Looking for advice. Alternator? or gremlins?

[SpeedyC]

Hi guys, first post on the forum. 2011 Equus Signature. 112,000kms (70K miles). I have had it for 5 months now. Not a single issue - other than a rather sporadic ABS / EPB light. On the weekend, I decided to do a full interior and trunk detailing. Removed the spare and found a bit of standing water (not a lot, but it was wet). I wiped it out, blew it out, vacuumed it, then I got a wire brush on a drill and buffed out the rust around the welded seams. Then cleaned up all the dust etc., and sprayed some black rust paint to clean it all up nice. I paid close attention to NOT spray the battery, or the ground, or the connections (duhh). Nothing adverse that day after driving.
On Monday night (1 day later), I noticed the battery light on the dash. I thought "well, it's battery or alternator". And what crappy luck after just being in the trunk for a day. The battery light got worse quickly on Tuesday, and by the time I drove home, the steering was cutting out, things were turning "off" intermittently (radio, climate, display, etc.). I barely made it home, and then the car wouldn't even go into Park.
So, hoping it was the cheaper option, I replaced the battery tonight. Hoping that on start up, the battery light would not be on. But. it was. But only very intermittently. So I read and read and read on this forum about all the alternator stories, etc. I went back out, took off the ground wire, and sanded and brushed it up, cleaned it thoroughly, and hooked it all back up. Test drive #2.
While driving, I put a heavy load on (climate, a/c, seats, radio, high beams) and as you could guess, this made the battery light go on.
So brand new battery, that I would rather not kill - and now I'm hoping it is "JUST" needing a new alternator.

Now the question -- is there anything I am missing or anything else it could be???

 

[EdP]

Hi guys, first post on the forum. 2011 Equus Signature. 112,000kms (70K miles). I have had it for 5 months now. Not a single issue - other than a rather sporadic ABS / EPB light. On the weekend, I decided to do a full interior and trunk detailing. Removed the spare and found a bit of standing water (not a lot, but it was wet). I wiped it out, blew it out, vacuumed it, then I got a wire brush on a drill and buffed out the rust around the welded seams. Then cleaned up all the dust etc., and sprayed some black rust paint to clean it all up nice. I paid close attention to NOT spray the battery, or the ground, or the connections (duhh). Nothing adverse that day after driving.
On Monday night (1 day later), I noticed the battery light on the dash. I thought "well, it's battery or alternator". And what crappy luck after just being in the trunk for a day. The battery light got worse quickly on Tuesday, and by the time I drove home, the steering was cutting out, things were turning "off" intermittently (radio, climate, display, etc.). I barely made it home, and then the car wouldn't even go into Park.
So, hoping it was the cheaper option, I replaced the battery tonight. Hoping that on start up, the battery light would not be on. But. it was. But only very intermittently. So I read and read and read on this forum about all the alternator stories, etc. I went back out, took off the ground wire, and sanded and brushed it up, cleaned it thoroughly, and hooked it all back up. Test drive #2.
While driving, I put a heavy load on (climate, a/c, seats, radio, high beams) and as you could guess, this made the battery light go on.
So brand new battery, that I would rather not kill - and now I'm hoping it is "JUST" needing a new alternator.

Now the question -- is there anything I am missing or anything else it could be???

Could be the alternator. Get it tested to be sure. Check all battery and ground conections too.

 

[SpeedyC]

Thanks. Checked and double checked the connections. Short of anything else that may cause that electrical mayhem, I am guessing the alternator and battery test will tell me.
So, what would a dealer charge just to hook it up and do the alternator test?
And if dealer ordered and installed, how high would the bill go?
RockAuto has the alternator for about $150 (after core exchange). And the posts on here say it could be a DIY thing, or even better about an hour for a good mechanic pocketing the hourly cash.

 

[cruno]

Thanks. Checked and double checked the connections. Short of anything else that may cause that electrical mayhem, I am guessing the alternator and battery test will tell me.
So, what would a dealer charge just to hook it up and do the alternator test?
And if dealer ordered and installed, how high would the bill go?
RockAuto has the alternator for about $150 (after core exchange). And the posts on here say it could be a DIY thing, or even better about an hour for a good mechanic pocketing the hourly cash.

Before you pay to get it tested try to find information on reading the diagnostics from the computer. I don't know how to do this offhand with the Equus but when I had my Mercedes I was able to enter diagnostic menus to read battery the live voltage level pretty easily, which is how I was able to confirm my alternator was going out. If you can get to that diagnostic menu and the voltage is lower than 13-14V and then increases when you engage the throttle then you can confirm your alternator is going out.

 

[SpeedyC]

Thanks for that suggestion. So would that just require a "good" ODB Code Reader to be plugged in? Any mechanic could do that??
I called the dealers, and here is the quote, just for fun:
1) Diagnostic (charging system test) - $140
2) Alternator $600 - $700 (plus $100 core charge)
3) Labour - 1.5 to 2.5 hours (@ $120 per hour)
4) Serpentine Belt $40 to $70 dollars

TOTAL of the dealership butt-reaming = $990 plus tax = $1118 (CDN dollars)

RockAuto -

Alternator - $150 / Belt - $15 - tax, ship, duty - TOTAL $208 (CDN dollars)

Which leaves about $900 dollars to find a good mechanic to do the 1 or 2 hours of labour.
Or wrench away at home using the amazing advice and guidance on this forum - cost....FREE (except for the bandaids and counselling/beer)

SAVINGS - about $600 to $700 installed, $900 DIY - I'll keep you posted on how it turns out. Time to park it, order up, and get it done.

