hi everyone. could do with help again.  my ford transit 2007  2.4 td is hard to start of a morning or anyway hard to start first time.  when it starts its ok for the rest of the day.  could it be my heater plugs or something else. any ideas, thanks.  kate

I suspect it could be something to do with the fuel injection (losing pressure etc...), as my understanding is that modern diesels such as yours wouldn't rely on the glow plugs anyway.  It would be easier for you though if it was just a case of replacing the glow plugs. 

thanks for replying

If it's the plugs it'll probably chuck out a load of white diesel smoke when it starts?  They don't NEED them to start but could cause a slower start.

Could also be a battery drain overnight giving you a weak battery in the morning, does it turn over slower in the morning?

Or air getting into the fuel somewhere is another possibilty.

hi. Thanks. Could be any of those. Does blow out a good puff of smoke. Could be battery. We have only just got it back on the road as it has been off the road for about a year and the same battery on

12 minutes ago, katelyndon said:

hi. Thanks. Could be any of those. Does blow out a good puff of smoke. Could be battery. We have only just got it back on the road as it has been off the road for about a year and the same battery on

That sounds like the culprit then.  Diesel engines are very demanding on batteries and even turning over slightly slower than normal can prevent them from firing, unlike a petrol which can start on a virtually dead battery as long as it turns.

It could be glow plugs if they are duff but generally it needs to be extremely cold for them to be needed for cold starting.

I would be inclined to have a leak back test on the injectors as that causes trouble starting from cold after parked up overnight.

Otherwise as said I would suspect low fuel rail pressure.

How many miles has it done and has it ever had injectors replaces before so you know?

Also when was the fuel filter last replaced?