We just bought this car six weeks ago and twice we were driving on a freeway and the car suddenly lost power (giving it gas had no effect but the car was still running) and the gas gauge went to empty. It’s a manual transmission. The dealer and Hyundai have no idea what’s going on - everything looks perfect otherwise. We’re very worried that we’ll have to drive it until the problem happens again - possibly on the highway! Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
The gas gauge going to empty points to loss of electrical power to the fuel level sender. There may, also, be loss of electrical power, partly or wholly to the fuel pump.
Search for a mechanic who can do electrical troubleshooting. The electrical power needs to be checked to the fuel pump. A wire wriggle test should also be done. That mechanic will understand what that is.
Thanks so, so much! I will ask at the dealer to check this.
So, this could be be the problem, even if it’s not sending any information to the computer? (Although the dealer said that the computer may not be getting any information because it doesn’t have sufficient time to record anything before we turned off the car to restart it.)
That’s basically correct. Remember that the OBD (On Board Diagnostics) system, the part of the computer that records “fault codes”, is designed to monitor those things that might affect emissions output on an operating engine. It isn’t designed to record things that cause an engine not to operate. Often they’re the same, but not always.
I agree with Kit’s advice. I want to add that of this is a new vehicle keep your copies of all the shop orders, and be sure the annotations on them are correct. If you end up struggling with this chronically and decide to access the Lemon Law in your state (see JD Power website for reference) you’ll need this documentation.
Hopefully they’ll get this fixed without a struggle.
Thanks as well for the suggestions.
Much appreciated!
The really important missing details here are the model year and the odometer mileage of this vehicle!
If it is new, you have the protection of the powertrain warranty and the bumper-to-bumper warranty, plus the protection afforded by the Lemon Law in your state.
If it is not new, you may still have some of the manufacturer’s warranty remaining, in addition to whatever used car warranty (30 days?) that the dealer offered when you bought the car.
If this car is warrantied, do not go anywhere except the dealership at this point.
And, if it is new, keep all documentation of repair attempts so that you can file a Lemon Law claim if that becomes necessary.
It does appear that something is interrupting the electrical supply, but how to have that problem dealt with depends on the age of the car and its warranty status.
Thanks for the response.
It’s a 2009 Accent and the odometer is around 3800 now (we bought it new).
After the problem became evident, we took it directly to the dealership. Unfortunately, so far, the problem hasn’t been identified. I think that if it happens again and still can’t be identified and repaired, then your suggestion about the lemon law will be our next step.
Thanks again.