just a thought on this,if piston rings were shot surely it would have start problems all the time not just on 1st start of the day.could this be fuel which has somehow seeped into the cylinder/s overnight therefore floods the 1st start.if so that would be injectors? are they simple to take out and replace/clean and whats the cost ?

Hi
Costs from Jeep are from £250 to £800 each but you can get them from Bosch. Only one bolt hold them in but some times they can he hard to remove.

Still really frosty this morning.
What I done was removed the grey relay on the front panel and took it into the house for a heat on the radiator then hit it off the table a bit (incase it's suffering from the effects of the cold, I may be wrongly assuming this is the glowplug relay.)
I put it back in the car and switched the ignition on. Once the glowplug light extinguished, I sat a further 5-7 seconds listening to the fuel pump(lift pump?) to see if there was any change in the noise it made. (ignition probably on for around 11-13 secs in total)
Started first turn after 2-3 seconds.
Is the fuel perhaps leaking back into the tank overnight and theres none up there first thing to start? So thats what's giving the starting problems?
Just throwing in suggestions as I try to fix mine.

NO.

bad piston rings = low compression.
and compression is what creates heat.

without heat, there is no ignition.
with only small amount of heat, temperature inside the cylinder is low, thus creating white smoke on cold starts.

injectors are known problems on this engine. but if they would leak, you would have driving problems and black smoke on cold start.

which engine oil do you use?

all newer engines keep glow plugs ON for a while after the start (10, 15... seconds). it helps keep emission low.
this way, you raised the temperature inside the engine and that was enough for a good start. no harm, keep doing like that.

if you have a pick up pump (electric fuel pump), that one is only first stage pump and it can not create pressure in the fuel line before injectors. it only helps supllying the high pressure pump.
so, if the pump leaks, you wouldn't start at all, or would have trouble all the time while driving.

Is the check valve in the pick up pump or the high pressure pump?
The glow plugs being on for a while seems very likely and helps starting, but when I turn on the ignition, I can hear a pump going. When the sound of that pump changes, it starts without much problem.
If I switch the glowplugs on till the light extinguishes and do this 5 or 6 times, it doesnt help starting.

if there is a pressure relief valve, it should be located together with the low pressure pump, inside the fuel tank.
high pressure pump feeds the injectors, and any excess fuel is going back to tank via return fuel line (or even through fuel filter, to raise the fuel temp. in winter time).

from what you described, it looks like you have an electrical problem, rather then mechanical.
problem is, newer diesel engines will not fire injectors unless there is sufficiant cranking speed. so, if a sensor (crank sensor or starter sensor) does not read more than 300 rpm's at cranking, ECU will not inject any fuel into the cylinders.
so, maybe your pick up pump is taking too much juice from battery, and together with glow plugs, there is not enough left for cranking on these cold days.
to check it out, try to start the car with jumper cables, but make sure they are good ones, not just some crap for a dollar.

besides, how old is your battery?

About 4 weeks old. The old one was 60 ah but i've put a 74ah into it now.
The old battery wasnt really that bad. It would turn it over quite a bit before giving up the ghost. I changed it because i'd read somewhere about the 300rpm just to make sure that it was ok. With the old battery, the problem was more or less the same. It started eventually.
I invested in a set of good leads for the exact reason you mention. Trying to jump it with the cheap ones was no use.

If it's cold tomorrow morning, I'll put leads on it first attempt and try to start it to see if theres any improvement in how it starts. At least now I know I'll get it started by leaving the ignition on longer. I'll let you know how I go.

Thank you, i appreciate the help.

OK
I appologise, ATF4 is proper fluid for your gearbox. so, sticky gears can be from bad clutch.
and the clutch....it doesnt say, but it looks like it can be both cabel or hydraulic
http://www.imagesforme.com/thumb/thumb_f29a15a9.jpg
I'm not sure, but you should be, once you lift the hood.

as for starting, try with 2 batteries tomorrow.
after all, it's not so much trouble if you have to wait 10 secs longer for a first start. if it really bothers you, try the following.
get a good meter and measure how much current is drawn in the morning. separatly for pick up pump (at the relay) and separatly for glow plugs. maybe you have a "leak" somewhere.

Just to update, been busy with work and never got the chance on a really cold morning. Now the temperatures up a bit it's not as noticeable. It's now MOT time so that's the priority for now.
As you say, it's starting if I wait longer so it'll probably take a back seat till next winter lol.
Thanks again for your help.