My '52 Freelander TD4 has always been a bad starter, have to turn it over for about 15-30 seconds before it properly catches, kicks out a bunch of white smoke in the process.

Felt classic glow plugs problem, so I bought a set of plugs, and opened it up a few weeks back. They were all pretty seized so we tested them and good connection on 3 plugs, but no. 2 plug was dead. Replaced that and thought it was job done, however it didn't start any better, so have been wondering if the glow plug relay has gone.

HOWEVER... last Friday it was a proper cold morning, turned the ignition on and the glow plug light came on (it never usually comes on, is it temperature dependent?) Waited for it to go and turned key to next position and the engine started perfectly!

So glow plugs don't seem to be the problem but not sure what is? How are plugs configured, should they always come on or only in cold weather? Any thoughts for fixing would be appreciated, I thought glow plugs should activate regardless so interested to know what they should be doing!

Hi,

The more common cause of starting issue is a fuel leak on the HP pump or bad injectors.
If the engine has a lot of hesitation when starting, and there is no fuel leak, so it's an injector issue !

Don't waist your time with the plugs, unless it's freezing outside you don't need them to start.
To test the glow, simply monitor the battery voltage when the glow plug light comes ( it should goes from 12.x V to 11.x V ).

Thanks buddy, no fuel leak no. Would an injectors issue explain the perfect start with glow plugs working? Getting a lot of white smoke when cranking which I thought would be unburnt fuel, is that too much fuel getting in? Bad fuel/ air mix?

I experienced all the issue from a leaking hp pump, a leaking fuel pipe and a dying injector.

The smell of unburnt diesel is not very pleasant.

A dying injector can give you issue starting when the engine is cold, and it will get worst when the weather is cold.
You will also get an unstable idle.

You can do a fuel return test, to spot the bad injector(s).