check your glow plugs!!
 

i'd been getting increasingly harder starts in cold weather. i just pulled all five glow plugs and replaced with new bosch duraterms. all five i pulled were beru, and four of the five were stamped made in west germany!! i dont know how long it took after reunification for them to retool the factory, but these had to be at least 21-22 years old. they all checked "OK" using the relay ohm test.. but almost all of them had burnt down tips. check your glow plugs!!!

It's amazing how new plugs can help with cold starts... Even more when you go from loop to pencil style plugs.

new glow plugs and a valve adjustment = start anytime!

Funny watching these threads.... Around April we will start seeing all the A/C and climate control related threads.

Winter time ='s monovalves, block heaters, glow plugs, different oil, etc.... I remember checking and changing the glow plugs. What a difference! Let them sit and she fires right up easily albeit with a little racket.

Good glow plugs = happy starter and battery.

Regardless of age, USUALLY pin type plugs will check good with an ohmmeter. It's when they are burned through that they lose their effectiveness., USUALLY.

In the days when pin type glow plugs weren't much more expen$ive than spark plugs, I changed them every Fall. Now days, unless you have a bottomless wallet, you need to remove, test and inspect whenever they are in doubt. If you DO have that bottomless wallet, just change 'em.

don't forget the 5w-40 synthetic. really helped me.

And timing ...
 

Having a rough cold start problem. The car wants to idle at like 500 or 600 until warmed up and then idles at 750 after just a few seconds usually. I figured I had one bad glow plug and she was dragging a cylinder that wasn't firing. Pulled all five plugs only 15,000 miles old and all tested fine. Checked the IP timing, and it was a bit retarded. Will be adjusting accordingly. Remember timing can certainly affect starting capabilities too.