SWMBO's 2001 Sante Fe is acting up. It won't crank. It an intermittent problem. I started with fuses. Nope. Then swapped around a few relays and that didn't help. Tried starting it in neutral to see if the neutral lock out was bad. Nope. I dropped the starter and tested it with jumper cables. It spun up, so I reinstalled it, had her crank it to listed for any clicking and it fired up.
This was Sunday afternoon. It ran fine all day yesterday. It will not start this morning.
What areas should I look at? Any way to test the ignition switch? Any sensors known to cause this?
Any help is appreciated.
Whack the starter with a wrench or hammer and try again. The bench test that you did was not a really meaningful test for an old part.
The brushes on the motor are probably worn out from old age and normal wear, and are not making contact all the time. Whacking the case of the starter will bounce them onto contacting the armature.
Or if it's an easy starter to get at, just test for voltage to the solenoid terminal when you try to start it.
A few things off the top of my head;
Starter could be on its way out. Sometimes there is a "dead" spot on the motor contacts. When you pulled it it just happened to move to a not dead spot.
Possibly voltage drop or poor connection on the power wire. Look at the signal wire as well, they like to corrode or loosen.
Are you using the keyless remote? There is a burglar alarm relay in the starter circuit on these. I've seen them get temperamental with age.
Is it the 2.4 or 2.7 engine?
2.7 v6. The terminals look clean. The signal wire looked good and it was tight. It's the original starter, and the car has 133,000 on it. Mostly short trips. The power steering is dribbling fluid down the side if the engine. The starter was coated in crud. Not thick, but it was coated. Can this kill a starter?
Will check the voltage at the terminals. I don't like throwing $200 parts at a problem, but it's looking more like the starter is going.
Yeah the oil crud can kill a starter. It will actually eat away at the insulating coating on the windings.
You can leave that small heat shield off for a few days while you test things. It won't hurt anything short term. If you can get it to act up and take a voltage reading at the main and signal wire I can help you more from there.
If you do end up replacing the starter that is the best time to replaced the crank position sensor. The insulation on the sensor wiring dries out and falls off over time giving you no spark. With the starter out it's a piece of cake. 1 10mm bolt and a harness plug.
I'll check the Sensor. I did read up on it as its a known failure point of the 2.7. What voltage should I be seeing at the terminals?
The car is still acting up as SWMBO wasn't able to get it running this morning, so I don't have to wait to see.
Thanks again.
The main power wire should have battery voltage. so if you have a healthy battery with lets say 12.3 volts you should have 12-12.3 volts at the starter. The signal wire is the same deal as it uses 12 volts to energize the solenoid.
When the starter is working and cranking the engine over your voltage will drop to about 10.5 volts.
Volts were close to battery levels at the starter. Replaced it and so far so good. I'm confident that it really was the starter and I didn't just throw parts at it.
Thanks for the help everyone.
