Hi I am in some need of advice - i recently purchased a second hand sonata cdx '99 which my partner has being using to get to work but sadly she ran the car on the red light for 3 days (which I had no idea about and am really upset about). The other morning she popped out to the shop with the red light still showing and the car was fine according to her, when I climbed into the car an hour later now knowing that I had to go straight to the garage for petrol...the car would not start.
The engine turns really strong but will not fire....I got a neighbour to take me to get petrol and preceeded to put this in the tank but the car will still not start. I do not have a manual for this car and have been trying to log in to get the manual from the links on this site but am having no luck. The only things I can think of is blocked fuel filter, or spark plugs but do not know where to find them. I have now recently heard that if a sonata runs low on petrol it can get an airblock in the fuel line - how do I check this and does anyone have any info for me.

Your help would be greatly appreciated, thank you
Sincerely
Brad

This post has been edited by onepissedoffhippy: Feb 21 2008, 01:42 PM

how much petrol did you put in the tank? i hope it was more than 4 or five litres. since it ran okay b4 it ran out of gas i doubt it has anything to do with the spark going to the cylinders. you may have to buy a can of starter fluid ( aerosol can ) take the clamp off the rubber boot on the intake and get it started . your fuel pump is electric and should be attempting to suck up the much needed petrol. unfortunately it is in the fuel tank, i don't know if you should be able to hear it whirring.

Thank you so much for your reply - was getting desperate...so far I have been getting bits of info from all over the place. I have put about 10 litres into the tank so far and still nothing...the fuel lines is dry as a bone...I took off the rubber hose you said about and sprayed petrol directly into the (carb) and the car tried desperately to fire but was shuddering and sounded awful and still no petrol came through the pipe. I was told to put the key into the ignition and turn the car on but not start it and listen under the car for the whirring sound you have spoken of but cannot hear it at all....I checked the fuse box under the steering wheel and the fuse is in perfect working order and finaly some one told me to disconnect the battery for 10 minutes that too has not worked. My girlfriend has now told me she had actually put a little petrol in the car already so I now know that it had not totally run out of petrol...whether this makes that much of a difference I don't know....I am a first time Hyundai owner.
Sincerely
Brad

Hey Brad, any luck yet?

I too am new to Hyundais.. I am also new to EFI mechanics but i'll offer what iformation I can.

Disconnect your fuel line at the engine end (pre filter), stick it into a container and get someone to rurn the engine over. If no fuel comes out, you may have a faulty fuel pump.

If you are getting fuel but no BANG, you may have blocked injectors or as you said, no spark.

A quick way to test for system spark is to discoonect a spark plug lead, hold the end of the lead up near the engine block (as close you can without touching) then have someone turn the engine over. You should hear/see spark, if not your ignition isystem may need attention.

If you ever want to check your spark plugs, get an old plug, remove 1st plug and place old plug in its port. With lead still connect to removed spark plug, hold the butt of the plug agaist the engine block and have someone turn the engine over while you watch for the spark.
NOTE: use insulated pliers to hold plug/lead will engine is being turned over :)

I hope this helps.

If your car had ran out of petrol then you may need to prime it before it will start. Simply turn the key on and off several times without turning the engine over. Once you have done that about 3 or 4 times then try to start it.

Hope this helps.