1996 Disco wont crank properly

Hi all,

New to this forum but having just bought my first disco a few weeks back its giving me a huge problem ! Anyway i thought i would come on here to see if i could find someone who may be able to help. I have had a search through the forum but could not find any answers to my problem so i shall explain...

Vehicle - 1996 Discovery 2.5 TDI Auto

Problem - Will not crank-over properly! The engine is turning over but it is very slow and the starter sounds very strained as if the engine is seized or its not getting enough power. When cranking it over the battery leads are getting fairly warm. The battery is 100% good and i have swapped this for a brand new one from my van to check. There is a constant supply of 12vat the starter and the starter solenoid is getting the correct 12v when the key is turned. I have changed the starter motor for a reconditioned one and the problem is no different, this has left me scratching my head somewhat!!

The engine took a little while of cranking to fire up on the final drive i did to the local shop, 5 mins of shopping and when i came out that was that.

Any ideas wise men of the landrover type?

Regards in advance

Jez

My money would be on a Faulty Earth.

There are a few Earth straps to the Engine, Chassis and body and you should check them all.

Take the off, clean surfaces, and refit tightly.

You could try a decent jump lead from the Battery earth to the engine block to see if that improves things, then you can be sure its an earth if it does.

Sounds like good advise to me. Seem to remember a method with a voltmeter: check readings between battery positive and various parts of system, should be consistent reading between positive and chassis or pos/block or pos/starter body, where there`s a difference shows which is the faulty earth. (not well explained but sure you`ll figure it).

Thanks for your replies guys. I was thinking it would be an earth too but after checking them all i had no luck. Tried earthing a jump lead to the engine also. no joy there.

This afternoon i went back to it to have another go. I disconnected the battery. I disconnecting all the cables from the starter. I then ran a jump lead from a separate battery negative to the starter housing, a jump lead from the battery positive to the starter supply terminal and another small cable from the starter solenoid terminal and used it as a switch to the battery positive.

When firing the solenoid by connecting the attached cable to the positive it was still doing the same leading me to think the engine or something was jammed. I removed the Auxillary belt and tried again - IT TURNED OVER AS IT SHOULD. I checked all of the pulleys and it turns out the ALTERNATOR is jammed solid. Literally impossible to turn by hand. Really strange as it wasnt making any noise before and you would have thought that the belt would just slip rather than try and turn it but there you go......

Thanks again for your replies!

Regards

Jez

If you dont have a volt meater Take a jump lead from neg of battery put onto a clean part of the chassy or clean a bit of the engine mount try to start if it starts ok that will tell you instantly if it is one of earths.

Dam posted that just as you found out lol

Ha thanks for your help anyway mate. appreciate your time!

If running a heavy lead from the starter mount bolt to the battery neg gives no improvement,try it with the serpentine belt off -a quick jab just to see how it turns.Then try to turn it over by hand,spanner or socket on the crankshaft endbolt and see if you can feel any specific points of metal contact.If the compression is stopping you feel this then back the glowplugs off their threads so the are sitting loose.Engine should turn over freely by hand now and you should be able to feel if there is any place that it catches.