2008 407 2.0HDi. Occasional weird non-starting issue

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UNM

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Fellow Frogger
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Dec 21, 2014
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380
Location
Melbourne, Australia
My 407 2.0HDi has a very occasional problem where it has absolutely no response when I try to start it.

On a few occasions (two or three times), I have got in the car first thing in the morning and when I turned the key absolutely nothing happened. I am pretty sure there was something showing on the dash as I turned the key to first position, but cant be 100% certain as I am usually not focussed on that.
Being in a hurry to get to work, I'd then disconnect my battery and put in the spare I happen to have on a shelf in the garage, putting my other one on to charge.
My assumption was that I'd not closed the door properly the nigth before and it had drained the battery.
I had the battery tested and it showed as 660 cranking amps (600amp battery, so seemed good).

A few days ago though, I drove to the shops, car absolutely fine, left car parked for less than five minutes and it did exactly the same thing. Seemed unlikely the battery would be dead, the batteries charge indicator also showed green. I disconnected the battery (no spark on disconnection), waited a minute or so then reconnected - spark as it reconnected. Car started absolutely fine.


Any ideas from the brains trust? All ideas/thoughts welcomed.



I'm just mildly worried it might be an ECU issue and a potential future problem when I am far from home.
 
dmccurtayne said:
On a RHR starter motors are very common to do this exact problem to confirm a drive to warm then leave for a few minutes then try to start it the heat soak makes it worse.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Good to know a strong candidate for the source of the fault.

It's strange that it has only previously happened when completely cold, but I'll try a few checks in the next week or two. I'm assuming the problem will gradually get worse over time if it is a faulty starter.

Does the ECU latch up completely and require a reset, or is there any other way to clear it quickly?

What is the issue - solenoid, or main starter motor? Just wondering what I should consider replacing as I might look out for a starter motor from the wreckers.
 
Yep - starter went on our first RHR as well. Bought a replacement from a parts recycler and back on the road again.

Cheers

Justin
 
$46 for a replacement starter from my local wrecker.

As I have to remove the starter anyway to properly torque the crankshaft bolt (that's a whole other story), probably worth picking one up.
 
it sounds like yours issue with with cold start, so heat affected starter is possibly not an issue. i would have expected the solenoid to go "clunk" even if your starter was bad (or at least relays to click somewhere).

Honestly, this just screams "dirty battery terminals" at me.
 
DoubleChevron said:
it sounds like yours issue with with cold start, so heat affected starter is possibly not an issue. i would have expected the solenoid to go "clunk" even if your starter was bad (or at least relays to click somewhere).

Honestly, this just screams "dirty battery terminals" at me.
Click to expand...

Well I've had no starting problems between my last post and yesterday.

Yesterday I fially got around to the 'floppy indicator stalk' repair. Took a while and several disassembly/reassembly attempts on the Comm2003, but that is a whole other story.

A couple of times after reconnecting the battery, I had the same issue. There was a fair bit of corrosion on the +ve connector clamp. Cleaned it up and I reckon that you are right. Time will tell.
 
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