discovery 300 tdi auto slow turning over to fire up??

i have a 1998 discovery tdi auto300 series, wen trying to start it i turns over very slowly like the battery is flat and then all of a sudden it will turn over faster and fire up it does it all the the time, can anyone help me?

Sounds like a lazy starter, take it off and clean it up or get a new one!

Sounds like your battery is running down, causing a sluggish turn over. The faster turn over is probably caused by the engine starting to fire. What's the voltage reading on the battery before the first start of the day?

Best way of testing the battery is with a discharge meter. Halfords will check it for you.

big-green-truck said:

i have a 1998 discovery tdi auto300 series, wen trying to start it i turns over very slowly like the battery is flat and then all of a sudden it will turn over faster and fire up it does it all the the time, can anyone help me?

Click to expand...

if you find out let me know as mine is the same, only had it a few weeks so don't know if thats how it should be or not.

Check your battery connections and earth leads are making really good contact-see if attaching a jump lead from battery -ve to a good earth on the engine makes things better

any conclusion on this one as mine is the same,

I have tried a jump lead from Ve- to engine and this made no differance, I attached jump leads to my transit and it turned over fast, this makes me think of battery?

I will get it tested when i get a chance. any one any other thoughts?

You could be getting into EDC country,the pump not advancing for coldstart....hope for your sake that its not.Battery first.Then try a scrapyard starter,whizz it up before you mount it to make sure it works...not 100% proof but better than nothing,and better than buying a new starter when you dont need it.Check your header tank that the water doesnt rise and fall as you crank it,ruling out one headgasket problem that causes these symptoms (short term)......

.......then if none of this does anything,search EDC...theres a lot by me with similar probs and a lot of good advice (not by me) to be found.

Start with the cheap stuff.
If it works great connected to another car, chances are it’s the battery.

If it’s still slow to start, try the (already suggested) jump leads from battery to starter motor (or as near as you can get).

I fitted some heady duty cable from a couple of places on the engine and ran them directly back to the battery.

The earth lead down by the starter motor is always a suspect.

Once you have the power to and from the starter sorted, you are now into expensive stuff.

Sean

I have almost the same problem.If outside temp stays above about 10 degrees starts ok on just half a turn.As temp gets lower the starter speed gets slower and we have had temps down to 5/6 already.Battery is checked ok, output is ok, all earth leads removed,cleaned and fitted, extra earth from battery to engine.Is this possibly a starter problem?
thanks
Jim Anderson
1996 300Tdi auto(Jap reimport)

New to the site today..... had a similar problem 2 years ago. It was definately battery with cells breaking down - tested at halfords.
Used a portable jump start for a while to boost it, worked a treat. always failed very cold winter morning.
If you do a lot of stop start like me, the weakened cell will not recover however good your alternator is.
Good luck

Now I have this problem....starting is fine whilst the weather is warmer but soon as it goes below about 5c it takes a while to get my disco started...this is what i have done so far.
New Battery, new glow plugs and glow plug controller, new alternator. I have also made sure that the value clearence is set correctly.
My next thought is the Cold Start Advance unit but I am not sure you even get those in my EDC Discovery.
Any ideas would be helpful
Ta Andy

flat cap andy said:

Now I have this problem....starting is fine whilst the weather is warmer but soon as it goes below about 5c it takes a while to get my disco started...this is what i have done so far.
New Battery, new glow plugs and glow plug controller, new alternator. I have also made sure that the value clearence is set correctly.
My next thought is the Cold Start Advance unit but I am not sure you even get those in my EDC Discovery.
Any ideas would be helpful
Ta Andy

Click to expand...

try cleaning the starter out ?

The op states that it starts OK when jumping from another vehicle, with another earth presumably, so check the earth from battery to gearbox has a good connection if the battery itself is good. Just unbolt it and give it a good clean. Can see that someone has done lots of expensive stuff without trying that!

Dr_evil said:

try cleaning the starter out ?

Click to expand...

No..but will do..!

tombardier said:

The op states that it starts OK when jumping from another vehicle, with another earth presumably, so check the earth from battery to gearbox has a good connection if the battery itself is good. Just unbolt it and give it a good clean. Can see that someone has done lots of expensive stuff without trying that!

Click to expand...

Well it needed a new battery anyway....but connection cleaning is a good idea too!