2000 Hyundai Elantra Won’t Start - Seems Completely Dead

I am having a rather large problem with my Elantra. I already know my
alternator is bad but that isn’t why I’m posting this here. I took the
battery out of my mom’s Accent to put it in my Elantra because my
battery is dead and when I did this I noticed my problem.

When I put the battery in the Elantra the stereo, dome light, dash
lights, even the fuel gauge went back up from empty. Basicly
everything is in working condition except the engine. Go figure.

When I try to turn the key over to start the car, I get nothing from
it. Completely dead; no clicks, no thuds, no sound at all, just the
check engine light on the dash.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m completely clueless...
Thanks in advance, Dan.

 

It is possible to have a bad connection that will allow the lights to work,
but not the big draw of the starter. Check the battery cables and ground
connection, as well as the cable tot he starter or solenoid.

 

Check all your underhood and passenger compartment fuses. It's possible
something is blown.

There may be a small fuse box that bolts onto the positive cable.
Hopefully, you didn't leave it laying on the transmission.

 

Well that would certainly make it a lot simpler to fix... I hope it is
something as simple as a fuse. I did locate a fuse box under the hood
that sits right on top of the front driver-side wheel well. There are
an abundance of fuses in this box and one of them is a 20 amp starter
fuse. I’m gonna try to replace the fuse but I have an itching feeling
that it is something worse...

 

I have know batteries and terminals to be fickle. I have had a
situaution when my battery was not charged up but there is ennough
power to fire up the instrument panel and even the horn but not enough
to give any life when trying to start it up. I had to use my road side
assistance service and was embarrassed when the mechanic just gave it a
jump start from his battery and it fired up. It was a combination of
the battery being nearly flat and dirty terminals that caused the
problem. Hope it helps

 

Turns out I have to replace the relay for the starter, not the fuse. I
looked everywhere for this thing and it took me forever but I finally
found one. I managed to find a complete underhood fuse/relay
compartment with all fuses and relays included. I don’t think I’m
gonna use the whole thing but it will come in handy to have
replacements for everything under the hood like that.

They will probably be here on wednesday or thursday. I’ll let you guys
know how it goes

 

Ok I figured out that it was in fact the starter relay. I replaced the
starter relay and the car started up fine