Hyundai Battery Problem?

Tonight my '02 XG350 wouldn't start. I heard the beginnings of it turning
over, but then just fast clicking - a possible bad battery, which are the
dealer's thoughts too. The problem is that I had a dead battery almost
exactly a year ago. Is there some sort of issue with Hyundai batteries? I
have the 4B warranty, so I'm not worried about the problem being fixed or
getting a replacement rental (the joys of the 4B plan...), but it's still a
drag to deal with the inconvenience of car towing, possible rental, etc.

While I've been happy with the car, what with a power steering hose going
bad a few months ago, and now another battery problem (I hope), it just
gives my wife some "I told you so" ammunition to counter my JD Powers
defense... If the problem is the battery, any ideas what might cause 2
batteries to each fail within a year?

Thanks,
-B

 

I think there is a problem with Hyundai batteries. My Tiburon and my Sante
Fe have both had to have batteries replaced. Not even two years old yet.

 

In my experience, OEM batteries in general are nothing to write home
about. Most of mine have lasted 3 years maximum.

What kind of conditions do you drive in? Weather that's really hot or
really cold is rough on batteries.

Also, do you check the fluid levels? You still need to do it
periodically. If you need to add water, make sure it's distilled or
de-ionized. Tap water is bad for batteries.

As long as your warranty covers it, I wouldn't worry about it. Once the
warranty expires, replace it with a Die Hard or other premium battery
and be done with it.

 

I'm in Texas, and batteries die within 2 years. After my battery is about 1
year old, I'll buy a spare battery & secure it in the trunk.

 

re: hyundai etal vehicle batteries

well, over many years (i am now nearly 60 years old), i have
observed/experienced:

batteries tending to fail after an incident in which the battery requires
re-charging, such as after leaving the radio or the dome light or the
headlights/taillights on by mistake for a day/couple of days

in other words:

despite one's vehicle's battery showing on a meter that it is re-charged,

the battery has actually been damaged

therefore,

buy the lowest-priced new battery that's available at a dealer, an auto parts
store, or at walmart etal

of course, i may be totally wrong in this (mis) perception



replace the "guaranteed" battery with a new battery from the store asap (as
soon as you can)



because, IMHO, re-charged and/or "jumped" batteries are not dependable (enough)
batteries

 

Hyundai has changed the replacement battery vendor from a year ago.
Replacement batteries are now manufactured and distributed by Interstate.
The OE batteries are still nothing to write home about though.

 

I was just about to post the results which included your info.
So yep it was the battery, but nope it was NOT under full warranty - it fell
just 20 days over the year. The Hyundai factory rep would not authorize the
company picking up the costs, so I'm out of pocket $60.00. Not a big deal,
but surprising (to the service manager as well) that they wouldn't do this a
good will gesture. Besides, in terms of the picking your battles, this
wasn't big enough. I'd rather wait for a just out of warranty transmission
or engine to blow up over...
FYI - the ORIGINAL battery has a 3 year warranty, but the replacement
battery (last May 29th for me), is only covered for a year, and then
pro-rated after that. Hyundai picked up 25% of the replacement. The service
manager told me there were a lot of problems with previous generation
batteries, but that Interstate is much more reliable.
So hyundaitech - when you say "nothing to write home about" - did you mean
the Interstate?
Thanks,
-B

 

Fully discharging a batter does damage it and shorten it's life.
However, a deep discharge that doesn't fully drain it may have little or
no detrimental effect.

I prefer to buy good quality batteries with a high duty cycle rating.
They do last longer, provided that you don't abuse them.

 

It's too early to tell for the Interstate. The company has a find
reputation. It's the original battery from Korea that has issues.

 

My last Chevy Caprice battery lasted five years before the car was
stolen. I lost my XG300L battery at one year and the new battery has
been in two years. I had an opportunity to play around with an
ammeter that was clamp on. At about 1100 RPM, the alternator is
cranking out a full 135 Amps which is about neutral current on the
battery when your in a hot weather, night time driving situation.
When I dropped the car back to idle, ~700 RPM, the battery was
discharging at about 10-15 Amps and the Generator was putting out
about 110 Amps. Since the two don't add up correctly, I put a
voltmeter on the battery and, at idle, the voltage drops a volt
between idle and alternator max output at 1100 RPM.

The question that came to mind was what would happen after a couple of
hours of driving at night. According to my numbers, every time you
went into idle you would discharge the battery some and every time you
were back to cruise, there wasn't enough alternator left to charge the
battery--since the current in was zero. I believe I overlooked the
possibility that the battery may reach an equilibrium someplace
between the full charge OFF voltage and partially discharged OFF
voltage. When the battery becomes partially discharged, apparently
the voltage drop is enough to reduce the current draw and allow enough
left over to keep the battery at enough, whatever level of charge that
is.

It looks like a rather good case of engineering for a road driver but
a very bad situation for a slow, in-town driver like my wife. It
looks that way. But when I'm gone, she doesn't touch her Saturn and
the Hyundai always starts. Which proves the guys in Hyundai design
have it cut to the edge but it still works. And that's about the best
engineering compliment you can give.

Fred, W8OY

 

My partner's Excel needed a new battery every 2 years, & she used that car
for as a town runabout.

It'll be interesting to see if the battery has longer life, now, as the car
is being used by her daughter who would be doing longer & higher speed
driving.

Rob