Berlingo 2004 2.0 hdi has strong starter but takes long to start from cold , HELP!!!!

[Stevie berlingo lad]

my 2004 2.0 hdi has a strong starter and wants to start the engine, 
however it takes about 3 or 4 long seconds to get started from sitting cold engine over night , 
once it's started and over that first start of the day she starts instantly every single start during the day ,,,, 
until the next morning again , takes about 3 or 4 second to start again lol it is a bit annoying because that first start of the day is at at 3.00am for me going to work and I'm sure the neighbours are lying in their bed thinking what a scrap heap of a car ?? but it's not true she is a clean we berlingo an drives brilliantly , just this first start of the day carry on makes her look bad ,,,anybody have any ideas please guys

[cancunia]

Did you check the glowplugs? Although the indicator light does not come on for long and many say the HDi does not need the plugs except when it's really cold, the glow plugs apparently do get used a lot for a smooth warm up. In any case, it's a fairly easy thing to check with a multi-meter & plenty of guides around showing how.
Only other thing that comes to mind is air in the fuel line that collects over night, maybe try priming the bulb first thing before starting.

[Stevie berlingo lad]

Thanks for getting back to me yes I forgot to mention I put 4 new glow plugs into her, before i put them in it took about 10 seconds to start then got new glow plugs and now takes about 3 or 4 seconds to start , going to try and bleed the fuel line and see how that goes
, thanks for your suggestions much appreciated

[Tomcat3]

When you say your motor has a strong starter do you mean its got a heavy duty starter on it or is a standard starter motor. The 2.0hdi needs a rapid starter to get it firing up and a lot of owners on here have fitted an uprated heavy duty starter and its sorted there sluggish starting straight away, If yours is still the original its getting long in the tooth and aint spinning it fast enough now. Have a search for starting problems 2.0hdi may help.

[Stevie berlingo lad]

When you say your motor has a strong starter do you mean its got a heavy duty starter on it or is a standard starter motor. The 2.0hdi needs a rapid starter to get it firing up and a lot of owners on here have fitted an uprated heavy duty starter and its sorted there sluggish starting straight away, If yours is still the original its getting long in the tooth and aint spinning it fast enough now. Have a search for starting problems 2.0hdi may help.

I don't actually know if the guy before me out a new starter in here or not but I defiantly havnt , what I meant by a strong starter was she is very much alive and doesn't sound like a dead battery or anything , once the van has been started she will start straight away after that ,,,so I really only have 1 shot at seeing if it's fixed because once she starts once she will start straight away after that for the rest if the day , is it possible to put videos up here ?? Maybe give u guys a proper understanding ,,,
It could be from when I serviced her air might of got into fuel line but can't really remember if it's because of that or not as I've been living with that wee problem or a while now , gonna pump manual fuel pump action thing in the morning and try here after that will let use know how it goes

[billskipton]

I find my 2004 2.0Hdi starts best from cold if I turn on - wait for all the dash lights to go off, and then operate the starter.

[Stevie berlingo lad]

Same here I always turn key and wait for lights to go off , then then key fully to start engine , that's the whole reason for heating the glow plugs ,

[Stevie berlingo lad]

Pumped the primer pump that's connected to the fuel filter this mornin then jumped in and turned the key ,,, she started instantly no hesitation what so ever ,,, what u guys reckon ?? Air in the fuel line , any suggestions where it is coming from fuel filter cap is on the rite treads and is tightly screwed on so it can't be coming from there

[polar]

When was the fuel filter changed as some of them can be temperamental to seal

[Stevie berlingo lad]

I always service the berli about 4000 mile before she actually needs serviced , I think it dings at 12000 miles but I'd do it about every 8000 and reset the service light ,,, Her time is almost here to be serviced she sits at 7500 miles from servicing