Still having dash and start up trouble

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Mfenn45

Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2016
Messages
12
I wrote awhile back regarding my digital displays going haywire alternately flashing and then partially lighting up. I also had trouble starting the car. Tested starter battery . It tested good but at the very end of good so it was replaced.
I am still having trouble. Battery life and range/temp displays now sometimes show nothing at all and car still will not start at times. Other times works perfectly fine and doesnt seem to be related to temperatures.
Tested new battery just to be sure its not bad and it tests fine.
My problem is Im way out of range to a dealership and they will not troubleshoot over the phone. If it was a fuse issue, the problem would not come and go correct?
I even contacted local Kia as they service their electric but they said they would be unable to troubleshoot...
Any recommendations?
 
A fuse or any other electrical component can't fail and then heal itself later. Most intermittent problems are caused by a loose or corroded connection, and they can be the hardest to find and solve.

Check the terminals at the starter battery to ensure clean and good contact. The positive lead is very difficult to remove when swapping a battery without putting stress on that big mess of connections at the end.

Measure the starter battery voltage, is it 12.8 or higher? Put a 12 V charger on it and top it up just to be sure it is fully charged.

If all that is good then it's a matter of checking and cleaning terminals in connectors, sometimes disconnect and reconnect wipes the surfaces free of oxide and makes a fresh contact. Moisture, dirt and insect debris can cause issues--i've found ants in a motorcycle electronics unit that was causing intermittent running.

i bought a clone MUT 3 diagnostic tester in the hopes that it would reveal trouble codes in the event of an issue. i'm not counting on getting much useful help from any local dealership.

Good luck, electrical stuff can be tough to solve.
 
Mfenn45 said:
I also had trouble starting the car.

Any recommendations?
On the chance that the car won't start is not related to your gauge problem, I found that my car wouldn't start because the shift lever, even though it was in Park, wasn't being detected as being in Park.

I had to push the shift lever forward and monitor its position from the panel indicator beside the battery bar gauge.

The shifter is a mechanical setup connected by a cable to a switch in the transmission housing. Some have suggested lubrication, although it can be adjusted.
 
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