My 98 Disco starts perfectly within a second of turning it over after it has been sitting for some time, has decent power, and runs fine. When i shut it down to run into a shop or something and then try to start it, it just turns over and over without starting. Thinking flooding, i push the accelerator to the floor and turn it over again. After some spinning of the engine it starts to sluggishly pick back up and then revs high. Most times it will stay running, other times it stalls and needs turning over again to start. Once it starts, it's fine again, relatively speaking.

Could this be the upstream O2 sensors? There is considerable sooting of the exhaust pipe outlet from richness it seems but there are no codes.

I have new iridium plugs, magnacore wires, and new air filter. I haven't replaced my fuel filter yet but am planning it.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

 

check fuel pressure before and after shutoff, and oil for smell of raw gas, if an injector is leaking it could be "flooding" a cyl and making it harder to start.

 

If the pump pressure is low, the injectors may not seal and flood the cylinders.

 

You can "test" pump cheaply, on cold start turn to position 2, run pump 2 seconds, then off, repeat several times. Then crank normally. If it fires right up, pump could be weak and/or leaking down.

 

thanks for the quick responses, they all make sense but i'm having trouble wrapping my head around one thing: Savannah, if the engine fires up after the 2 second sequences, you think the the pump could actually be a problem? i would have thought it would be opposite but i will do that test to see what the results are.

If I don't have any codes on the dash, can the upstream O2 sensors be faulty due to age but just not be showing it? i don't think they were changed in 15 years...

I know old Discos like mine have a ghost in the machine. the Landy didn't act up at all yesterday but it could at any time it desires. pinpointing an intermittent problem is enough to test any one's patience lol

 

Another thing you may want to check is the fuel temp sensor. Mine did that when it was warm outside & the engine was warm. Ran like crap, but revving the engine to 2000 rpms for a second, then putting it in drive and moving about 100 yards made it run normal again. It didn't do it all of the time, but enough to make it very irritating. Replacing the temp sensor made it all go away.