Discovery TD5 auto starting problems.

...and a good little squeeze with a pair of pliers.

Aye aye peeps. Been doing night shifts for a couple of weeks so nothing done during the day apart from sleep, eat and go back to work.

Been off for a few days now and have been doing a little more trouble shooting.

With engine hot and not starting:

Wiggled the starter solenoid connection. Nothing. Took it off and nipped it up a bit and tried again. Nothing.

Connected a lead direct to the starter solenoid from the battery. Cranked over. Turned ignition on and tried again. Started. So I can definitely rule out the starter.

Tried putting a wire in from the starter relay 12V out direct to the starter solenoid. Nothing. While doing this it became apparent that the starter solenoid was not energising when the ignition was turned on. From this I suspect a continuity problem somewhere in the starter circuit between the ignition switch and the relay. Possibly the fuse box circuit board?

This is as far as I've got so far. I have rigged up a switch under the bonnet to start the engine when it's hot to keep me going for now. It's a simple flick switch that goes back to off when you let go of it.

Did you try with another relay? if yes you have to see what's missing from the relay, the ignition feed on the coil or earth from the BCU... btw fuse F23 interioer fusebox and FL12 engine bay are 100% ruled out?

Forgot to mention that I tried another relay. It didn't work either. Relay works fine when the engine is cool. I haven't checked any fuses but if a fuse had gone the problem would be permanent until I replaced the fuse surely?

seems like bad contact in the involved connector at the back of the fusebox or within the fusebox