300tdi cold starting

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
G

Giles R

Member
Posts
16
Location
Dordogne, France
Hi everyone. As a complete novice with diesel discos (sensibly changed from a 4.0 V8 recently), I wonder whether anyone has had the same issues as I when cold starting (i.e. in the morning).

Standard (+blanked off EGR) 300tdi auto, turns fine-ish but splutters into life in the morning (worse than my old Massey Fergusons 152). Suspect battery is a bit feeble and have glow plugs to replace, but any other obivous things to look out for. It can stand all day and starts well but it seems to be the cold and perhaps humidity(?) that causes it. Bit of a concern as we live in France and it can get down to -8 where we live. School run could be an issue. I guess I could put it in the garage but then where would I put the tractor?

Thanks in advance.

Giles
 
At the moment we're not cold 4/5 degrees. Interesting about decking the throttle, what I do with my (petrol) Merc but not advised (?) for a diesel? I'll try it tomorrow morning! Appreciate the feedback. @+ Giles
 
On the Bosch injection pump as fitted to your 300tdi cold start is fully activated by decking the throttle. Doing this to the Lucas pump on the earlier engines will actually disable cold start.

So in a diesel it comes down to what the manufacturer says - in this case, deck it on cold mornings if you feel it needs a hand.

Get some BOSCH or BERU glow plugs they come up to full working temp within the specified time, therefore they are incandescent by the time the glow plug relay turns them off and the light extinguishes. On cheaper ones even from new I have seen them need 2 or even 3 glow sessions before starting.

The 300tdi is an odd one, they can suffer from lots of little things that can lead to cold starting issues, I have two that I would say are in good condition, good glow plugs, good fuel lines, good batteries on them both yet one just doesn’t like cold starting much.

What size of battery do you have? I am using a 750CCA and 1000CCA in my vehicles, I think 540CCA is the spec but it’s not got enough guts.
 
From the sound of it your car is an EDC equipped car - ie,an electronic controlled pump rather than the mechanically governed Bosch VE pump of the manual box and first year auto cars.Easy to tell the pump will not have a throttle cable operating an arm going into the pump,just a cable pulling the kickdown cable.Also if its EDC it will have an air flow meter just past the air filter.
These cars wont start without a good cranking speed and working glow plugs - simple as that.The delivered start quantity is not as much as the mechanical pumps,so the glow plugs must work and they need to spin over fairly quickly.The only worthwhile mod is an extra earth strap from the battery direct to the engine block.
Its a good system,if its up together and there is no need to floor the throttle,they will start with no throttle at all.
 
The only time I had trouble starting my 300 tdi was when air was getting in round the sedimenter. Ive since bypassed it and starts first time, I never touch the throttle , just glow plugs wait till light goes out and starts instantly. Ive only got standard battery .
 
Thanks to all who have given their advice. Tomorrow I'll check the state of the battery but it does seem to spin ok and get the glow plugs changed early next week along with it's filters and see what happens!
 
Giles, what was the outcome? I too have a 300Tdi Auto and also live in France. Near the alps for me so the temperature this morning was -10. The battery turns it over for a minute but it won't start and then the battery starts to fade. Maybe the battery needs changing but it should have started in this time. Even with leads on from another motor it can take a minute or 2 to finally start. I too will change the glow plugs and see where we go to from here, although as always any other advice welcome.
 
-18 here today and I had the same problem. Also have a problem with getting over 2.5k revs when driving along. I think it could be 'waxing' diesel, or air in the system . If it's no better tomorrow morning I'll change the fuel filter.
 
Looks like it's not a case of waxing!

I just went out to change the fuel filter and check the lift pump. Seems the lift pump lever was stuck half way - I just cleaned it off (outside) and moved it back up to the highest point and 'voila' all is good: started immediately and revs as normal again.

I did have a lift pump problem in 2006 over here in Frogland, with the same symptoms, and had to fit a new one to cure it. Hopefully, this will be OK for a while...
 
just read this thread with interest,my disco 300 (1997) starts first turn of the key,without glow plugs heated,and its been down to -5 up here recently...

DAZ
 
It was -12 here this morning & my old 300tdi has to be cranked over a few times to start. i have found that if i give it a couple of shots of the the glow plugs it starts a bit easyer. worth a try
 
The other thing worth mentioning is that the glow plugs continue to heat up after the light goes out... if you listen carefully you'll hear the relay drop out about 15secs after the light.

Wait until that point, then deck the throttle and turn the key and it should fire in one turn after a week standing at minus temperatures.

Assuming the fuel system has no air in it, the glow plugs are working as intended and the battery/starter/circuit chucks the engine over with some gusto!
 
cant beat a bigger battery, well in terms of CCA anyway, my 30tdi manual started struggling recently in the cold snaps, more due to infrequent use than anything else, but it literally went from needing a few goes at starting to the battery not being up to the job. Fitted a NUMAX Leisure battery, slightly bigger in terms of physical size and much bigger in terms of CCA (1000 as opposed to the 500ish of the standard battery) got extra terminals for my winch too, and at £75 i am well chuffed :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Maat
Disco 1 300tdi won't start in the cold
Replies
12
Views
859
Stanleysteamer
Stanleysteamer
A
2.7 TDV6 Cold fault
2
Replies
31
Views
3K
Gelu
G
B
Cold start problems
Replies
19
Views
2K
kermit_rr
kermit_rr
mikeb59
discovery 300tdi
2
Replies
25
Views
1K
Stanleysteamer
Stanleysteamer
J
Disco 2 Disco 2 4.0 V8 Hard Cold Start
Replies
2
Views
988
discool
discool
Back
Top