Your driving it wrong then.
You have glow plugs, turn the key to the "on" position and there should be a light that comes on that looks like swiggley toaster wires.
Once they shut off start it, it will fire right up.

Diesels inherently run cooler than a gas engine because they are more efficient when burning the fuel, more efficient combustion means less energy loss to wasted heat.
Thats why they get better MPG, they are almost 90% efficent where as a gas engine is only like 60%.
So with a gas engine almost 40% of the gas you use is converted to heat and not usable power.

If you dont like the heat output then get a "cold front" for your car, it is basically a blanket that covers your grill to restrict the amount of air that goes past the radiator, restrict air flow and heat builds up and you get better heat.

When I drove truck we used cardboard boxes, break them down flat and stick it in between the radiator and the intercooler.
Come spring pull it out and throw it away.

The quality of the fuel you use greatly affects a diesels performance and fuel economy.
Diesels are picky, you need to change the fuel filter every 10,000 miles, you must use quality fuel and you must drive it gentle until it reaches normal operating temp.

Change your fuel filter and then go to a truck stop and buy a quart of diesel fuel treatment, add half of it and then fill up.
Run til empty, refill, drive til empty and then add the last half of the bottle.

Also winter fuel (#2 fuel) has a lower cetane rating than summer fuel (#1 fuel) and will give lower performance.

Also the new ultra low sulfur fuel has less power too.
It burns cleaner but has less power.

The new Jetta TDI actually has sensors in it that detect fuel quailty and change engine tuning to match the fuel quality.

I drive a Sprinter with a TD5 and it is actually quicker from 0-60 than a E-250 with a V8.

 

no, no, no, no, no don't change it to LHD, please, I shouldn't have to explain why.

 

Spike,

I do all that stuff (other than the cardboard in front of the radiator). When I refer to hard starting, I'm talking about -20 weather. It fires up eventually ...or I just take the Jeep that day. I wasn't aware that ULSD was much less power than the regular. Used to be able to buy LSD, but I have not seen a place in our area for a couple yrs that sells it. I'm not saying Diesels are not efficient, just that there are 'some' drawbacks to consider as well as benefits ..fuel economey being a major one as we all know. Maybe I should have emphasized the merits a little more. Did not want to sound so negative. His Disco will definitely be a novelty no doubt about that! Will spawn a lot of great stories.

 

Great post duckrabbit
You got me thinking about importing.
Let us know when you get your discovery.
I presume you used “Terra 2” as the import broker.
Would you recommend them?
I live in Canada, so a 15+ year old import is good for me.

 

Mark G do you have a block heater? If you do put it on a timer to come on like two hours before you head off for work. If not get one and put it in. I had one in my powerstroke back when i lived in Idaho and it would make a world of difference when starting on the sub zero mornings.

 

Seeing this makes me want to move to Canada.

 

Quite honestly, you're not welcome here. We (most) are having to deal with these damn gas V8's that have p!ss poor reliability. You can go to Hades with that LR of yours!

We all want it and can't have that diesel - at least easily. Welcome aboard anyway I guess... ;-)

 

LOL! Thanks for the kind welcome! I'm sure I'll inevitably do many foolish things to amuse you all.

I'm strongly leaning to keep the truck RHD if only to prevent my wife from co opting it as she has in the past with my trooper and subaru. If she can make the switch, she deserves it though.

eaglewing, if you look around a little on the net, Terra 2 is by far the most established broker. I know a couple guys that have imported through them with great success. They don't seem to do many Rovers though. Mostly Delicias and Land-Cruisers. I just got lucky (hopefully).

 

I did not realized you were talking about -20* weather.
In that case you def need a block heater and need to let it warm up for 20 min before you drive.

 

Ed, could you please explain this more? What parts would I need to buy if I want to convert to LHD one of this cars?

What about the wiring loom?