300 tdi - cold starting problem

about a week ago i managed to run out of fuel in the defender and ever since then i have been having a lot of trouble getting the engine to start from cold.

normally it would come to life with the briefest of turns on the starter but now its a good 10 to 15 seconds on the starter and pumping the throttle to get it going. once started it runs fine and if switched off for a short while and then restarted it fires straight up.

can anyone suggest whats going off?

you leaving the glowworms go out first?

THEengineer said:

you leaving the glowworms go out first?

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yeah, ive even tried cycling the ignition 3 or 4 times before attempting to start but makes no difference.

Could have picked up some crud from the bottom of the tank which has got into the lift pump and is stopping its valves sealing properly so fuel is draining back to tank? Some pumps can be stripped/cleaned (normally ones with a screw on the top)

+1, It's obviously picked up a load of crud from the bottom of the tank, I'd also be looking at swapping the fuel filter and if there's no change after the pump has been cleaned then I'd be looking for if there's any air getting in the system and allowing the fuel to drain back into the tank

Mine has the same symptoms, I thought I was going to have to jump start it this morning.

I reckon its an air leak somewhere, so the fuel is running back into the tank, which is why it only struggles to start when having stood for a while.

Yeh same here , has been happening for a while but this morning was the worst , and noticed disco was parked up hill as aposed to normally down hill. So definitely a fuel draining back to tank issue , but where to start? It starts with a diff of the key all day long after that even after a few hours parked.I don't think my lift pump was right since I fitted last year, ( cheapo) so may start with that, I've also bypassed the sedimemter a few months back to see if it was that, next I suppose I'll check the top of the tank. I have clear pipes as leak off on the injectors and can see air in them. Should I?