15' Genny V6 AWD DEAD BATTERY - 4th time in 3 months H E L P !

[Jim Karns]

Greetings and a Very Merry Christmas to you all,

Ok... Here's the readers digest version: Bought a 15' exec Genny V6AWD on 7/1/16 with 8 (yes 8) miles on it. Untitled - with new warranty. Now have 4400 miles on it. Had the battery go dead - for no apparent reason about 3 months age. Charged it - no problem... Didn't happen for a while. 2 months ago - had an aftermarket remote starter installed by my well trusted auto audio place. BTW: they do the installs of remote starters for Hyundai dealer in my local area. A few weeks later....dead battery in my driveway. Again charged the battery - but brought it to a dealer for a check up... They reported that the remote starter was drawing down the 990 amp battery.... Amazing that it could be done in around 36 hours. OK..I went with their determination and had them disconnect the remote starter module. Fast foreword 1 week. Dead battery again in my driveway. WTF? Back to the dealer 12/13/16, left vehicle 2 days - dealer was unable to find anything wrong They stated that they did a draw down - and swapped out the battery as a good will measure (thanks)..! Fast foreword to last Tuesday 12/20/16....You guessed it DEAD BATTERY AGAIN in my driveway Again Back to the dealer & told them to keep it until they found something ??? They seemed receptive - but now I'm wondering WTF ! ! ! Called Hyundai and stated that perhaps they should think about a buyback as the vehicle has NO reliability. No word from anybody.../?? Would think they would want to keep the consumer in the loop...??? Any help or advise would be a Christmas gift for me... Thanks ! Jim

 

[SuperKing]

How far away do you keep the key fobs?

 

[silberma]

You could have a short in your system wiring, perhaps caused by the people that installed your remote starter. Disconnecting the cables is not enough, you need to inspect the cables as well.

 

[circuitest1]

I had the same issue with my 3.8 ultimate RWD when i purchased it. Battery went dead three times within a few weeks. it seems that this happened every time after i had used the trunk lock button located on the right side of the trunk lid. Since that time, I have made sure not to use the trunk lock button, and I have not had any more problems. Either the trunk lock button was the cause of the battery failures, or the dealer found a problem and fixed it without telling me what he did. For peace of mind I bought a small "DBPOWER" battery back up system which i keep in the trunk, I think the cost was around $80. In the meantime prices have come down and Costco sells a different brand for about $40.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

I had this issue with my 2015 a few days after I bought it. It died once, they towed it back to the dealership and replaced the battery. All's been good since then...

 

[Midnightsun]

Either you have a really bad parasitic drain or the second battery they put in was also a dud.

 

[MadCat]

I had the same issue with my 3.8 ultimate RWD when i purchased it. Battery went dead three times within a few weeks. it seems that this happened every time after i had used the trunk lock button located on the right side of the trunk lid. Since that time, I have made sure not to use the trunk lock button, and I have not had any more problems. Either the trunk lock button was the cause of the battery failures, or the dealer found a problem and fixed it without telling me what he did.

When my Genesis died the night before i locked it using the trunk lock button… Since then I always lock my car via the key fob or door handle.

 

[Jim Karns]

UPDATE*** Received a call from the dealership last Friday. Service rep stated 2 things .... 1. The vehicle "spiked" during the night. Not quite sure how that occurred as they are closed & the car was parked inside their garage. (Things that make you say..."HUH"???) and 2. They were removing all the remote starter wiring (so as to make sure that the wires that are not connected to the remoter starter module - the one they that they unplugged weren't causing this battery to discharge...) Kind of confused at the second statement as I would think that if the remote starter were wired incorrectly - it would be killing the battery ALL THE TIME, blowing fuses and not operate properly (and worse) - not intermittently as it's doing... I asked if the Hyundai comm link (the one that monitors the car) could have been coming on to check the car (perhaps causing the "spike" in the middle of the night) that they reported and that was causing the system to stay on and not "go to sleep". They had NO answer... I also asked if perhaps there was a tracking device in the car (this was a Hyundai exec car).. I don't know how they keep track of their people. The car did have 8 miles on it when I picked it up - so it was never used by the exec.... I wonder if the battery was dead for her also & she left it in the lot...??? To answer another post. The fob is kept about 20 feet (as the crow flies) from the car.... At the end of my conversation with the dealer - I decided to play the unhappy customer for just a second... I asked if the car was to suffer the same problem yet again - was the dealership going to re-install the remote starter - or was I to be reimbursed for the re-installation??? Got no answer there either... So here I sit - the car is officially in the shop for 7 days now!

 

[Jim Karns]

I'm thinking you're correct about the drain. They put forth the premise that the remote started was doing it. If I do the math - a 995 amp battery being drained in 36 hours by a remote starter... Nope... Then they are claiming that it might be the wiring to the remote starter... I'm no engineer - but I kinda think this is really throwing sh*t against the wall - hoping it will stick.... They have yet to blame the car... Isn't that amazing?

 

[Jaeger]

This is why I never install any aftermarket electrical anything in my cars. 1) It can mess things up. 2) It can provide an all too convenient excuse for the dealer or manufacturer to blame any malfunction.

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[kn5owa]

Curious?

When these batteries fail and/or they have to be replaced, do you lose the many dozens of settings that are routinely entered on a modern car?

If so, that would seem to be as much of a hassle as replacing the battery itseff.

 

[Jim Karns]

Well after 22 days in the shop - they found a loose wire in the body control module. New module and another battery and so far.....It seems to be ok. Dealer has stated that they will be re placing the remote . I'm gonna give it a month or so. Now - if they could just straighten out the false readings I'm getting from the L blind side indicator - I would be happy.

 

[chris41]

Let's hope. I find dealers always making stuff up.

 

[kn5owa]

The "bad battery" reports on this forum are getting almost legendary.

Maybe you guys need one of these:

http://www.batterymart.com/p-gb40-boost-plus-lithium-jump-start.html

 

[Jim Karns]

UPDATE... Went to start the genny last night, and (you guessed it) The battery that was replaced last week WAS DEAD.... This after replacing the body module and battery last week. Car was towed in. Still waiting for a call from the rep (been over a week - with 5 messages left)... THIS SUCKS... Car is on day 25 in the shop - for the same problem.....

 

[dougmcp]

Sometimes these kind of problems have mechanics and service people in general pulling their hair out. This really sucks for you, hopefully they have you in a nice loaner that you can at least enjoy while they play Inspector Gadget.

 

[penga25]

at what point can lemon laws and buy backs be considered?

 

[Mark_888]

at what point can lemon laws and buy backs be considered?

The Lemon Laws vary for each state, but they have specific terms as to when they can be invoked (usually a certain number of days in the shop, etc). Lemon Laws usually only apply to major operational issues (engine won't start certainly qualifies), and safety issues. Details of the various state Lemon Laws are available on in the Internet.

 

[RyanB]

Yea each state varies. Here in IL it has to happen 3x or more in the first 12 months of ownership. You can still get them to buy the car back if they can’t fix the issue like they did with my Sonata but it was called a Manufacture Non Lemon Law Buyback on all my paperwork since it was past the first year. I would ask for copies of all repair orders and open a case with corporate if you haven’t already and submit that to them along with a list of how many days you were without a car and if you had to rent a car or use another household vehicle. You would think that corporate would have access to this info but they apparently don’t. And don’t trust the dealer even if corporate contacts them to give them all your records! Been there done that! 4 x in 3 months and they cant figure it out sounds like a electrical Gremlin which is hard to fix. I had a Mitsubishi Diamante that did the same thing only less frequent. After 5+ batteries in just over 3 years I gave up once the warrantee expired and sold it.