Car cutting off when driving....

[chipandem]

The past two months our Genesis has cut off while my wife has been driving, with the kids in the back no less. After the first time we figured it was just an anomaly. Second time got more worried. It happened again last week and we finally got it to the dealer on Tuesday. I know, we waited too long, but trying to find the time to get it there was difficult. I'm really concerned for our safety. As you can imagine, when it cuts off, the steering wheel stiffens along with the brakes, etc. Luckily she hasn't been going too fast where she has lost control, and has been fortunate to have been driving where she could easily pull off to the side of the road. After coming to a stop, she presses the start engine button and keeps on cruising. Of course as of right now the techs at the dealer can't replicate it, and I'm pretty worried that they won't "officially" fix it. Thoughts?

 

[homeofstone]

Have the connection of negative battery wire to Trunk floor tightened. Also make sure wires are firmly tight on the battery post.

 

[zielritter]

Check your battery grounding points. First thing that comes to mind from past experiences in other vehicles. Remember that the battery is in the trunk and positive/negative posts run to the underhood area. Check both points and the connected grounding connections.

 

[Mark_888]

The past two months our Genesis has cut off while my wife has been driving, with the kids in the back no less. After the first time we figured it was just an anomaly. Second time got more worried. It happened again last week and we finally got it to the dealer on Tuesday. I know, we waited too long, but trying to find the time to get it there was difficult. I'm really concerned for our safety. As you can imagine, when it cuts off, the steering wheel stiffens along with the brakes, etc. Luckily she hasn't been going too fast where she has lost control, and has been fortunate to have been driving where she could easily pull off to the side of the road. After coming to a stop, she presses the start engine button and keeps on cruising. Of course as of right now the techs at the dealer can't replicate it, and I'm pretty worried that they won't "officially" fix it. Thoughts?

A few others have experienced this problem. What model year and trim level is this?

I would file a safety complaint with the NHTSA
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/index.xhtml

Although it is clearly a different problem than GM had (they had faulty keyed ignition switch that became loose over time), the results are the same (loss of power steering and possibly power brakes). That is a very serious safety issue.

 

[T_E]

What speed / rpm was your wife driving at when the ignition outage occurred?

I had this happen once with my Equus when making a left hand turn at about 1200-1500 rpm. It immediately restarted and has not happened in over a year.


The dealer just flashed my ecm under 14-FL-001 which corrects fluctuating engine idle during coast-down. May be worth a shot to investigate this for your car.

Keep us posted on your progress!

 

[chipandem]

Thanks for the replies guys. I did mention the battery terminals and other "loose parts" associated with the battery. They didn't really acknowledge this one way or the other, as I got no clear answer. I'm guessign they either blew me off or had already checked those things. When I first mentioned it I was steaming mad, because at that point no one from the dealership had called me back to let me know the status of my car. It was 4:30 in the afternoon, dropped it off at 8 am, and no call from anyone. So I called, spoke to a receptionist who then spoke to the tech, and then she said tech would call me back. Well, of course, tech never called me back. So yesterday morning I had a nice little talk with the service manager and we got it straightened out quick. I should be hearing from the service manager at some point this morning for an update, so I will definitely mention the battery solutions to him. They did actually put the diagnostic computer on it and drove around about 10 miles, but again they found nothing. Service manager actually took it home with him last night to see what it would do.

As far as when this has happened, it's been random. My wife was probably driving no more than 45-50 mph for at least two of the instances where it cut off. Doesn't seem to be weather related, as we live in SC and it was between 70 and 80 degrees last few weeks.

 

[NSXNEXT]

Does everything shut off (radio, air/heat, lights, etc)?
My Acura had a similar problem but when the car shut off I still had radio, lights, etc.
Mine was a faulty ignition switch. The solder joints would fail after a number of years. Might be something to have them investigate.

 

[chipandem]

Does everything shut off (radio, air/heat, lights, etc)?
My Acura had a similar problem but when the car shut off I still had radio, lights, etc.
Mine was a faulty ignition switch. The solder joints would fail after a number of years. Might be something to have them investigate.

