Thanks for the tip on an extra ground strap attached to the starter. I put one one yesterday. I had no trouble starting the car when the engine was cold and the glow plugs had to cycle, but it took a fair amount of cranking to get it started warm. Now with the extra ground, it starts easily when warm because the starter turns twice as fast.
One of my favorite, cheapest upgrades for any engine
yea i painted an engine trans combo up all purty once.....
upon reassembly it wouldnt start unless i added the aux ground strap
i even had to add one from the alt to the v/c
the paint was hindering the grounding,so i always add extra grounds
thats important also if you have electric guages
if the engine isnt grounded good,the guages will read erratic
sometimes you can "see " a bad ground
watch to see if the speedo needle jumps upon cranking
if so its trying to "find" a ground thru the very fragile speedo head
too much of that,and its toast