Dead New Car after 450 miles

[Stevenjmurphy]

Went into my garage to start my new Genesis 4.6 and nothing was alive. Called Hyundai Road side assistance and they toad the car to the dealer where it sits waiting to be worked on. Loved driving this car for a few days but have to say I am a bit shocked that it was dead.

Waiting to hear from dealer on what's what.

 

[imaphaetonguy]

Yeah - but wasn't the first 450 miles splendid?

Probably a bad alternator or battery, nothing to worry about.

 

[Gurkha]

Could be that 'thing under the hood' you know that stopper that goes missing from time to time. Eventually drains the battery.

Quote from another thread:

Well, it's fixed or so it appears. The pad or nub that is supposed to be in the hood (driver's side edge about half way back) and fits into a switch when the hood is closed, said switch being depressed then tells car's electrical systems to power down when the car is shut off, was missing. I was told it must have fallen out. I think the folks at the dealers probably missed this the first two times I took the car in. At least that is my hope.

 

[NOLa]

Good catch Gurkha.

NOLa

 

[homeofstone]

I have found out the hard way that if you leave a phone or other type of charger plugged into the outlet in the consol box between the front seats that it will kill the battery in a couple of days if the car is not used.

 

[homeofstone]

"Called Hyundai Road side assistance and they toad the car" Did they turn it into a frog?

 

[ricrawling]

Is your outlet "hot" when the engine is off? My 2009 4.6 Tech only is hot when the car is running. Wish it was hot all the time, but if not, how could this kill the battery? Just curious, so I don't do it myself.

I have found out the hard way that if you leave a phone or other type of charger plugged into the outlet in the consol box between the front seats that it will kill the battery in a couple of days if the car is not used.

 

[homeofstone]

Is your outlet "hot" when the engine is off? My 2009 4.6 Tech only is hot when the car is running. Wish it was hot all the time, but if not, how could this kill the battery? Just curious, so I don't do it myself.

Yep, outlet is hot all the time as it states in my owner's manual but I missed that detail when studying the manual.

 

[Stevenjmurphy]

Well the dealer called me and said the battery was totally drained and they will run some more tests tomorrow. I have a power cord plugged in that I sometimes connect to a device but nothing was plugged into it during the 3 days the car was not driven. Are you suggesting the battery goes dead just having the power cord connected?

Thanks

 

[Mark_888]

Well the dealer called me and said the battery was totally drained and they will run some more tests tomorrow. I have a power cord plugged in that I sometimes connect to a device but nothing was plugged into it during the 3 days the car was not driven. Are you suggesting the battery goes dead just having the power cord connected?

Thanks

It may depend on the quality of the charging device. Some chargers may draw a current even when not charging anything, but I can't say for sure.

I have an iPod attached all the time, and once left the car sit for 10 days without a problem. I also have had a phone charger plugged in (but only attached to a phone when I am driving) with no problems so far (although not had that as long as my iPod).

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[Gurkha]

It may depend on the quality of the charging device. Some chargers may draw a current even when not charging anything, but I can't say for sure.
I have an iPod attached all the time, and once left the car sit for 10 days without a problem.

I leave my iPod connected almost all the time and the car can sit for 4-5 days without being used. Never an issue with the battery.
Stevenjmurphy: get them to check that post under the hood first!

 

[DJaxx]

Could be that 'thing under the hood' you know that stopper that goes missing from time to time. Eventually drains the battery.

Quote from another thread:

This is most likely the culprit. The best description is provided by Mikec below......Genesis electrical system will not go to "sleep" if thsi contact point is not completed.

http://genesisowners.com/hyundai-genesis-forum/showthread.php?t=6908

Quote from Mikec
Many car alarms detect trunk or hood opening as "break in attempts" - ONCE those are closed. You wouldn't want the alarm to trigger when you closed the trunk right after parking the car, right? (park car, open door & trunk, get out, close door, lock it, get your briefcase out of the trunk, close trunk. Ideally the alarm is "armed" now, not sounding!) Hyundai's manuals call this the "ARM HOLD" state: the alarm is ready to ARM but won't ARM until all doors, the trunk, and the hood are actually closed.