Nope, not everything, just the engine. So the dash looks like a "christmas tree" when it cuts off. Just like when you partially turn an ignition to give it power, radio, etc. And of course with all the lights on and my wife panicking, it's hard to tell if there was some sort of warning light/symbol that would give an indication of what was going on. Frustrating.

 

[NSXNEXT]

Nope, not everything, just the engine. So the dash looks like a "christmas tree" when it cuts off. Just like when you partially turn an ignition to give it power, radio, etc. And of course with all the lights on and my wife panicking, it's hard to tell if there was some sort of warning light/symbol that would give an indication of what was going on. Frustrating.

Then I definitely am leaning towards faulty ignition switch. Faulty ground would most likely cut off everything.

See if you get the same results as pushing the start button twice without stepping on the brake

 

[chipandem]

Quick update......

Yesterday afternoon the dealership had escalated this up to Hyundai with all of the info I gave them and their own results of tests and what they had done so far. They did tighten all battery/ground connections at my suggestion, along with tightening the connections to the alternator.

Spoke with service manager today before lunch and Hyundai had come back with questions about driving speed, conditions and so forth. Basically none of these things tipped them off to a solution. So what they have come up with is that they think it may have been a bad batch/tank of gas somewhere along the line that has left some nasty carbon deposits on gas tank and possibly into fuel injection? The are going to "re-do something", not sure what because I was listening but trying to work and do about 4 things at once. I did hear they were doing a fuel injection cleaning, which turns out is part of a 30,000 mile scheduled maintenance that I passed on when I brought it in simply because I don't have the cash right now. Ater that I'm not sure what else they are doing.

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[DRS]

A few others have experienced this problem. What model year and trim level is this?



I would file a safety complaint with the NHTSA

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/index.xhtml



Although it is clearly a different problem than GM had (they had faulty keyed ignition switch that became loose over time), the results are the same (loss of power steering and possibly power brakes). That is a very serious safety issue.

+1 ^^

 

[chipandem]

Bringing this thread back with UPDATES.......

Everything had been running smooth since they last cleaned the throttle body and fuel injection last October 2014, but they still were not able to replicate the problem. Then back in the middle of June 2015 ,it shut off on my wife again while she was driving, luckily at a place where she was able to pull over safely. Then later on that week, it actually cut off on us while sitting idle in park at the in-laws house. Then a couple of days later it cut off on her again in mid-turn making a right, and this time she nearly caused a 3 car pile up. Luckily (again) she was able to turn the steering wheel hard enough to avoid hitting the car sitting at the light.

Went back into Hyundai and they kept it for almost 2 weeks, still not being able to replicate the problem. They did another cleaning of the fuel injection and throttle body. A new assistant service manager has taken our case from the previous guy who had been let go. Got it back on Tuesday of last week. She drove it to and from work the rest of the week, and on Friday it cut off on her again in a neighborhood while she was attempting to stop at a stop sign.

Took it back this morning and said we are not driving it anymore. I completely understand their point of view and situation - how do you fix something you can't find/see/replicate? However, I cannot continue to willfully and knowingly put myself and my family in danger by driving this car. I'm not exaggerating when I say that every time someone drives the car there is a severe risk of being injured, killed, or killing someone else.

We're done, but we're kind of at a loss as to what the next step is. I've basically told them we're not driving it anymore and that we don't want the car. Well, let me clarify. We want our car, but we want it fixed. I don't think they can fix it. We love the Genesis. They have been very understanding, however I'm sure they are going to do what is in their best interest for them as a dealer first. We bought this car as a Certified Pre-Owned at a dealer in Georgia. We live in SC and of course we have to abide by any laws in GA. I work at a very large law firm here on the east coast, and have been talking to someone who is knowledgeable about Lemon Laws. There may be a chance that in GA a lemon law may be applied to a Certified Pre-Owned car, but we're not sure yet. In SC it doesn't, but that is neither here nor there anyway. Being a Certified Pre-Owned I may also be able to sue for breach of contract or breach of warranty. Again, last thing I want to do is go through all of this crap. What I'd like them to do is give me a like year/model with reasonable miles. The assistant service manager has already given me a negative outlook should Hyundai end up buying back the car.

