Land Rover Repair: 97 Disco Wont Start, vacuum hoses, tilt tray

Question
Hi John,

I have a problem with my 97 Discovery V8. I can't get it to start.
It turns over alright and sort of fires but will just not start. I haven't had a problem like this before.
I had it sitting in a yard advertised for sale for about 2 weeks and when a bloke asked to test drive it I couldn't even get it to start up.
At first I thought it might be because it had been sitting but I even had to call my insurer and get a roadside mechanic and he tried using "Aerostart" and other things but to no avail. It is very frustrating. I thought you might have heard of something similar to this and could give me some idea of what I can do or I will have to get it tilt tray towed to a mechanic.

Regards

Stephen McDermott


Answer
Hi Stephen,

difficult cold starts are related to the following areas:

fuel
battery faults
batter terminals loose
immobiliser (spider) faults
ignition components are damp or damaged
ignition timing faults
loose or damaged ignition wiring
worn or faulty sparkplugs
fuel injector faults
major mechanical failure (ie. camshaft drive)

I'd check your plugs and wires, check the coil (coilpack) and verify you have enough spark.

Make sure the vacuum hoses are good and connected.

Best of luck,

JohnMc