A lot of the Genesis electronics stuff "wakes up" whenever it thinks the driver is nearby. Note how long the "Genesis" splash screen displays on the nav display for the following scenarios:
#1 car is parked but not locked (in your garage I hope!). So the first time the car gets a hint you're nearby is when you actually grab the door handle and open the door. Or if you open the trunk.

#2: car is parked and locked. You use the key fob to remotely unlock the car (or to remotely pop the trunk) while you're still walking to the car. It'll start it's "wake up" stuff at this point; you may notice the nav system is ready much sooner than scenario #1.

#3: car is parked & locked. You unlock it by the key or by pressing the door handle button instead of using the key fob remote, or you use the key to open the trunk. Again, the car doesn't know you're nearby until you actually unlock it.

Having any door open, the hood, or the trunk open is interpreted as "driver is nearby" to the system so OFF stuff may power up to the "standby" level instead. Standby = ready to turn ON quickly if you return to the car quickly after shutting the car off (e.g. running into 7-11 or Starbucks for a moment). The battery apparently can support this "standby" mode for a day or two based on other threads. After the car really has been parked a while the electronics shut down fully - just the alarm, clock, and various memories are powered The battery can support this for a few weeks at least. Cars missing the hood switch rubber piece likely never leave the "standby" mode because the alarm sees "hood/trunk is open... driver must be doing something... I'll wait for the hood/trunk to close before I fully power down and really ARM the alarm."

The hood switch is described in chapter 13, the "Body Electrical System" section, of the factory service manuals. It's listed in the section describing how the factory alarm system operates.

mike c.

 

[STREETS]

Strange that Hyundai does not have a timed accessory/interior light shut off

 

[Mark_888]

Maybe some owners are leaving their keys (or spare) in the car.

 

[homeofstone]

My phone charger will kill the battery in two or three days with no phone attached. It also killed my battery in my Suburban in three days and that is how I discovered what was causing the drain on the batteries in both vehicles.

 

[ImInPA]

"Called Hyundai Road side assistance and they toad the car" Did they turn it into a frog?

No. A toad, not a frog. He was quite clear about that.

 

[STREETS]

What does leaving the keys in the car matter? I leave mine in the car all the time.
The proximity key does not emit any power.

 

[BacktoHyundaibychoice]

What does leaving the keys in the car matter? I leave mine in the car all the time.
The proximity key does not emit any power.

I think the concept is that the key's presence keeps the car is a "ready" state, even if not "on". That it never actually powers down as if the key is gone.
Maybe true, maybe not. But: what's the longest you've kept your keys in the car?

 

[mikec]

When the Genesis senses the key fob is "inside" the vehicle it remains in the "standby" instead of going to the fully "off" state. As long as the fob can be picked up by the internal antennas it is considered "inside." One forum member noted his battery died quickly because the dealer left the "missing" fob in the black plastic area by the windshield wipers. That's "outside" the car but close enough to the interior antennas to be picked up as "inside."

mike c.

 

[evetsmd]

Very interesting post! In my new 2011 4.6 the power outlet in the console is not live when the car is off (I wish it was).....is this something the dealer can turn on or off? I want my phone to charge when it is plugged into this outlet even when the car is not running.....no way can charging ur sell phone drain a large car battery so quickly.

My BMW had a problem with dead batteries (because my wife doesn't put a lot of miles on this car).....turns out the battery is not dead......instead what happens is the car electronics would see a battery voltage that was lower than spec or that BMW felt would operate all of the safety features of the car and as a result the electronics would not let the car start.

Solution was a small battery maintainer/charger that we plugged in every time we parked the car in the garage.....we plugged it into the cigarette lighter. Worked just fine!

Anyway.....on a 2011 4.6 should the outlet be live when the car is not running? Is anyone using a batter maintainer that they plug into the car when it's in the garage?

Thanks for any input!