its happened a few times, never the first start of the day but usually after a run and a rest (so a hot start or at least a warm one)

the engine turns over fine - plenty if battery and starter motor is fine

there are no fault warnings

the starter eventually times out

on each occasion, i have tried a few times, then gone for a coffee, come back and its started fine

after starting the car is 100% perfect - normal performance, economy etc, no misfires, its 5 years old and has done 52k miles

>>>I'd really appreciate your help before the garage replace half the engine and rip me off! - its booked in tomorrow <<<

please reply soon - its booked into garage tomorrow (thursday) - either call or email me, or of course post on here
many thanks
ANDY
07881 857717
andrewandlorraine@yahoo.co.uk

 

what happens with your transmission problem before anyway?

it can be fuel or ignition problem.

 

My gearbox problem was cured as soon as the dealer reset the limp home mode. we will never know what caused it, but it happened when i was valeting the car with the doors open for hours and washing various parts - so it could have been caused by a low battery or by a bit of water going into the gearshift which later dried out.

looking through previous posts, the tdc or crank position sensor crops up a lot, as does fuel relay and as you say ignition
i have the car booked into the garage tomorrow for a service anyway and i dont mind paying them to repair the problem, but i'd just like to make sure they dont replace the wrong thing and charge me for it, so i suppose i'm asking how i can be sure which of these it is. For instance, can i test the fuel relay or wiggle it when the fault next occurs? Or, should i ask to see a printout from the diagnostic unit at the garage tomorrow? would that tell them it was a fuel relay or TDC/crank sensor ?

My nightmare is that they put in a new part then 2 weeks later it does it again cos they got the wrong bit. Worse still, they change the batteries in the key and then charge me £££££ for a new fuel relay that they never replaced !

ANDY

Incidentally, i also noticed a post mentioning moisture/corrosion and BAS module preventing starting. now its probably a coincidence but every so often i get BAS,ABS and TSC warnings on the dashboard. Re-starting clears them. Ive always assumed this was just dirty wheel sensors. It seems unlikely that its connected to the starting problem, since (A) its been going on for 2 years and the starting problem is just the last 2 months. (B) it hasnt happened recently but the starting problem has. ANyway, thought you experts should know all the facts.

 

Hi Andy,
You state no fault warning. I guess you refer to "on the dash".
It appears that some component doesn't like being warm but why this doesn't show up under normal driving is a surprise.
I guess however that the OBD (on board diagnostics) will have picked up the problem even if not sufficiently significant to turn a fault light / message on. The light comes on when emmission control is threatened.
The OBD code SHOULD confirm what the nature of the problem is. If there is no code then matters get a little more "hit and miss".
Suggest you get them to give you a ring between diagnosis (connection to OBD) and carrying out the rectification work....no nasty £ surprises when you go to collect the vehicle!
Sleepwalker is absolutely correct.
Most likely Fuel or Ign, but which?
I'd bet on electrics (bad relay, connector etc) rather than mechanical failure (bad fuel pump, ign coil etc) since the problem is temperature/intermittent.

 

Can anyone tell me where the crank position sensor is and what it looks like ?

The garage said today that there were no faults recorded to do with my non-starting problem, so they just changed the crank sensor anyway. They did say that they'd take it off again if this wasnt the cure, but being a suspicious sort of guy (and curious) i'd like to just have a look at it and make sure it has been replaced.

cheers
Andy