Dropping in from Adelaide, South Australia
 

Hi everyone. I've read quite a few of the posts in this forum for a couple of days hoping to diagnose a current issue with my son's car. Impressed by the support this community offers, I thought I'd jump on board. My son has had a series of 'disposable' cars whereby he has neglected issues until they became abundant, then decided it was easier to get rid of the car. Easier for him, but not me. He leaves for work at 5.30am & I had on occasions let him use my car. It's a Navara (yeah, I know, an issue for another forum). Cosmetically, it was immaculate. It now has a dented bumper, minor door dent, & my wheel caps disappear. I now drive him to work at 5.30...ugh! Doesn't always line up well with my shifts & can make my mornings rather hectic. So here I am....determined that this car won't be disposable & to have him back on the road taking himself to work, sooner rather than later. He bought a Hyundai Elantra 2004 about 5 weeks ago. Last week, he phoned on his way to work saying that his car was getting towed. He had stopped along the way & when he got back in, it wouldn't start. He said it was successfully jump-started, although, he claims the battery is new. By new, I think he means because the indicator on the battery is green. However, he said he turned it off & it started again. He then made another stop & this time it wouldn't start, independently or jump-start. I've driven the car a couple of times & it seemed to drive okay. The clutch seemed a bit dicky & it seemed like I had to get the revs up at take-offs. I wasn't sure if this was just me not being used to it...I've driven 4WD forever. I also noticed a strong fuel smell inside the car whilst driving. Driving a distance of approx 40 kms, it happened 3 times...it's quite strong for a few minutes then dissipates. So, last week, my son reported that the car wouldn't start...it's dead. We have different ideas of what a dead car is because it does actually crank so not quite the flat line he described. It has power to all its functions & there's a repetitive 'ding' when the door is opened. I can't hear the fuel pump engage but I don't always hear it on functioning cars either. I've checked fuses & relays & nothing obvious stood out. I gave it a couple of squirts of Start Ya Bastard...even said it about 30 times...but nothing. I checked spark plugs & not getting spark from coil. I'm a bit unsure of which path to take from here, not that I had a clue when I lifted the bonnet in the first place. Very different to my car, although, I can't even reach anything under my bonnet if I'm not perched on the bullbar!. Dropping in to say Hi turned in to an encyclopaedia, sorry. If anyone gets through all that & can shed some light on what I can do with this Elantra...or my son 😛 ...I'd be forever grateful. And any tips on removing the back seat would be amazing. Thank you :D