 

[cruno]

Thanks for that suggestion. So would that just require a "good" ODB Code Reader to be plugged in? Any mechanic could do that??
I called the dealers, and here is the quote, just for fun:
1) Diagnostic (charging system test) - $140
2) Alternator $600 - $700 (plus $100 core charge)
3) Labour - 1.5 to 2.5 hours (@ $120 per hour)
4) Serpentine Belt $40 to $70 dollars

TOTAL of the dealership butt-reaming = $990 plus tax = $1118 (CDN dollars)

RockAuto -

Alternator - $150 / Belt - $15 - tax, ship, duty - TOTAL $208 (CDN dollars)

Which leaves about $900 dollars to find a good mechanic to do the 1 or 2 hours of labour.
Or wrench away at home using the amazing advice and guidance on this forum - cost....FREE (except for the bandaids and counselling/beer)

SAVINGS - about $600 to $700 installed, $900 DIY - I'll keep you posted on how it turns out. Time to park it, order up, and get it done.

There should be a way to enter a diagnostic menu without purchasing any readers or other computers. I don't really know much about Hyundai computers since I haven't had to do any diagnostics myself but I have definitely seen posts out there somewhere on entering these diagnositc menus. You should be able to get the data you need to diagnose the issue without purchasing any equipment.

 

[cruno]

I think this post here should give you what you need: Guide: Accessing the Engineering Menu.

Just be careful in these menus.

 

[SpeedyC]

Well that is pretty amazing. I have written down the steps, and will give it a try. Thanks for finding me that thread - I never would have guessed that was an option through the system screens.

 

[SpeedyC]

Update. Everything went smoothly. The diagnostic menus get you to the info about amperage draw and charging. The RockAuto alternator was a bargain. My mechanic did the work for 2 hours (said it was a P.I.T.A. - and it would have been awful to do it at home from the ground). Now it's running like a charm again.

 

[princelybug]

Glad to hear it worked out for you.

______________________________

Help support this site so it can continue supporting you!

 

[DSXMachina]

Hi SpeedyC. I realize this is an older thread , but I was wondering if the new alternator also solved your ABS light problem? You posted "other than a rather sporadic ABS / EPB light". The reason I ask is that sometimes one of the first signs of a failing alternator is an ABS light! What's the connection you ask? The computer always monitors battery strength because the ABS pump when activated needs a lot of amperage fast, and it needs a lot of !2+ V for as long as necessary. If the computer recognizes that the charging system might not keep up it will turn on the ABS light. It doesn't turn on the Alternator/Battery light because you may just have a short term problem due to maximum load on a drained battery. (Think Winter cold start with all your heater/defrost/seat heater/radio/ lights devices drawing at max.)

 

[SpeedyC]

Hmm, interesting. But no, the ABS light still comes on every few days, but just for a few minutes. Once the car is turned off and restarted, it goes away and stays away for a while.

 

[DSXMachina]

Hmm, interesting. But no, the ABS light still comes on every few days, but just for a few minutes. Once the car is turned off and restarted, it goes away and stays away for a while.

If the light comes and goes with ignition cycles then chances are that one of your wheel speed sensors is no good. What a garage would do is connect a scanner to your ALDL and scope each wheel speed sensor's signal as you drove. One of them either is intermittent or has transients or isn't a square wave signal. Whatever, a short test drive should identify the bad corner. That done, it's going to be either the sensor itself which is easy and cheap to replace, or the tone ring which is a lot more difficult and expensive to replace because it is attached to another part. An experienced tech will know whether it's the ring or the sensor.
FYI the tone ring is a toothed ring made of iron or steel which rotates with the wheel. As each tooth (like on a gear) passes by the sensor an electric signal is generated. The ABS computer uses the signal from each of your four sensors to compare the rotational speed of the wheels.
Whenever your ABS light is on your ABS system is off! If the ABS computer knows it's getting implausible information from a sensor it doesn't want to chance a decision based on bad information.

 

[SpeedyC]

Thanks for the tips. Maybe you have good experienced techs and dealerships in NH. Where I am, walking in the door of the dealership with a used car is like putting a sheep in front of a wolf. You don't get anything for under $200, and that's just to take a look. The parts guy at the Hyundai dealer wouldn't even sell me an air filter for the Equus because he wanted to get the VIN. So for now, I can live with an intermittent light that comes on every other week or so.

 

[T_E]

Hi all! I found this posting when searching for ABS issues. My 2012 Equus Ultimate with 55000 miles suddenly lit up the VSM OFF, ABS, Traction Control, and EPB lights. This would seem to indicate an ABS issue.

Another interesting symptom is that the front camera doesn't shut off after the car hits 5 mph. I found that to be interesting.

Seems to be speed related, and I'm wondering if it might just be a wheel sensor gone.

Anyone else have experience with this? Any help is appreciated!