Land Rover Repair: my car starts but doesnt start (please help), land rover discovery, fuel pressure regulator

Question
1995 land rover discovery v8 unleaded gas only

location of problem: anything to do with the starting of the vehicle
hi i'am john the land rover is a great car when it starts the problem is that the discovery starts only when it wants too for example somethime i would have to let it crank for a couple of second and than the engine would turn on by itself or somethime it would turn on normally like regular cars do or sometime it would need some help after the cranking doesn't work i would have to press on the gas pedal to turn the car on. i have fuel injectors and every mechanic has told me thats not right for me to press on the gas to turn the engine over. i have changed the coil,repaired the distributer which i guess the spring were worn out or something like that, the distributer cap,spark wires,sparks plugs, fuel filter,and fuel pump. i brought the car to the dealership to run the dianostic they said it the fuel injecter and rail but all the mechanic said it can't be why becasue the car run perfectly fine on the road even at high speed its purrs like a kitten. the dealership wanted to charge me a arm and a leg for something that i'm not to sure will even solve the problem. the car never use to do this when i got it and what even weirder i don't even need a fuel pressure regulator it seem though i have to much pressure or less i'm not sure i don't remember but it not connected and the car runs fine strange huh? i don't know what to do the car is in great shape only for that one problem and its runs fine can you solve the mystery i have not changed the distributer or the module please help... adam  

Answer
Hi Adam,

difficult problem to diagnose.  Have you examined the spark plugs?  Next time you have difficult starting and you have some time available, remove and examine each spark plug.  

Write down the color and condition of the spark plug :  #8 brown to grey in color, dry; #6: black colour; wet; ...

Spark plugs will tell you if you have fuel or enough spark.  I suspect you may not be getting enough spark.  There is a spark amplifier module attached to the distributor that may be faulty.  It's expensive to replace ($600+).

It has to be spark or fuel related.  Have your injectors cleaned by a professional.  

It could also be the MAF sensor, mass air flow, and is crucial to fuel/air mixture.

Best of luck,

JohnMc