My son is helping out an immigrant family in his neighborhood with an older Hyundai SUV that won't start.
He's thinking it's a 2005 or 2006, and it's on the larger side with a V6, so likely a Santa Fe with the 3.3 rather than a Tucson with the 2.7.
The battery was very weak. He charged it, but found that the voltage dropped right off (12.x V down to 6.x V) while cranking, indicating a very unhealthy battery with high internal resistance. He replaced it with a new Kirkland battery from Costco. The engine cranks strongly now, and will fire intermittently, but won't start.
The vehicle is parked on the street. They've run out a long extension cord from the apartment to the block heater, which should help.
My suspicion is that at this point it's flooded. Unfortunately, it's a DOHC V6, so it's not a simple matter to pull spark plugs in the dark at -27 C (bonus: with a howling W wind of 21 kph, Environment Canada says it feels like -39 C).
I may try to take a look tomorrow. It's possible it wouldn't be too bad pulling and cleaning the spark plugs from the front bank. That might be enough.
He hasn't tried starting fluid yet. I've never used it - I've heard scary stories about engine damage.
Perhaps the real solution is to get it towed to a warm location so it can thaw out.
Thoughts? Thanks.
He's thinking it's a 2005 or 2006, and it's on the larger side with a V6, so likely a Santa Fe with the 3.3 rather than a Tucson with the 2.7.
The battery was very weak. He charged it, but found that the voltage dropped right off (12.x V down to 6.x V) while cranking, indicating a very unhealthy battery with high internal resistance. He replaced it with a new Kirkland battery from Costco. The engine cranks strongly now, and will fire intermittently, but won't start.
The vehicle is parked on the street. They've run out a long extension cord from the apartment to the block heater, which should help.
My suspicion is that at this point it's flooded. Unfortunately, it's a DOHC V6, so it's not a simple matter to pull spark plugs in the dark at -27 C (bonus: with a howling W wind of 21 kph, Environment Canada says it feels like -39 C).
I may try to take a look tomorrow. It's possible it wouldn't be too bad pulling and cleaning the spark plugs from the front bank. That might be enough.
He hasn't tried starting fluid yet. I've never used it - I've heard scary stories about engine damage.
Perhaps the real solution is to get it towed to a warm location so it can thaw out.
Thoughts? Thanks.