1990 Sonata Starting Problem

Hi, I have a 1990 Hyundai Sonata, and over the past few weeks, I have had
intermittent problems starting the car.

The accessory lights and everything else (headlights, etc) would work fine,
but no cranking of the engine, just a click followed by a kind of whining
sound from the engine bay (an electrical whining though, not a mechanical
whine).

I could always overcome this problem by popping the bonnet (hood) and
twisting the negative terminal connector of the battery and making sure it
was on properly.

This worked every time, but now even that has stopped working, and no matter
how nice and clean and tight I make the connection of the terminal, still
the car won't start. No cranking, just that click and whine. Headlights
still work, interior lights work.... everything but the actual starting of
the car.

Any ideas what's up? Any info would be great

Cheers,
Martin

 

So - for some time you've had a bad battery ground that you elected to just
"twist" instead of tightening up. Well... that'd be the way most of us
would repair it in the most manly of ways! Don't let anyone kid you
Martin - even those of us who really do fix things the right way only do so
after having thrown some manly cob-job procrastination at it. Now the damn
thing seems to have figured out your methods and is acting up in a new way.
Such is the nature of machines.

Do this - take it to a local aftermarket auto parts store and have them run
a test on the battery and alternator. Bet you've got a bad battery. It's
probably got enough umph(!) for the headlights but not enough to drive the
starter - which is a hell of a lot more umph(!). Your starter commonly
loads your battery at somewhere in the neighborhood of 80A and you
headlights only a fraction of that. That's why you'll see headlights
working on a bad battery, but the starter won't do anything but click, at
best. What you'll need to figure out is whether it's just a bad battery
(likely if it's the original), or if something else (alternator is a good
suspect) is either not charging it or is draining it when not in use.

 

Hey thanks for thequick (and amusing) reply Mike !! OK, will do what you
said... and yeah, it makes sense what you say about the battery not having
enough power, etc.... I'm a useless case when it comes to cars. I'm pretty
handy with computers and musical instruments, but cars... man, keep them
away from me !!

I will go get the battery checked out tomorrow. The guy who lives next door
is an RAC Breakdown service guy.... I'm not a member, but I'm pretty sure he
will take a look anyway.

Cheers and Happy New Year !!
Martin