cold starting

Just had all me belts done on me 110.
is it normal on cold start for a landy to take about 10 seconds to kick over, then spit black smoke for a second then run fine??
once shes hot theres no problem staring first time.
anyone got any ideas. Glow plugs prolly havent been changed in years and maybe thats y>?
cheers

steve k

what injun?

def change ya plugs if not been done in years . the puff of smoke is quite normal if ya engine is turnin over a few times befor kickin in to life . as ya engine is turnin over with out firing its still puttin fuel in then it fires and burns the excess fuel which causes the intial black cloud

new plugs should make it fire quicker but give them chance to work(ignition on , wait a few seconds then crank that bitch )

I'd clean up all the connections to the glow plugs first. If that doesn't do the trick I'd pull all the plugs out, then power them up to see if they are working properly. They should glow bright orange. A bit of Easy Start sprayed into the air filter will probably get it going nicely.

make sure you do NOT press the pedal until she starts as once you depress the accellerator you switch off the cold start valve and it makes it harder to start.

redhand said:

make sure you do NOT press the pedal until she starts as once you depress the accellerator you switch off the cold start valve and it makes it harder to start.

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pssst it says tdi in his profile

With the 2 x 300tdi's and the 2.5NA I am used to a slightly longer crank in cold with full glow plugs then a puff of white smoke (all the excess cold diesel vapour not getting burnt properly due to the cold).

On the really cold mornings the 300tdi in my 90 starts more like a tractor, it winds up at a good rate then gets faster and faster before coming to life - thats with glows that work. The Disco 300tdi just does the bare mimimum to turn over but always starts (sometimes 2 glow sessions on the timer needed).

The 2.5 NA, lots of glow and away she goes, very clunky on a cold morning needs some revs to smooth it out and diesel vapour smokes a lot.

So I would say the longer crank time is not unusual some do seem to do it. I would check the glows out, if they are goosed replace the set with a Bosch Duraterm glows, or another good manafacturer (Champion etc...) those cheapys on ebay for £11 a set are awful. The terminals twist in the ceramic when a spanner even looks at them, they burn out quickly and they just look cheap. The Bosch ones are designed for a 5 min burn time (thats for vehicles with after glow installed) so they should last for ages!

If your plugs are OK, then I would put it down to the cold and just live with it, unless you think your crank speed is too slow and it might be the battery just needs a good charge/replacing.

My TDi starts first turn of the engine, cold or not. If cold, virtually no smoke but if warm then a puff of black then fine.

The old TD was a bit trickier, 20 secs warming, 10 secs off, 20 secs warming, then at least 15 secs turning, then if yer lucky a hyoooooge cloud and then lumpy start.

All the 200tdi's I've had have fired up straight away as son as the key is turned whatever the weather. The 2.5td was a different matter though. The starter was knackered and wouldn't stay engaged for more than about two seconds so it was 20 or 30 secs of heat, try the starter and if it didn't fire n the 2 seconds before the starter disengaged itself repeat the process until it worked. Always started though, even on veg oil on frosty mornings.

Just back from Scotland damn im glad to be back south lol.
Cheers for all the info people, very helpfull, and glad its nothing major happening in the engine. To answer a few questions that were asked shes a TDi 300, P Reg, and the plugs have been in prolly 5 yrs or so according to the previous owner. Will change the GPs and check the battery. Oh the battery came from Halfords........prolly not a good idea lol??

Cheers
Steve K

excessive cranking, even when you have working GPs, is a sign of low compression and is to be expected on engines with in excess of 130k ish

skanner30 said:

Just back from Scotland damn im glad to be back south lol.
Cheers for all the info people, very helpfull, and glad its nothing major happening in the engine. To answer a few questions that were asked shes a TDi 300, P Reg, and the plugs have been in prolly 5 yrs or so according to the previous owner. Will change the GPs and check the battery. Oh the battery came from Halfords........prolly not a good idea lol??

Cheers
Steve K

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how whats wrong with up here

Think ive turned into a shandy drinker from livin down south for too long!!!

Was freezin up around Inverness, practically tropical when i came bak down here lol.
So the bore and rings are probably shot??

skanner30 said:

So the bore and rings are probably shot??

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ask a garage to do a compresion test on it - tis hard to say if it really is the rings etc without getting one done, even if it is you'll get many 1000s of more miles out of it before it needs a good seeing to

Cheers Sean.
well i should be looking out for a low milage 300 tdi engine then, or trade her in for a newer one??
Just annoying in the mornin startin the beast up.
Compression is prolly it as its done 175k and when shes warm she runs fine when the rings have expanded etc.
bloody landrovers lol

some people would love theirs to start within 10 seconds - do check that all of the plugs do actually get fecking hot, it elps

Im sure this only started happening when i got the cam belt done by local tossers at a local garage who i wont use again!! anyone know a garage around the warsash area that actually know what a landrover is and preferably how to work on it properly?? if anyone wants to avoid the garage i used just ask!!
will check the GPs out when i can get some decent ones.
Again thx m8.

does it run ok once it's started ?

Aye runs fine once she warms up.
today the clutch pedal has been sticking lol, fookin clutch on the way out me thinks.
anyone good at changin clutches sigh................

Although it runs OK once going it could still be a tooth out on the timing totaly buggering up the cold start.