A few weeks back, our 2014 Elantra wouldn't start. When you turned the key, silence. Dashboard lights came on but there's absolutely no sound. A while later, tried again, but this time it started as it should. We chalked it up to one of those hiccups and moved on. About three weeks later, yesterday, again it wouldn't start. Lights came on but no sound, just dead. Later in the evening it started again, my daughter used if for a quick trip, and returned. She tried about an hour later to go out again ... you guessed it, wouldn't start. A friend who has a mechanic friend in a different state who said ... "He says he's almost certain it's the Ignition lock cylinder It's in the steering column and he says it'll drive people nuts trying to identify the problem He says that if you turn the key and nothing happens, take the key out Put it back in the ignition and put some pressure on the key in the direction of the ignition before you turn it Too little or too much pressure and it won't work The other option is that you have a flat spot on the starter but he really believed it's the ignition switch" Does this make sense? Plausible?
5 Answers
While it is possible for the ignition switch to cause your problem. I would suggest taking it to a shop unless you a comfortable diagnosing it your self.
When the problem is happening check the S terminal at the starter. If you have battery power then it's the starter. If no power work your way back to the ignition switch. Be aware it could also be a neutral safety switch (automatic transmission) or a clutch safety switch, depending on what you have. Alarms could cause this problem also.
Good luck.
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Thank you cano for your response. We're going to take it to a shop and bring your response along to show the mechanic. Again, thank you for your quick response.– JohnAug 20, 2017 at 16:58
I have also faced similar situation, in my case the battery was the culprit, initially neither me (multimeter readings) nor a local workshop could identify the issue, as the battery seemed to be working normally and all the readings were normal, even the specific gravity of cells were normal, but sometime out of nowhere the car would not start at all. Finally an authorized battery service man pointed out the fault is in the battery and since replacing the battery have not seen any issues so far.
Most of people don't know the problem between starter and battery issue.Dead or Weak battery are the most common reason why you can’t start your vehicle. If the battery is weak, but not totally dead, the starter may turn slowly. While, a completely dead battery will not provide necessary power to the starter. A quick way to check for power is to simply turn on your headlights. Another way to check the battery is to use a multimeter and set it to voltage. A good battery should have 12.6 volts with the engine off. Next time, please make sure you have turned off your car light when you left.
Vehicle starter is a mechanical component that turns the engine over. Without it, the engine will not turn over. Symptoms of a bad starter are: no click or starter making grinding noise. Remove starter and inspect drive gear and flywheel teeth, replace damaged starter parts if necessary. The other problem you which will result your car stop working, Spark Issue,Fuel Delivery Problem,Security System Error, Park or Clutch Switch is Broken or Misadjusted, Poor electrical connections at battery terminals.
While what you were told could be correct, Hyundai hasn't had any recalls on their ignition switches for that year yet, and also no starter/battery issues from factory. I would factor those out first until they NEED to be tested or replaced. What you should do is replace the battery, see how the car runs electrically also making sure that the car stats EVERY time you start it. Batteries are VERY tricky to test an can quite easily fool any test equipment sometimes. I've been doing electrical and computer work on vehicles for almost a decade, and batteries are still one my huge culprits when I get cars in that "no one can fix". It's relatively cheap and you can also return it.
As far as ignition switch and starter go. They need to be tested professional by a shop that deals with diagnostics or electrical. Normal hole in the wall shops usually don't have staff that have the knowledge to do these things, so don't go cheap. You'll regret it.
This could also possibly be a computer issue. The fact that you mention it happened once and no problems for 3 weeks. 3 weeks is an odd amount of time for something to reoccur. Which leads me to believe that there may be wiring that is compromised in some way, or your ignition module may be on the fritz. These are often times dealership diagnosis sistuations, because they have all of the OEM equipment to test. Unless you can find a specialty shop like what I do. Hope this helped a little, wish you the best of luck!
I have the same problem with my IX35 Hyundai. Replaced brake switch button to no avail, then I replaced the starter motor relay in the fuse box and at this stage has fixed the problem. I only swapped the relay with the rear window demister relay, as I live in sub tropical Australia I never use the demister so it was a cost free fix.
