Car Start Battery/Ignition Problem

[mlindley]

I am a new owner of an '09 Genesis Sedan. Have had it for about 2 months and everything has been great till the past week or so.

One day I got in the car and hit the starter switch like normal and the car battery engaged for a split second then everything went dead. I pressed the button over and over, made sure the brake pedal was engaged, etc..., but it was totally dead. When I opened the driver side door to get out everything sprang back to life, and on the first try I was able to get the car started.

This has happened intermittently over the past week, 3 or 4 times total.

This morning, the same thing happened to me, but this time the car door did nothing. I was going to attempt to jump the car just in case that was the issue and when I opened the trunk to get jumper cables out and closed it the car sprang to life. This has now happened twice and the same action with the trunk has worked both times.

When this happens and I get it started again the clock is totally reset as if the battery was disconnected. With the way this is happening, the fact that after it's cranked it's fine and that jarring motion fixes it, I can't help but think this is a loose battery connection or ground somewhere. Does that sound right?

I have contacted a auto-electric specialist shop in town that I trust and am planning to take the car to them tomorrow, but if it's a simple connection that I could tighten up I'd love to save the money.

Any ideas?

 

[OneFunGenesis]

Sounds to me like a loose batter ground as well. This is very very odd though

 

[ruggratt]

Are you able to contact the previous owner? Maybe they can shed some light on this problem if it happened to them as well.

 

[mlindley]

Unfortunately, no, it was bought through a Used Car Dealer.

I think I read somewhere about a battery ground in the trunk? Anybody have an idea where that would be or if it exists?

 

[Mark_888]

Unfortunately, no, it was bought through a Used Car Dealer.

I think I read somewhere about a battery ground in the trunk? Anybody have an idea where that would be or if it exists?

The battery is in the trunk and there is a ground wire there to connect ground the negative terminal to the frame. Lift up the trunk floor and you will see a spare tire and battery on the right. While you are there, make sure your OEM Compact Spare has 60 PSI.

 

[mlindley]

Thanks, that pointed me in the right direction. Turns out the position connector is not on solidly. I haven't gotten it totally fixed now but was able to get it attached better so that it starts most times now with no issue. Plan to get it completely fixed soon.

Thanks for the input everyone!