Hello, purchased my 2005 CRD new and have had multitude of issues, BUT i still think it is a great car. 105K miles so far.
Having problems with the car being hard to start. Sometimes I have to run the starter for a long time before I can make it start. It will start with Starting fluid. There was a code that said there was a large fuel leak. I am at a loss to find the right solution. I have had a couple of pressure valves/sensors replaced. Have not replaced any injectors or the pump. Mechanic says the fuel pressure is not high enough (5000 to 6000 lbs) he says it should be about 22000 lbs but I have no idea. After the initial morning start with starting fluid, the engine will start most of the time BUT it might take 15 to 20 full seconds of cranking to get it there. It is darn difficult to find qualified people who understand this engine.
The mechanic seems o think it is an injector leaking down fast after the engine is shut down OR the pump. He is not sure and neither am I. The engine seems to run well when it starts. It is strong. EVERY now and then, it does make a kind of (single)skip when idling at a light but nothing that concerns me. It does have black smoke when I start off hard from a traffic light. I am on mu 5th egr valve and a new egr cooler.

ANY ideas guys????? I think I am going to have to take this work upon myself.

N

Never use starting fluid on a motor with glow plugs. Nor on an engine as lightly built as these. It works for direct injected engines with low compression ratios (low for a diesel). Like the old detroits, the big truck Cummins motors (and others). The most effective start assist for engines like these used to be WD-40, which had a flamable propellant and contents that would assist in starting. WD-40 changed its formulation a number of years back and I don't know what a good substitute is now.

The ASD relay is a small relay inside your engine house fuse/relay box that controls your glow plugs and some other functions of starting.

Yep, the engine will not start if the ASD relay is faulty....there could be an intermittant problem with the ASD relay....OP needs to swap it out with an identical one next to it!

Change your fuel filter first. Even a brand new one can get clogged, we've seen it on this very board.

Next after you let your Jeep set over night, prime the fuel head and see how many pumps you can get. If you can get more than a few, then you most likely have air issues.

Is it a first or second generation fuel head? Do you have a CEL on? What type glow plugs do you have? When is the last time you had your battery checked or changed?

When is the last time you changed your ASD relay? I change mine every 2 oil changes now.
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Answer that and check it out, get back.

Did the tech say what the cranking fuel pressure was?

Does it crank at a normal speed or slow like a weak battery?

First off RL140832AB is NOT a "lift pump". It's the fuel level sending unit and fuel pump that goes into the gas tank on a 3.7L gasoline powered KJ. I imagine it will fit into the fuel tank on a diesel KJ CRD as the tank and the lines are identical to the gasoline ones. However, unless the deal techs actually wired the RL140832AB fuel pump circuit into the system, which requires extending the existing harness as there is no fuel pump wiring on the CRD, that fuel pump is doing nothing.

Basics on air in the lines. See Sir Sam's NOOB guide on how to bleed the fuel head and follow those instructions especially closing the bleeder valve between cycles. If you continue to get air in the fuel filter head try installing a bit of clear vinyl tubing between the filter head and the fuel line going to the CP3 (actual CRD fuel pump located on the driver side of the engine) and see if air bubbles are going thru that line if so you have an air source between the line to the CP3 and the tank fuel pickup. Sources a) leak in filter head (failure to remove old inner gasket when installing a new filter, bleeder screw not closing properly, leaky seal on bleeder pump, bad heater element on a 1s gen filter head) or b) leaks in the fuel line connections especially the 2 quick disconnect fitting back toward the tank. The latter are not under pressure so leaks tend to suck are in without visible fuel coming out. Fix can be a simple as replacing both with a bit of marine grade diesel rated fuel line and clamps or as complicated as installing a) a real fuel pump in the tank with the attendant wiring or b) adding a lift pump somewhere between the tank and the filter head. Lots of how to post on forum.

750 psi cranking sounds low, I don't know what the spec is for the VM but the Cummins is over 5000 psi while cranking. If the above is true and a new fuel tank unit was installed with a non working fuel pump, it would be hard for the high pressure pump to suck through it. If you have the ambition, you can get a bucket of diesel fuel and run a rubber line from the inlet of the fuel filter head into the bucket to bypass the tank and see if the fuel tank unit is restricting your fuel supply.

Have your technician pull the return line of the injectors and measure how much fuel is returning while cranking. you should virtually have nothing..perhaps a slight drip but thats it..if while cranking you have fuel pissing out the the return from the injectors, one of your injectors is toast which will cause low fuel pressure in the rail...diagnose from there....see this more and more with HPCR fuel injectors