disco slow starter

Check the earth straps to and from the engine, starter and anywhere else the Disco may have one - a loose earth strap can cause what you are experiencing

Graeme

Chris, I agree with Graeme, however I would add that you attend to it quickly. Have seen where the Disco decides to use the handbrake cable as an earth strap, and this is very smokey, smelly and another expense you could probably do with out.

To confirm what Graema and I are saying, get a jumper leader and connect it from the negative on your battery and to somewhere on your engine block. Try starting and you will find that it turns over quicker, and starts better.

Cheers

Phillip Simpson

My hard earned experience was with the earth running through the throttle cable - melted the nylon inner and welded the throttle full open - totally down to the main ground strap from the battery being loose.

Graeme

To the other question of glow plugs, I got a set from the local motor store for about a tenner each, three out of the four had gone and it was a bit of a pig to start when cold.

Petger S

if it was a bad earth connection why does the engine spin over fast once its warm ? but will check earth connections in the morning.

Hi Peter, a cold motor has a lot more internal resistance than a warm motor, and hence requires a lot more energy to turn over. This is why winter causes these types of problems to show up.

The fact that the motor turns over quicker when warm, confirms to me at least, that you have the classic earth lead problem.

You will also find that after trying to start the engine that the briaded lead on the passenger side (starter motor to chassis) also gets quite warm, as it can't handle the current draw.

Anyway, good luck with the experiment tomorrow, and if you get a chance please let us know how it goes.

Cheers

Phillip

Hi

I've had both these happen on my Disco. Handbrake cable melted while an auto electician was trying to sort out why the starter motor wouldn't turn at all - I think he may have started the car with the earth led incorrectly fitted. Eventually traced to a battery which had one faulty cell (battery seemed fine, gave correct voltages until asked to start the car - then it couldn't provide the starting current).

A while later, noticed that in our relatively warm winter, car was very slow to start. Car was due for a service, and all four glow plugs were replaced. I tested the old ones, and found all four were faulty!

They really make a massive difference, and are a cheap place to start looking. Either check with a meter (should be a very low resistance, less than 10 ohms), or remove, connect to battery with good strong wire, and tip should glow (VERY HOT) within a couple of seconds.

Good Luck Graham Carter Harare Zimbabwe