Engine wont fire

Hi guys, I just joined and have a question about my D21. Hope someone can help.

The engine wont start and I thought it may be the battery but its not, also when I turn it on the glow lamp light turns off as it should.

It happened a couple weeks ago and I left it for a few days then it started one morning, Its happened again and hasn't started after several tries??

I turns over but wont fire???

Welcome to the forum!

There are a number of things to check here.

Are the glow plugs actually working? The light might come on in the dash but that doesn't necessarily mean that the plugs are heating up.

Is there any air in the fuel system? I'm not sure about the D21, but air bubbles in the D40 makes it difficult to start, we resolve the problem by pressing the primer bulb numerous times until it is quite hard to press and then start the engine.

Does the engine crank over as fast as you'd expect? It's possible that it IS your battery. Put it on a charger overnight and try in the morning.

I'd also make sure the air cleaner is intact and not dirty, there are no blockages in snorkels - one local customer of my Nissan dealer had a parrot in there, they didn't notice that they'd hit a parrot with the snorkel intake as they were driving and the poor creature was sucked down to the bend in the guard where it completely blocked the air flow.

Do you hear the injectors opening? Diesel injectors are noisy, but open the bonnet and have someone crank the thing over while you're standing BESIDE the vehicle and listening. Don't stand in front in case they accidentally slip it into gear.

If fuel is being pumped, the injectors are working, there's adequate airflow and the glow plugs are working, the diesel engine is pretty much going to work. It's a rather simple beast!

Pull the rail off the glow plugs, put a multimeter between each glow plug and the block and test for continuity. If any are dodgy, replace the whole lot.

thanks so much for the replys guys, think i may need new glow plugs