06 JGC CRD sooks and won't start if you go more than 10km... until it cools down.

[randomperson]

Ok, (btw I'm here under an alias as my passwords not working for my normal account)

I have a 2006 JGC CRD with the merc motor and if I go more than around 10-15km, it won't start again until something cools down.
Go to work and back every day, go to the shops and all is ok. Battery is excellent, starter works flawlessly, full of fuel etc, everything has been checked.
Turn the ignition on and everything lights up as it should, radio works, headlights, horn but turn the key to start it and nothing, not a click, just the silence of nothing happening.(won't even jump start)
I chased this down through forums months ago and all i was getting was "it's the ignition switch" and pics and videos of how to strip down the steering column to fix it. Except its a right hand drive and the ignition is in the dash.
Happened again today, wife had it as her 2014 JGC was in for an oil leak, and as she likes to do, she ignored me, didn't come straight home and calls me from the car wash saying it won't start. (She has an obsession about not driving a dirty car and no the car wash played no part in this) I went to the car wash, we swapped cars and i waited almost an hour before it would start.

The only known issues we've had , swirl motor failure so the resistor fix was applied and the engine light on since then (5 years) and the occasional egr code but currently no codes showing.
Having said all that, I just went out again and tried it multiple times and it worked though I confess the ignition barrel is a tad worn and I thought on a couple of occasions that i heard something from that vicinity.

If it was the ignition barrel, why would it stop working if the car went further than 10-15km until it cooled down. What is there to get hot ?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

[drover]

Probably stomping on old ground but I would be looking at the contacts in the key barrel, now I can't recall if the key barrel has spring and ball or just sprung metal contacts but wear and age can cause them to get warm and distort or even jam, so once you go to OFF it will take some time for them to get back to contactable position, an easy way to test this would be have someone turn to on and you have a meter on the starter solenoid to see if it has a circuit, save digging into a wiring harness .... My other thought would be a dicky connections in/on starter solenoid itself ...


I skipped the WH/K series but

[layback40]

You could try tipping cold water on things to see if you can work out what thing is causing the problem. Cold water on the starter solenoid would be a place to start. Can you hear the starter relay clicking? If you remove the lid from the starter relay, you can press it & see if the starter turns.

[Mace1]

My 2009 WH occasionally does the same thing, but usually from a cold start. I pull the "key" out of the dash and rotate it 180 degrees and re-insert, its never failed to start (touch wood).

Cheers.

[randomperson]

Thanks,
I've ordered a new ignition (the bit behind the barrel) and will try a couple of the things you have said.
Yesterday was close to 30c and I would have thought if something was getting hot, it would have got hot on the drive home, but no. A dozen tries when home and all worked well.
I've pulled the lids off the 2 fuse boxes and found nothing hot.
It's the 3rd vehicle in a 2 person house so it basically does week or two on and the same off and as such not as big a priority as the ensuite reno I'm doing that apparently has to be finished . I will keep you informed about any solution I find when it gets a turn.

Thanks again.