Thread: Intermittent ignition issue - Discovery 2 TD5

Hi All,
I've got a 2004 Disco 2 TD5 manual with an intermittent ignition issue.
Turning the key to the first position, the lights come on the dash all good.
Turning the key to the second position (to start the engine) and the dash lights go out and the engine doesnt turn over.

This happened first about 4 months ago. Tried many times to start and had the same issue. Left for about 20 mins, tried again and started fine.
Been starting fine until this weekend which left me stranded whilst camping. Not ideal.
Seems to be a rare issue. Any ideas what could be causing this?

I've read several blog posts but nothing exactly like this appears on them.
From my understanding it could be:
Bad battery / earth connections - checked these and seem good
Ignition switch faulty - having this replaced in just case
Starter motor solenoid contacts are faulty - could be an issue.
Thanks!
Fraser

Hi. If you dont hear a loudish click when you turn ignition to crank check the small lucar connector on the starter solenoid to be tight cos that's the first suspect, if you hear a click it's possible that the starter solenoid needs a refurb or there is corrosion on the main lead of the starter...or the starter on the way out, next time when it makes tricks give it a tug with a hammer or something and try then...if these were ruled out some troubleshooting is needed on the ignition switch - starter relay circuit. A simple thing would be to swap relay R2(starter) with R3 (headlamp wash) to rule out a sticky relay