Elantra Starting Problem

I am having an odd intermittent starting problem with my Elantra. The
car is a 2000 sedan with automatic transmission and has 50,000 miles.
The car runs great but without warning will simply fail to start. It
will crank over fine but will not start. After a period of time,
sometimes a half hour and sometimes several hours, the problem
disappears and the car will start fine. The dealer has not been able
to recreate the problem and the car is not reporting any error codes.
They kept the car for three weeks and started it every day (several
times) without any problem. I had it back for three days before it
happened again. I noticed this time that it happened after the car
was driven for about 20 minutes and then parked for about 4 hours.
Then it would crank but not start. It started fine 2 hours later.
After thinking about it, I believe this is typical…the car is driven
for at least 20 minutes and then sits for at least 4 hours when the
problem shows up.

The only other problem I had was a couple of thousand miles ago the
car started stalling and hesitating. The dealer replace the mass air
flow sensor and the car has run fine since.

Has anyone had a similar problem? Any help would be appriciated.

Mike

 

Since it does not happen while at the dealers I would suggest at least
tyring to determine myself if it is an ignition problem.
When it fails to start try to determine if spark is going to the
plugs. You can do this by removing a plug wire and holding its end
very close to a ground such as the cylinder head and seeing whether
any fire is coming from the wire when the engine is cranked. Hold the
plug wire by its insulation and do not let your body be grounded. If
you determine that there is no ignition you can pass this info along
to the shop and it will shorten the list of possible problems. If you
do not do this properly you may receive an electrical shock but it is
not dangerous.

Old_Timer

 

FWIW, I would hold the spark plug wire with a pair of pliers with rubber insulated handles, and wear rubber gloves as well. Although the high voltage from the ignition system may not be life threatening it hurts like hell from my personal experience.

 

Might be the fuel pump!

 

I am having an odd intermittent starting problem with my Elantra.

i have a 97 accent base model, manual that has that exact problem.
ive been working with it for awhile now.. sometimes itll start up
after 3 or 4 15 second bursts of cranking, other times.. not.
its getting fuel but not spark.
i discovered that while having the problem, if you get a jump from
another car itll start _right_ up
new alternator, new battery. could this be a coil pack problem?

 

Thanks to everyone for replying to my post. The car didn't start
again today. This time I was able to confirm that it is not getting a
spark. The car has not been driven in a couple of weeks but has been
starting fine in the driveway...until today.

 

It finally did it again and as it turns out...no spark. Thats not to
say that it won't start up fine in a few hours.
???
Mike

 

I have a 2012 Elantra (61000miles on it) and it will not start in park (albeit randomly). It will start in neutral. Took it to the dealer few times for this but although it happened to the service person once (he could not start it while trying to take it for a low tire pressure sensor check) they could not reproduce the problem. Happens at times w/o any rhyme or reason that I can figure out. Already replaced the key fob battery to make sure it is not that.
Last time the dealer told me the car battery was very, replaced the battery, the car won't start 3 days later. Again, started in neutral. I think this is a trend at least in Elantra 2012.

 

my 2014 Elantra Automatic has the same problem,..
sometimes it doesn't start,...
I think it is a realy problem that must be reported to Hyundai,..
My friend said that it might because of malfunction of inhibitor switch but I didn't change it yet.

 

my 2013 has same problem, sent to dealer 2 times. they couldn't find problem. first time happend in this year, then it happened every month. It will start in neutral.

 

I have an Elantra 2014 ( 41.000 miles) . I have the same problem, that is repeated almost every month randomly. The car is starting at the second attempt .....
Also, the lights dim when i start the engine, but this one could be a battery problem...
I do not know if these two problems are related to one another.

 

I have a 2011 Elantra with the same, intermittent starting problem. The dealer couldn't find anything wrong (and, of course, it started fine for them). It happens very sporadically (every few months). The original poster mentioned that it seemed to happen after driving for a short time and then parking....yes! Mine has the same pattern - short trip driving to the store today, shopped for a while and then it wouldn't start when I came out. When it wouldn't start after several attempts, I called my Dad to pick me and my daughter up and he was able to get it started by shifting it to neutral.

I thought I was going crazy! So, glad to see I am not alone. But, I agree with the poster who said that this problem should be reported to Hyundai.

 

>Next time it doesn't start, see if the tachometer needle moves.[/QUOTE]
Why does the tach needle moving or not moving signify?

 

My 2000 elantra wont start. Itll crank for days. I have junkyarded an alternator that oreilly tested good. I also junk yard part swapped a cam position sensor, idle speed control actuator (was buzzing/vibrating with the key to 'on'), the fuel relay(the middle one on the panel under the dash, theres 2 relays and swappped them both and the turn signal relay is there as well) as well as several relays from the underhood panel. I had oreilly hook it up and their checker says there is no ecm(but i drove the car daily for months after) and autozone was able to connect and they gave some codes like the oxygen sensor and something else (been months since then). I replaced the fuel pump about 4 months ago as it died out of nowhere and i traced it there and it drove fine until the alternator was "drowned" on an especially rainy day. I replaced the alternator with a junkyard part and got a good battery(used but tested). It did fine until 2 days ago. It wouldnt start. I messed with everything and we hooked it up to my truck and gave it 14.2 volts and while messing with relays it started. I had my gf start it several times and drove it around the block and left it sit for 20 mins and it started fine. We drove it about 40 mins away on the highway and let it sit for about 2.5 hours and it wouldnt start. Getting more than 12 volts from the battery the whole time. When it dipped below 12 volts i hooked it to "ole faithful" and charged it back up to 13.5 volts. I hooked a multi meter to the pump connections and on key on and cranking it has 0.03V. I jumped the old pump from the battery and it turned on. I can hear a click from the under side of the dash when turning to on but (with rear seat out) i dont hear the pump. I can only think the wiring is messed up somewhere along the way. I also dont believe that bending a wire will slow the flow of electricity like a water hose. But I'm lost at this point. My car is a half hour away from home and my gf's source of transporting our 2 kids. I can do the work if someone can point me in the right direction. Also the last 2 times it started it got 14.2 volts from the donor, this time it only got 13.4 average volts.

 

My 2014 Elantra was doing the same thing. Not turning over and then if you turn it off and right back on it would fire up. Took it to dealership and found out the fuel pump didn't have enough pressure to pull enough gas up to start the engine on a cold start. It was pulling some but not enough to start it but it would start on the second crank since there was some fuel in the lines from the first attempt. So far so good. Hope this helps somebody!

 

HAS ANYONE HAD ANY SUCCESS DIAGNOSING THIS PROBLEM???? MY 09 ELANTRA HAS BEEN DOING THIS FOR A WHILE.

 

Each person has described a different issue with starting the engine.
Please elaborate. Tell us more.
Does it crank and not start?
Does it not crank and not start?
Does it have a hard time starting?
Does it not start when hot?

Tell us what you have done to see what is wrong
Does it have spark?
Does it have injector pulse?
Do you hear the fuel pump turn on?