Extended crank to start help!

Bought a 99 new body style jetta tdi. Has 149000 on the clock.its been starting fine for weeks. Now all of a sudden when it sits for longer than a couple of hours you have to crank the crap out of it to start. When it starts it smokes really bad and clears up. But runs great. When it's good and hot it only turns over a few times and fires right up.no fuel leaks. Haven't done a compression check yet. But no codes nothing. It just started this out of the blue.

Probably a loss of prime. No external leaks doesn't necessarily mean air isn't leaking internal. There is also the issue with the early ALH cars and long cranks, but this sounds more like a loss of fuel prime. Could also be a bad injection pump (specifically the suction pump in the front part).

When it sat for a few days had to crank so long I thought it wasn't going to start. I cracked the lines at the injectors to check for air. And it was pumping or squirting fuel out with no air.the clear fuel line is full of fuel even when this happens.

I had long cranking starts and it turned out to be a crack in the sending unit in the tank. It was impossible to see until I dusted it with wood ash. That was long after I replaced it on hopeful information ) It took a longtime to diagnose because the symptoms went away with a full tank. The crack sucked air at a little less than half a tank... Do your symptoms ever fluctuate?