[cosrep]

Car has covered 150k, recently had a new head gasket, glow plugs, battery, fuel filter, primer, air filter, timing belt, pump belt, oil filter and oil.
Ever since its having trouble actually starting, will crank for between 3-8 seconds before firing up but once it does it seems to be running well?
Any idea's?

 

[DavePage]

Have you tried giving it a couple of blasts on the glow plugs before starting it to see if that makes any difference?

My initial thoughts are there is corrosion on the bus bar supplying the glow plugs and not a full voltage is getting through. You could check this - attach a volt meter and then put the ignition into position 2 (glow plug lights on), the voltage should be around 12v across the bar for a good few seconds after the light goes out on the dash.

 

[cosrep]

Tried letting the plugs heat up a few times before cranking, seems to have no effect. I'll measure the voltage across the bus bar and see what results I get.

 

[DavePage]

If a few times letting the plugs warm is having no effect then the bar is either not letting enough through to power them at all (thus there being no difference), or the problem is elsewhere.