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Bonjour Mon Capitaine,
May this find you well. When you say that your car won't start, do you mean that:
(a) it cranks, but will not catch at all (no sign of combustion)?
(b) it catches, coughs and then dies?
(c) it catches, but runs briefly/roughly then dies?
I know little about diesels, never having owned one. I offer some thoughts because you seem to be in a real bind. I am sure that others, more diesel-smart, will follow.
Two temperature-driven changes, typically affect car operation:
(a) water in the fuel (usually the result of condensation as warm moist air is cooled [this tends to improve as ambient temps rise])
(b) a fuel injection system temperature sensor, that fails.
In your case, I'd bet there's a temperature sensor that shorts-out (stops working) or mal-functions (sends an erroneous signal), when it gets hot.
Without that sensor's output - or with an incorrect output - the engine won't catch.
The sensor could have been damaged by the terribly high temps of last summer. Engine coolant temp could have soared, as the radiator could not shed heat fast enough, owing to high ambient air temps.
Is there an air intake temperature sensor or a coolant temperature sensor, that is connected with the fuel injection system?
If there are no such sensors, stop reading here: what follows is irrelevant.
If your car has one or both such sensors, you may want to continue.
Check these sensors. Before ambient temps rise, you might do the following:
(a) On a chilly day, when you'd expect the car to start fine, test an air intake temp sensor by using a hair dryer to blow warm air over the sensor, to simulate the warmth on a hot Paris July day. Use a thermometer to measure the air temp in front of the sensor. I'd not exceed 40 deg Centigrade (104 deg F). If the car won't start, that implicates that sensor.
(b) if there's an engine coolant sensor, replace it, and park the car in a heated garage over-night, so the ambient temp is, say, 20 deg C (68 deg F) (the dealer likely will accommodate you). If the car starts, then that sensor was the problem.
It could be that when the engine coolant reaches normal operating temperature, the damaged sensor "has a nervous breakdown". The engine will run. However, once you shut it off, the damaged sensor won't work, until it cools and re-sets itself.
Hope this helps.
Yours faithfully,
spook
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