300tdi cold starting issues

when i start from cold, it is very diffiecult to turn engine over, almost like it has a flat battery, ive had 2 batteries in the last 3 months, they charge fine, but within a couple of days they down on power again, when it eventually starts the engine runs rough and smokes like hell until its warm, onces it is warm it is beautiful and a dream to drive, ive just ordered some new plugs as they are long overdue could they be the cause?

I have a similar problem, my battery has to be in tip top shape to turn it over when cold. I use a battery isolator switch at the moment until i find the problem. I am getting about 1ah draw on the battery. My Telehandler had the same problem and woudl always start when jump started. I swapped the battery for a new tractor one and it did the same so I replaced the starter and its never failed to start again. I am considering swapping the starter on the Landy for a WOSP one which is a geared high torque starter. Its twice the price but good for old cars which need that bit extra speed to turn over and draws less amps .
One way to check the starter is to get it in a vice connect it to a battery and start it spinning then jam a piece of soft wood into the spinning gear. you should not be able to stall it and it should eat through the wood like a milling cutter. Crude I know but its a good indication of the condition of the starter.

I would do this with mine but I have had 4 operations on my arm and cant really bend it yet until spring so it will have to wait. The wife just wont get under the landy for me.

hope that helps

thanks for the info buddy will try that when i get a chance, i have changed the glow plugs and hasn't made too much of a difference, the only difference is that its not running rough anymore,

but when i took the plugs out though 2 were drenched in engine oil, now i have completely rebuilt my block, and have put a second hand head on (glow plugs came with head), also changed turbo, this smoking issue has been around from the start and was one of the reasons i went for rebuild. there were a load of other issues too which all turned out to be individual issues

now i think that the smoking and the starting issue are 2 separate issues, my main concern is the smoking issue at the moment as there is an embarrassing amount of white/blue smoke coming from the exhaust until the engine is warm, (about 4 miles of running), this morning i took off the turbo/intercooler hose, soaked in oil, i then took off the filter box to turbo hose off soaked in oil but only to the point where it meets the cyclone breather hose, from the breather hose to the filter box is clear and filter is fine,

from what i can work out i need a new cyclone breather???

my thinking is that there is oil mist getting back into the air intake system and as the engine is cooling the mist is going back to oil and sitting in my air system, does this sound like a good diagnosis??

then i think the starting issue is either the motor or the solenoid

Even when fitting new glow plugs,check they are good before installing in engine-some are duff out of the box-you are looking for cherry red on the tip within seconds of power up.