My 2013 Sonic has died three times this week. After charging, the car runs fine, and will start up another 5-6 times with no problem. I can even turn the car off immediately after disconnecting jumper cables, and it will turn back on. I took it to Autozone to be tested yesterday, and my battery, alternator, and starter passed. (Alternator is only about 10/11 mos old. Battery and starter have never been replaced) When the battery is dead, I hear a rapid clicking sound, the interior lights are dim, and headlights wont work, Sometimes the dash lights come on, other times they don’t.
Some other issues that have been going on which may or may not be related are, catalytic converter and fuel solenoid valve are faulty, and will be replaced this week. Also my car window will go down but will not come up, (no noise when attempting to roll up the window, so i don’t think its off track) and the windshield wiper squirts the washer liquid under the hood, and not on the window. (Havent gotten to diagnose those issues yet)
Does anyone have any ideas what could cause these issues?
It might be as simple as needing a new battery. Depending on what 2013 means, your car/battery is 3-4.5 yrs old and probably due to replacement.
I have lost faith in the battery testing since quite a few times I have seen that a battery that tested fine was at fault.
The cat converter and window are probably not related, unless the window switch is stuck, but even that should not cause a parasitic drain as when you turn the car off, the switch should not get power.
The windshield washer just needs adjustment of its nozzle with a small needle.
I go with a bad battery since the engine seems to start just fine when you jump it. It’s not the starter solenoid. The dimming of the light is also a good indicator.
I don’t see how the other problems have anything to do with the starting problem. They are nice weekend projects if you are bored and easy to fix.
The one thing I would try here is simple and cheap.
You said that right after a jump start, you can shut off the car and restart it.
At that time the electrical resistance from the jump start has heated up those battery terminals and posts.
This heating from the resistance allows the electricity to flow easier from the battery post…through any corrosion… and into the battery terminal and cable.
Pull the battery cable connections and clean the terminals and the battery posts…then reinstall both cables.
This is what you need to clean the terminals and posts.
The better connections after cleaning may clear up the window problem too.
As far as the Converter and the fuel solenoid valve are concerned. How did you determine that those two thing are bad.
I agree with @Yosemite. The battery terminals need to be removed and cleaned up, along with the battery posts. That could explain the the starting issues.
How many miles are on the car? You seem to have an awful lot of problems for a car that is relatively new. If you have less than 80,000 miles, the catalytic converter should be covered under the federal emissions warranty (some states have different emissions warranty requirement) unless it has sustained physical damage. Same with the fuel solenoid valve (assuming you are actually talking about the purge solenoid valve, which is part of the evaporative emissions system).
The windshield washer problem sounds like a disconnected hose under the hood.
@Yosemite@NYBo Thanks for your input. The Cat and purge (sorry, that’s what I meant )Solenoid were diagnosed at the dealer and are both covered on the warranty,. Took 3 weeks for the cat to be shipped there so that’s why I had such a delay in getting those fixed. I went to get my window fixed today, and it was the master switch.
@kurtwm2010@galant Thanks, the issue with the window was a master switch, changed it out today and its working now. I’ll ask them to troubleshoot the battery at the dealer when I go in for the cat and solenoid fix.