300tdi Poor Starter

Guys,

my 90 has all of a sudden decided to become a poor starter. Upon jumping in, turn the key, leave for a few seconds, then turn the ignition.

it will crank over for about 5-6 seconds before firing up. When it fires up it will chuck out clouds of whitish smoke for about 2 minutes before this slowly disapates as the engine warms.

To me, this could be:

Glow plugs on their way out?
Fuel starvation, is it worth changing the lift pump?

any other thoughts/experiences?

help would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks

wouldn't have thought glow plugs as they usually start without any glowing. white smoke sounds like water or fuel as you say, but itd be unburnt fuel..

im sure someone else will be able to shed more light.

Cold motor on first start up is unburnt fuel let it warm up no problem

anything I can do to stop this? or just give it slightly longer to warm before keying ignition

sounds like more than that to me.. as i say they should start without glowing. mine has started before i can turn the starter off..