Dead screen, dead battery, why KIA WHY?

[D.J.]

Man not even a year later and my battery died again. I came out to drive the car and everything dead again. Roadside assistance came and couldn't jump it. I had it towed to the dealer and took them 3 weeks to even look at it. This time they said everything is fine. wtf. Really sucks since I got a rental car for the whole time which costed me a grand.

So you tried to boost it, and what.did it do? Nothing? No lights on dash when trying to boost?

Then dealer looked at it and it just worked? Not even a dead battery?

 

[stingerstevo]

So you tried to boost it, and what.did it do? Nothing? No lights on dash when trying to boost?

Then dealer looked at it and it just worked? Not even a dead battery?

Yes the towing company tried using a couple different boosters. It would have the dash lights on but wouldn't turn over. So they towed it there Then I came to the dealer 4 or 5 days later and they said it started fine and kept telling me they're going to look at it. Then they finally looked at it two weeks later and said oh it's fine.

 

[D.J.]

Yes the towing company tried using a couple different boosters. It would have the dash lights on but wouldn't turn over. So they towed it there Then I came to the dealer 4 or 5 days later and they said it started fine and kept telling me they're going to look at it. Then they finally looked at it two weeks later and said oh it's fine.

During the attempted boost, did the car attempt to crank? A click?

That must be frustrating

I suppose next time it happens, should probably take a video as evidence.


Here's mine failing twice, and starting on the 3rd attempt. (wish the audio was better, you could hear a single "CLICK" each of the first 2 attempts. 3rd attempt started with authority.

Kia Stinger starter solenoid fail.

https://imgur.com/a/tBvphdz

 

[Landshark]

modern cars have lots of electronics and computers in them - take mostly short trips (like me) and let them sit a while, your battery won't last long. my battery suggestions:

- buy a battery maintainer and charge it up fully every month or two. short trips may not be enough to give it a full charge. i've sold cars with batteries that were 6+ years old and still going strong doing this.

- buy a portable rechargeable jump pack. with all the electronics and computers, modern cars should not be jump-started with car-to-car jumper cables (unless you're really in an emergency situation) - its easy to fry electrical components. as a bonus, it can charge a phone or other devices in a pinch.

- clean the battery terminals/cable connectors. the Stinger isn't as susceptible to corrosion on them with the battery being in the trunk, but it wouldn't hurt to clean them every couple years. a while back, my wife got stranded in a parking lot, and i brought my battery terminal cleaner tool with me on a hunch. cleaned them, and it started right up. lesson learned there.

 

[Ah GetFd]

The consensus seems to be replace the battery. Having a background of Industrial batteries may I suggest you determine the CCA or Cold Cranking Amps of the battery and Amphours from the Model Number and buy an equivalent or OEM original.
Secondly I am not sure it would be gel filled as others suggest. It may be but Gel electrolytes tend to be in very small amphour batteries 10 ah or less and in long and slow discharge batteries like solar batteries which have tubular plates. You can't normally get high discharge currents through Gel.

The battery is most likely a flat plate sealed battery either with free liquid electrolyte or a full sealed recombination battery with free electrolyte not gel. The flat plates are very thin to get the surface charge off the plates as high current to turn the starter motor that can draw hundreds of amps for 30 to 60 seconds before the end voltage falls below that of the ability to turn the starter.

This makes little difference in this situation

Lead acid batteries do go through sudden death. That is it will work one day and not the next. This is a common failure of lead acid batteries because from Day 1, the positive plate corrodes whilst on charge. A no win situation. You need to charge the battery but you slowly wreck it at the same time.

After 4 or 5 years a "start" will draw sufficient current to turn the starter motor and drive away but equally the corroded thin plate breaks off and no further starts or indeed battery supply is available. Everything is working because the alternator is now running the electrics until you stop......

If it is anything else only a dealership is going to find it either through fault finding or the ability to try a new part

I have an electrical and electronics engineering background but I wouldn't go fault finding on these late model technologies. It is so easy to blow something up. Put up with taking it to a dealer where they can run the codes and fault find.

 

[D.J.]

With all the electronics and computers, modern cars should not be jump-started with car-to-car jumper cables (unless you're really in an emergency situation) - its easy to fry electrical components.

Jumping from a car is perfectly fine.
There's even a procedure for it in the manual.

 

[Landshark]

Jumping from a car is perfectly fine.
There's even a procedure for it in the manual.

notice the manual (and I) mentioned "emergency". if you think its "perfectly fine", then knock yourself out - its your car. for $50-$100 (and being able to instantly get going vs. trying to flag someone down who is willing to jump-start it), i'd rather NOT risk an expensive repair.

"There are complex electronic systems in today’s cars, which is why jumpstarting a modern car can cause major damage if done incorrectly.
For example, engine control units (ECUs) constantly monitor the engine to keep its operation as efficient as possible, on board trip computers guide the driver on fuel efficiency and servicing requirements, plus airbags, cruise control, Bluetooth and other standard features of modern cars all rely on computers to function.
That's why jumpstarting can cause expensive damage to the on-board electronics of a modern car, as NRMA technical trainer Darrin Tucker explains.
“The big change is computers and it’s not as if a modern car has just one – a Mercedes-Benz S-Class from a few years ago has 64 ECUs (Electronic Control Units). Hooking up jumper leads can zap these computers,” he says.
"A five-year-old Audi was recently taken to an NRMA approved repairer with an electrical system so badly damaged by an attempted jumpstart that, in the end, it was actually cheaper to write the car off rather than repairing the damage. Well-meaning car owners can do massive damage very easily,” Darrin says."

The risks of jumpstarting a modern car

Modern cars rely on complex computers, which is why jumpstarting your car is a risky business.

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