Car randomly not starting until jumped

Asked by Guru94Y2Y6 Sep 08, 2020 at 07:33 PM about the 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My Hyundai Santa Fe 2012 just began having an
issue of randomly not wanting to start. It could
have been working just fine and occasionally my
wet terrain light or incline lights will come on (not
on an incline nor on wet terrain) and stay on even if
I push button off. They go off eventually on their
own. I had a check engine light come on at random.
I have a new battery fully charge, new alternator
working excellently, great starter yet still randomly
not starting. I need jumped everytime this happens.
No mechanic seems to know what is happening.
Could it be electrical? Who knows! I'm so
frustrated! Does anyone else have this struggle?

2 Answers

103,415

Check your wire harness and battery cables, they may not be making a good electrical connection. A frayed end could be causing a loss of voltage. You will need a ohm meter to check for continuity along each cable. (You can get a decent meter at Walmart or any parts store for around $30.) Of course your problem may be more serious than an intermittent electrical connection, especially if your car was ever in a flood, you may have one or more bad computer modules, or a bad ignition module, that would require a dealer scan tool to look for, something a local mechanic shop might lack.

103,415

Just the fact that as soon as you jump it, it starts right up, is why I suggested a bad battery cable (when everything else is new; battery, alternator, starter)

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