Push button wont engage bendix – Hyundai Sonata Limited 2015

Car Forum › Repair & Maintenance › Push button wont engage bendix – Hyundai Sonata Limited 2015

  • Crystaleigh
    Community Member
    April 11, 2022 at 8:24 pm

    have a Hyundai sonata limited 2015. Buy at 20,000 MI. Never an issue with my push button start until about 80k. Sometimes would need to hit my start button a couple times to get it to start. It always would start eventually so never made a big deal about it. Overtime it was taking two, three, four, up to 10 times of pressing the push button to get it to start. All electronics would engage and sometimes you would hear the starter whine but not engage the motor then the next press or maybe the next four presses it would start up car would run fine. Finally in October when I hit 110,000 miles in my warranty was void the car decided to not start anymore. Had starter battery and flywheel and transmission replaced. Nothing was wrong with my transmission but I was told by the mechanic that the transmission the flywheel was attached to had 50,000 miles on it and might as well put in the newer transmission as it would be just as much work as changing out just the flywheel. Left the mechanic still having the same problem. Just $1,500 lighter.
    Fast forward 4 months to being told that the mechanic probably didn’t do the work he claimed he did. As I was still having the same issue and sometimes it would take up to 10 presses to get the car to start sometimes would start on first press. Those first press starts we’re getting fewer and farther between. Finally Friday morning car wouldn’t start and I had the starter replaced again. Now I press the button the starter engages I hear it whine but the Bendix I believe is not coming out because I don’t hear the engine trying to turn at all. The first mechanic did say that he believed it was bendix issue also. How could three starters all have the same Bendix issue? Is there an electrical circuit that engages the Bendix as opposed to the starter? I’ve read about other people having this issue in cold weather I live in New England so the weather is cold here but I’ve had this issue in cold and warm weather at this point. Don’t have more money to just have mechanics keep guessing and throwing in the car and I can’t even begin to think about affording dealer rates unfortunately. I’m a single mom with three kids who can barely make my car payment never mind huge mechanic bills. I know I’ll have to fix whatever is wrong I just am hoping that someone will be able to figure out what’s wrong instead of everyone keep guessing in the dark or replacing same parts.
    I want to thank everybody in advance for reading this and taking their time to respond.

    Brand: Hyundai
    Model: Sonata
    Year: 2015
    Engine: Limited

    MSelleen
    Administrator
    April 11, 2022 at 9:47 pm
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    Okay first if you replaced 3 starters it’s not a starter motor issue. I would recommend going to another mechanic. So this issue probably need proper diagnosis, but there are some things that I can imagine in my head.

    1. Not enough power to the starter: Check the battery terminals for any corrosion. After you tried to start the vehicle and it didn’t, check if the battery terminals or the ground wire is hot (Warning it can be really hot). If it’s very warm, there is a bad connection there which needs to be sorted.

    2. When it doesn’t start, try shifting into different gears between P and N, etc, a bad gear selector sensor could cause this and if it’s starting after you change gear – it’s very likely

    3. The start button itself could be faulty.