kia seltos not staring everytime

[john]

I am having troubles sometimes starting my 2023 seltos. had it to dealer and they cannot find any problems. not every time but occasionally when you press the engine start button the motor does not turn over and a whirring sound occurs and the stop start button light flashes. If I turn it off at button the try again the same thing happens. mostly on third or fourth time the engine turns over and starts.After driving to my location and restarting after shopping etc the engine starts okay. anybody had similar issues. many thanks.

 

[Victor Rusk]

I am having troubles sometimes starting my 2023 seltos. had it to dealer and they cannot find any problems. not every time but occasionally when you press the engine start button the motor does not turn over and a whirring sound occurs and the stop start button light flashes. If I turn it off at button the try again the same thing happens. mostly on third or fourth time the engine turns over and starts.After driving to my location and restarting after shopping etc the engine starts okay. anybody had similar issues. many thanks.

It sounds like you're dealing with a failing starter motor, specifically a sticky starter Bendix drive. Since your Seltos is a 2023, this should be fully covered under Kia's warranty, but it's notoriously difficult for a dealership to diagnose because of when it happens. Here's what most likely going on:

The WHIRRING sound. When you press the Start button, an electrical current is sent to the starter. The starter has two jobs: spin an electric motor, and push a small gear (the Bendix) outward to grab the engine's flywheel and turn the engine over. The "whirring" sound you hear is the electric motor spinning, but the small gear is getting stuck and failing to pop out. It's just spinning in the air instead of grabbing the engine.

The flashing stop/start light - that light is your Kia's computer realizing that a start attempt failed. The computer sent the command to start, heard the starter turn on, but noticed the engine RPMs didn't change. It aborts the start sequence to protect the battery and flashes that light to alert you to the error.

It works after shopping because the gear inside the starter is getting mechanically stuck when the metal and grease are cold. After you manage to get it started and drive to the store, the heat from the engine block warms up the starter. This heat loosens the internal grease and expands the metal just enough that the gear pops out perfectly on the first try when you leave the store.

Dealerships operate on a "cannot duplicate, cannot repair" policy for warranty claims. By the time you drive the car to the dealer, the engine is warm, the starter is fully functional, and they won't find anything wrong.

To get this fixed, you need to record a video on your phone. First thing in the morning when the engine is completely cold, point your phone at the dashboard and record yourself pressing the Start button. Make sure the video captures the "whirring" noise, the engine failing to turn over, and the flashing light. Take that video straight to the service advisor. For an intermittent starter issue, video evidence is usually all they need to authorize a warranty replacement of the starter motor.

Let me know how it goes!

 

[john]

many thanks for the reply. I have already started taking videos of me starting , but so far it hasn't happened again, will continue on.