Poor starting when left over night.

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S

stussy

New Member
Posts
7
Location
Raddcliffe Manchester
Hi, I have a 300tdi es 1996 with 150k, When left over night its very slow to start or sometimes wont start unless it jumped of another car in which case it starts on the key, The battery light glows a little but not much, If driven to work and left for 9hrs it starts ok, but over night it not to good, and if the weather is very cold it wont start unless jumped of another car, any ideas Cheers
 
If its an old battery it could well be on the way out, the change in temperature brought by the winter weather seems to have a habbit of killing off car batteries. Could also be a faulty alternator/alternator regulator not charging the battery - I think I read on here that halfords do a free battery and alternator check. The only other thing i'd suggest is to check the earthing points as that could cause problems too if they are badly corroded.
 
Yes halfrauds do do free battery testing and alternator as well
as last post I would check all yer earth connections and battery connections as well
Makes sure ya glowplugs are working and thouse connections are good
And the if you want to check there's no air getting in to the fuel
Some one's garanteed to disagree with me here but if air creeps in to HP side of fuel system while car is stood then it takes longer for inj pump to bring the system up to pressure there by flattening your battery in the process

Well thats my 2p :D
 
things i would check.

Check earth points - free
Get battery checked - free
Check condition of sender unit unions and pipework under the carpet in the boot - free
Check injector spill pipes and replace if brittle - £5
Check fuel filter drain plug - in fact replace fuel filter - £5
Check connections at the fuel sedimentor - free

Then give us some feedback as to what u find mate.
 
we had this with ours. It turned out to be the alty, was only putting out 11.4 volts of power,which in turned killed the battery off. New battery and alty jobs a good un. But thats just in the case of mine. i bought a cheap volt metre reader.
 
well that beats me, I was going to say the very same thing BUT i'll add what battery you got in there, as mine used to do this and when I checked it out it turned out that it was the battery off a mondeo not a disco
 
Thanks for the help, the battery is about 2 years old, its a 540 cca , is that the right size?? I have tried using a jump lead from the neg terminal on the battery and put it to the engine and the batt light sill glows dim when running. When i wont start off its own power if its connected to another landrover by jump leads if fires right away even if its been stood all night.
 
if your battery light is glowing then its an alternator problem - either the belt is slipping so not running the alternator up to speed properly, or the alternator itself is suspect and will need rebuilding/replacing.

cycling your battery like this might also cause damage to the battery itself, get it checked if you can. and also throw a new set of glow plugs in, for £12 odd a new set can save you alot of hassle over winter.
 
stussy said:
Thanks for the help, the battery is about 2 years old, its a 540 cca , is that the right size?? I have tried using a jump lead from the neg terminal on the battery and put it to the engine and the batt light sill glows dim when running. When i wont start off its own power if its connected to another landrover by jump leads if fires right away even if its been stood all night.
Click to expand...

If I recall correctly, the minimum CCA recommended for a Disco is 570CCA.
 
MikeDISCO said:
I doubt its glowplugs all they need is fuel and compression to start.

Im stil thinking its air in the system.
Click to expand...

i only mentioned glow plugs as mine is a bitch to start in the morning now its cold. let the glow plug light go off and the car needs to crank 20 or more times to start. turn the ignition on and off 3 or 4 times and repeatedly heat the glow plugs - starts in 2 cranks. not related to the battery problem but a cold morning starting problem with a cheap and easy cure:D
 
If your ignition light is glowing then it is definitely the alternator.
If it starts ok with a jump start then it is not fuel related as it would still be hard to start on a jump from another car.

Change the alternator, the poor old battery is probably on its way out by now as they don't like to be kept low of the old volts.
 
Hi Guys

I am having excatly the same problem, I did change the alty last year, could it still be faulty?...it is reading 14.7v when running, but car still wont start on a cold morning without a jump start, the engine turns very slowly and if it doesnt fire up after the first few turns the battery seems to die and it needs a jump start....battery readings are around 12.7v in the morning but wont spin the engine fast enough to fire up, I took out the starter motor and cleaned allthe connections yesterday and today the car neeeded a jump start again....apart from gettting rid of the car is there anything else i could try/check??
 
Kellymike said:
Hi Guys

I am having excatly the same problem, I did change the alty last year, could it still be faulty?...it is reading 14.7v when running, but car still wont start on a cold morning without a jump start, the engine turns very slowly and if it doesnt fire up after the first few turns the battery seems to die and it needs a jump start....battery readings are around 12.7v in the morning but wont spin the engine fast enough to fire up, I took out the starter motor and cleaned allthe connections yesterday and today the car neeeded a jump start again....apart from gettting rid of the car is there anything else i could try/check??
Click to expand...

We should not stray from the original question posted by Stussy, as you is talking an entirely different issue and would have best been starting a new thread.

Now, sounds to me like your issue is poling of the armature caused by worn bushings in your starter, because 12.7 volts should be ample to crank your engine unless, the battery is failing under load in which case you need it tested by battery shop.
 
yes ssmn I think your right, I had exactly the same problem, fitted a new starter and it started 1st turn, under inspection of the one i removed the bushes wher down to the wires.
I had the old one fully refurbed and its for sale ;o) make me an offer
 
have just got back from halfords, they tested my battery and their meter was only showing 34% and also saying the battery was unservicable, the battery was only a few months old but I have had to charge it numerous times as the car wouldnt start in the mornings, I have taken the car to a standard garage and a land rover appoved garage and both garages couldnt find a problem or a battery drain, I am now considering replacing the alternator before I replace the battery, can anyone tell me how to test the alternator?
thanks in advance..
 
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