Dave Widgery
Member
Hi
I have had a 1997 Land Rover Discovery 300 Tdi for the last 4 years, most of the time it has been fairly reliable, it drives well has plenty of power (it is quite happy towing a heavy trailer with a ton and a half of sand up quite a steep hill to my house). But about a year ago I started to have problems starting in the mornings, once started it tended to be OK the rest of the day.
I put it down to glow plugs and bought a new set, managed to change 3 but the last one (near the bulkhead) has the nut part sheared either by me or the previous owner, not sure which. Anyway this did not help and I have been assured that it should create the kind of starting problems that I have.
On advice I changed the glowplug relay and the fuel lift pump, still no difference but the problem has been gradually getting worse over the last year. To the point that I was cranking for several minuets before it would try to fire then I would have to keep cranking until it would actually keep running, usually accompanied with clouds of smoke, once it was going it was then fine.
A friend who has worked on a lot of land rovers over the years has had a look, he has checked the timing, tappets and decided that the problem was probably air getting into the fuel line, he has changed the tank sender (corroded and showing signs of leaking) and replaced the fuel pipe, currently bypassing the water filter in case that was causing a problem. He has also checked the Cat converter in case that had a blockage.
It will now start slightly better than it did, (crank for 30-40 seconds and less smoke) but it still isn't right. There is no obvious signs of pressurisation of the crank case or water jacket, unfortunately he couldn't do a compression test, but I would have thought that loss of compression would have given me performance problems.
I am at a bit of a loss.
Any suggestions welcome.
Dave
I have had a 1997 Land Rover Discovery 300 Tdi for the last 4 years, most of the time it has been fairly reliable, it drives well has plenty of power (it is quite happy towing a heavy trailer with a ton and a half of sand up quite a steep hill to my house). But about a year ago I started to have problems starting in the mornings, once started it tended to be OK the rest of the day.
I put it down to glow plugs and bought a new set, managed to change 3 but the last one (near the bulkhead) has the nut part sheared either by me or the previous owner, not sure which. Anyway this did not help and I have been assured that it should create the kind of starting problems that I have.
On advice I changed the glowplug relay and the fuel lift pump, still no difference but the problem has been gradually getting worse over the last year. To the point that I was cranking for several minuets before it would try to fire then I would have to keep cranking until it would actually keep running, usually accompanied with clouds of smoke, once it was going it was then fine.
A friend who has worked on a lot of land rovers over the years has had a look, he has checked the timing, tappets and decided that the problem was probably air getting into the fuel line, he has changed the tank sender (corroded and showing signs of leaking) and replaced the fuel pipe, currently bypassing the water filter in case that was causing a problem. He has also checked the Cat converter in case that had a blockage.
It will now start slightly better than it did, (crank for 30-40 seconds and less smoke) but it still isn't right. There is no obvious signs of pressurisation of the crank case or water jacket, unfortunately he couldn't do a compression test, but I would have thought that loss of compression would have given me performance problems.
I am at a bit of a loss.
Any suggestions welcome.
Dave
Last edited:
Small bore cloth covered pipes running between the injectors, don't buy LR, go to an auto shop and buy it by the metre, far cheaper .. 
