The Most Ridiculous Thing I Have Ever Heard

So I accidentally left my dash lights on the other day at work, the
battery died and I got a boost.

Now Hyundai is telling me I have to pay $25 to get the radio working
again as it has some anti theft thing on it and you have to enter a
code if the power is disconnected!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it just me or is that ridiculous?

Chris

 

I own an Oldsmobile. Just purchased a service manual for it, and was
reading about exactly the same thing. In GM's, it is called, "Theftlock."

Supposedly, if you ever disconnect the battery, this Theftlock will kick in
and completely disable the radio until a code is entered.

Have NO idea what you are supposed to do BEFORE you disconnect a battery
(dead or not). The manual doesn't even give me a step I might try without
contacting the dealer for details.

As you said, "the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard."

They'll always find a way to get you somehow.

Tom Wenndt

 

what year,

 

1999 Hyundai Accent Stock Hyundai tape deck.

Chris

 

It's ridiculous alright.

Next time use a battery saver. All it is is a little 9v battery that plugs
into the cigarette lighter socket.

I think I heard the new Hyundai's don't have that "feature".

 

I think I might have fixed that on my 2003 Elantra. I bought another
(Better) radio!! as soon as I got the car as this one didn't have CD
player.

 

I'm not sure about that year, but on older cars there was a sticker on
the left side of the glove box with the radio code on it. If it's not
there, call Hyundai Customer Service and ask them where you can find the
code. It sounds like you have an unscrupulous dealer; a good one would
simply tell you where to find the code over the phone.

 

According to the dealer they have to look it up on the computer system
and is not something they do for free.

Older models had a sticker somewhere in the car. I don't think a 99
does.

Chris

 

So here's the story:

Left the dash lights on for 10.5 hours and the car wouldn't start.
Tried to boost it and according to Canadian Tire someone must have
reversed a cable and blew the alternator fuse. Now the radio won't
work but it doesn't say CODE or anything on the display. Checked the
two fuses that say "Audio" and they seem fine. There's a fuse missing
for "TCU ECT" but I don't know if that's related.

Any ideas?

Chris

 

You had it right from the start; you need to enter the code to enable
the radio. Did you check for a code sticker or call Hyundai (corporate)
as I suggested? It's rather pointless to ask a question then ignore the
answer.

If there's a fuse missing, it's because there's nothing connected there
and you don't need it.

 

Brian

I will call Hyundai customer service, however, everything I have read
about this type of situation says that if your radio is looking for a
code, it would say "CODE" on the display. Mine is blank. I have also
read that if you hold down the #4 when turning it on, there would be a
bunch of lines displayed, then you would go here :
http://www.hyundaidealer.com/decode/, and get the code. Mine does
nothing.

Isn't it possible that the fuse on the radio blew?

The dealer I called said to disconnect the battery for 30 minutes. What
would that do??

Chris

 

Called Hyundai and they don't think the problem is that I need a code.
They think my radio is blown.



Chris

 

If something is scrambled in the digital control circuitry it will let
any charges bleed to 0 so you get a clean power on.


Jump starting has the potential for a good power spike. In any
complex circuitry noise spikes and/or power spikes can store the wrong
data in storage circuits like RAM. Turning the unit off for a while
lets the charge drop to 0 eliminating an improperly set condition. The
more complex the system the more likely something can happen. Most
electronic equipment made today uses some kind of controller and
software to provide the bells and whistles if not the basic operation.

 

It may have a Hyundai radio. Hyundai is an OE supplier to other car
makers; they make them under a different name and the radios may look
the same as the Hyundai-branded ones. There's a site showing the models,
and unfortunately, I've forgotten it.

Or, someone is selling a chip with this function and different
manufacturers are using it in their radios.

All the answering machine makers have been using a chip that won't let
you backspace over part of a message -- the part where your caller
mumbles their phone number real fast.

Richard

 

Sorry, I misunderstood. What you say above about the code is correct.

I don't know if there is a fuse ON/IN the radio, but there is definitely
one in the fuse panel.

It resets the ECU and any other computers in the car. It should reset
the radio, assuming that it still works. Either way, you need to check
the radio fuse.

 

Since the car was improperly jump started, that's entirely possible.
Considering that you could have also fried the ECU or other critical
electronic components, a dead radio seems like a pretty inexpensive
lesson in the overall scheme of things. Look at the bright side, it
gives you an excuse to put in a better aftermarket unit. Sound like time
to go to crutchfield.com to me!

Before you junk the radio, pull it out and test the power leads coming
into it to make sure you're getting power to the radio. If not, check
for an inline fuse near the connector (there probably isn't one). If the
fuse at the fuse panel is good, you may have burned wiring somewhere?
Did you smell anything nasty when you mis-jumped the car?

You could also try connecting the radio directly to a 12VDC power supply
or battery, if you have one, to see if it works outside the car.

 

Once again Hyundaitech saves the day!

In email he advised that the problem was most likely that the fuse on
the radio was blown and he was right.

Cost me $90 Cdn to fix it but's summer and I have music again!

All in all it was a $200 mistake. I'm pretty sure it wasn't me who
reversed the cables but I will certainly be far more careful in the
future.

I also picked up a pretty sweet Hyundai flashlight kit for like $7.

Thanks everyone for your assistance!



Chris

 

I wish I was that easy to make happy. If I had dropped 200 bucks for a
fuse, I would look like I had been sucking a pickle. :-*

Ya, its good to have a tech on the forum. HT is priceless.

 

$200 on two fuses.



The flashlight kit did make me feel better. Like finally I wasn't the
one getting screwed.

Chris

 

Yes, that is ridiculous. I would argue with them, or go to another Hyundai
shop and tell them it just stopped working!