all that malarkey it was doing it before i done anythink tho so cant be from the new filter  . i been and had the battery and alt checked both came up fine

any1 have any ideas ??
thanks in advance !

[disco2 td5]

Could it be the glow plugs or the relay packed up

[muddy eveitt]

try cleaning all cables that come off ya bat coz ive had same prob with my 90 with a 200 tdi  disco lump in and it ended up being the earth cable that wasnt contacking good so thats what i would say mate coz my 90 was like that for 3 weeks then last nite i poped to the shop and when i got bk in me truck all lights went out and i had no power but now after some hours looking and cleanin things it ended up being the main earth lol bloody landys hay we all love them as much as we hate them pmsl hope this helps ya out buddy  lol let me know what prob was if u find out if ya dont mind

[chris_harvey]

it seems ok today started first crank of the key all day its been a very warm day tho  :doh: am i rite in thinkin it mite be warn out heater/glow plugs

[disco2 td5]

Id say it could be them does it start awful first thing in the morn then ok for the rest of the day if yea it's prob the glow plugs or they arnt gettin power

[rover51]

i'd go and get an additional earth strap ( what i did on my 300tdi disco ) that sorted out the starting problems
but might be worth getting new glow plugs they arent very expensive.

[Saffy]

tdi dont really need glow plugs to start - not in this country and only then in deepest harsh winter.  

If it's turning over healthy then it won't the earth strap. (Is it turning over at a healthy speed and sound?)

I experienced this recently on a 200tdi defender I been breaking that wouldn't cold start without a lot of cranking, but was fine starting from then on until left for a few hours/days then it took ages again. Sometime it took so long the battery would almost flatten. Lucky enough the problem wasn't too hard to spot as previous owner had fitted clear fuel lines and it was easy to observe that the fuel was slowly draining back to the fuel tank when engine was off- so no fuel in lines. The longer it was left the harder it was to start. It came to a head when it wouldn't start OR prime at all. The problem was the mechanical fuel lift pump, either had a hole in diaphragm or didn't seal properly..either way it was letting fuel leak past and causing the starting problems. Swapped out the lift pump, primed the system right away and problem solved.

[les baty]

not sure about the 200tdi, but if it was a 300tdi i would be looking at the lift pump, also do they have a sedimenter like the 300tdi if so clean it out.

[russ3120]

when you say you had the battery checked, was it just the voltage, or did they check the amps aswell. had a similar problem on the missus 300tdi disco, found it was the battery loosing its amps, although it was holding 12v