Car (02 hyundai elantra) hesitates when starting and cranks really slow, gradually getting faster till it starts, and sometimes will dim headlights and make my radar detector go nuts (like power on/off a few times a second)

thoughts?

 

battery is low/alternator is bad/starter is bad/its a hyundai

 

that was helpful

im sure its one of the first three, just trying to narrow it down...

 

up

 

+1, Dose it only do it when it starts up, and is ok after you have it running for a bit and drive it? or dose it keep doing it.

 

it starts up slow, and every now and again at idle (sitting in a parking spot, at a traffic light in drive, etc...) the lights will dim, RPMs will drop slightly, and radar detector will go nuts.

 

Sounds like the symptoms my friend had it turned out being a bad alternator. Hope thats all.

 

me too... thanks!

one other note:

the car has been sitting for a few days. this only happens when its been sitting for more than 2-3 days.

I have to drive to georgia today and im trying to figure out of it'll be ok for the trip, since it only gives me problems after sitting and at idle. thoughts?

 

check to make sure your ground wire is on nice and tight.

 

How old is your battery? Batteries can go out as soon as two years after you buy them depending on your driving habits and what kind of battery you buy. That would be the first thing I suspect if it's more than two years old. Check the terminals for corrosion and while you're at it make sure the connections are tight- a loose ground or loose positive will cause problems. If you have access to a multimeter read the voltage across the terminals, if it's below 12 volts there is a problem; the battery is not holding charge or it isn't getting a charge from the alternator. Turn the car on and read the voltage again, if it reads above 13.5 volts your alternator is probably still fine and it's probably the battery. That this problem crops up mostly after the car hasn't been run for a few days further supports the bad battery theory. A bad battery or loose connection can cause random problems at lights when the alternator isn't putting out much juice- especially if your idle drops too low. My sister's car would lose stereo power, the lights would dim, and the AC would cut out all randomly at lights- it turned out the simple fix was tightening a loose wing nut on the positive battery terminal.