2014 Kia Soul about 130,000 miles. Last night on the way home from work the key quite literally came out of the fob. Got home by holding the key in the entire trip. The key itself appears undamaged. Looks like the fob may have been broken on the inside where the hingepin held the key in. For a while (a couple trips today) I was able to get by with a paper clip holding the key in. No problem starting at all. Then after I went back outside to use the car again it wouldn’t crank at all.
You get a single click, which I assume is the starter relay. Battery is charged. Still will not crank after getting the key fob replaced.
It was a guessing game earlier, I did a voltage drop test earlier while turning the key to start and only seen a half volt of drop. If the starter was locked up I’d assume the drop would be much bigger.
Is this an immobilizer system issue? All the buttons on the fob otherwise work like they should.
Next guess, prior crank attempts have drained the battery. Try recharging battery. Overnight w/battery charger at low current setting is my preferred method. Coincidentally, I did that exact procedure last night. In your case, to increase my odds, I’d probably disconnect the battery before connecting for recharging, and in the meantime I’d clean the battery posts and connectors.
The battery measures 12.4 volts as it did before this problem occured. Not 100% charge but possibly ample. I don’t have a float/trickle charger. I just have a jump starter.
I guess I should say when cranking it’s 11.8 volts, probably relevant.
Now you need to do the second half, get the car programmed to accept the transponder chip, I think the dealer or maybe a locksmith has to do that part.
I’ll certainly be following up with the guy who fixed my key as suggested. What’s confusing to me though is that the problem started with the old fob which was able to start the car fine a few times until it wasn’t.
This also isn’t the first time the fob was replaced. When I first got the car it was worn down to where the key felt really loose. I had it replaced the first time a few weeks later without issue.
Lower left, “start motor”. See E14? and E11? Me, with fails to cranks, esp if click only, I begin by measuring the voltages at those points when key is in “start”. Everything connected. Probe from terminal to starter case. They should measure at least 10.5 volts, key in start.
Sounds like Your key has become unprogrammed in order to communicate with the cars PCM, this will prevent the car from cranking. If it’s not a chip key, it might be because your alarm system was triggered when your key malfunctioned and the anti theft system is preventing it from starting. You might have to reset the PCM to disarm the alarm. Try disconnecting the battery for a little while and then reconnecting it and try starting it.
You have to look up the relearn procedure for your key to reprogram it to the computer. If this does not work then I would look further, maybe a starter.