 

[chipandem]

UPDATE:

Last Tuesday I called Hyundai customer service and filed a formal complaint at the suggestion of the assistant service manager. Customer service agent escalated it up to the regional office because of it being a major safety issue, and I received a call within two days of the complaint. The case agent listened to my story and said she was either going to get her director involved personally and he was going to come down to the dealer, or possibly send one of the "super techs" down to address the issue. Not sure what they ended up doing. I also filed a safety complaint with the NHTSA.

Dealer called on Wednesday, and said they had been driving it the past 3 days and it "performed flawlessly". I suspect after hearing from someone up the chain later on in the week, they decided to dig deeper, and I'm guessing with some additional knowledge from them as well. They called back on Friday after having it all week, and what they claim to have found was that the vapor canister was filled with excessive fuel, and that was what "they believed" was causing the car to stall. We'll see. Love the Genesis, but not sure I want to chance this thing again. Not to mention the A/C compressor was changed already. Just too many things going wrong on a 2013 car. Guess I just got a bad one. Some one else can have this headache.

 

[chipandem]

Update 8/27/15

Update 8/27/15..............

Received car today after dealer had it for 9 days this time. Here's what they replaced:

charcoal canister
canister close valve
purge valve
fuel filler neck

They also inspected the purge line. Put some special cleaner in there and blew it out with pressurized air. Apparently Hyundai is aware of a problem where spiders have been nesting in the line and causing blockages.

As far as the car stalling goes, apparently Hyundai knows about this as well. I'm guessing my complaint to Hyundai the other day got this rolling, and then them contacting my local dealer is what led to the fix. I don't really know why it had to come to that, though. Techs found extra fuel in the charcoal canister. They weighed my old one and weighed the new one. Old one was a pound heavier. ASM told me to also be weary of topping off tank at the gas pump. Asked me who usually fills the tank, me or my wife. Said my wife, and he said make sure neither one of you top it off after the first click of the pump. Basically this closed loop is very sensitive and any extra gas can fill these areas and cause the car to stall.

Anyhow, not sure what to make of all this. They claim it's fixed, BUT if it happens again, call them immediately and then call Hyundai with my current case number.

 

[craigt]

Sounds like decent progress. Nice work.

 

[landtuna]

Re: Update 8/27/15

They claim it's fixed, BUT if it happens again, call them immediately and then call Hyundai with my current case number.

As long as the design of the fuel system is such that overfilling can trigger a complete loss of power it isn't fixed. Most vehicles do not have this problem, therefore it is possible to build a car which does not have this problem.

 

[chipandem]

Re: Update 8/27/15

As long as the design of the fuel system is such that overfilling can trigger a complete loss of power it isn't fixed. Most vehicles do not have this problem, therefore it is possible to build a car which does not have this problem.

I agree, and that's what the attorney I have been talking with is saying. If it's a known problem, then why aren't we notified about it? I find it hard to believe that I'm the only one who's ever topped off gas in a Genesis. Seriously.

Which is exactly why I'm done with this car. Looking at Limited Hybrid Avalons now. It's not the Genesis under the hood, but with my wife's ridiculous commute every day it'll save us some cash.

 

[craigt]

What is the exact purpose of "topping off" gas, anyhow? Unless, of course, you mimic the life of Richard Stallman.

 

[zielritter]

Is this a case of "topping off the tank" or forcing more fuel into the vehicle after the pump has clicked off. The auto stop of the pump means the gas has reached the tip of the dispenser nozzle. It's a safety feature to prevent accidental overflow, which is unwanted for several obvious reasons.

I'm not totally taking Hyundai's side because no vehicle should simply shut off while driving because of this, but I do think there's a degree of user error here when it comes to misusing a system and overriding the pump's safety feature.

 

[chipandem]

What is the exact purpose of "topping off" gas, anyhow? Unless, of course, you mimic the life of Richard Stallman.

I don't know really. I guess to get the most gas in your tank as possible? Rounding up to an even number dollar wise? . I remember in high school I pumped to much into my grandmother's old chevy and gas came pouring back onto my hand and the nozzle. She was not happy.