QuestionI have a 2004 Santa Fe (automatic, 2.7 L 2WD) that was purchased new in October 2003. In October 2006, I was running errands, and upong turning the key in the ignition to restart the vehicle after a stop, it would not start. All of the lights/guages/radio and A/C came on, but the engine would not turn over. It was taken to the dealership the following Monday, as it started after an hour or so. They said they "repaired" the problem, but it has continued to do this intermittently since this time. It was taken in again this morning for the 9th visit - we had just picked it up Saturday morning after they had it for 3 weeks, and this happened again as soon as I took the car out. They have replaced the junction box twice, the starter, the ETAC... what could be wrong with my vehicle? This has been going on for almost 9 months!!
AnswerIf it hasn't been replaced yet, I'd suspect the range switch (inhibitor switch, neutral safety switch). The next time this occurs, jiggle your shifter and even try to start the engine after moving the shifter to neutral. If this makes the engine start, the problem is in your range switch.
Another problem could be a poor contact in the wiring. I worked on one vehicle (although not a Santa Fe) that had poor contact in one of the harness connector swhere it attached to the junction block. I've also seen several vehicles with poor contact on the starter solenoid terminal.
The bad news is that there's little way to verify any of this without being able to do testing while the problem is occurring. And I'm sure this is why the dealer is having such a large problem repairing the issue. Be sure to contact the dealer and let them know the problem is occurring. The bottom line is that you'll need them to repair the issue for you.
