p38 wont start when engine warm

Hello there,

I have a 1995 diesel 2.5 Range Rover.

It starts great when it's been sitting overnight, etc; but when it starts getting warm it just wont start. It has to be turned over a few times, which in turn starts draining the battery. When it finally starts, it idles at really low revs, even with your foot flat on the floor. It picks up after a while.

Can anybody help please?

It would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Meloni

Hello

I think you will find the glow plugs do not come on when the engine is warm or hot. If this is the case a quick modification using a time relay, availible on ebay (not from myself, but I have fitted one to mine). Basically this gets the heater plugs to come on whenever you start the vehicle (as if it was cold) it also slightly enriches the mixture for 20-30 secs approx then returns fuelling to normal. Not sure about the foot to the floor business but it solved my hot start issues.

Mike

There are other similar posts here on the forum, I had a long winded solution until I looked at the year, sorry

Yeah, check out the other threads on hot starting problems, its a common one. search for posts by geekfreak as he was one of the main posters on the hot start threads.

It is always worth checking that you have not disconnected the earth from the engine to chassis or to see if it has parted. A quick check is to use a jump lead to connect the engine to the battery earth to see if this changes anything on a hot start.

Two things to cure almost all starting issues (I said almost!!)
1. leak off pipes, these allow air in and the diesel drains back from the injectors meaning you have to crank for ages to start it.
2. no glow plugs when warm/hot, the time delay relay fix found on ebay works well and gives you a bit of glow plug and a bit more fuel.

It sounds like you need no.2 to me but do both, they are both really cheap to do. I will now replace my leak off pipes as part of my service routine every two years.

time delay relay from ebay approx £30 and very easy to do comes with full instructions martin

This can also be a worn injector pump,as it wears the pump timing goes out of range, advance the pump or check injection modulation with Autologic.