Sodiscomusic

I have a 1998 Hyundai Elantra 1.8L Automatic with 180,000 miles on it. I have been experiencing this problem on and off for a while now.



Symptoms

1. Turn key to ON dash lights come on like they are supposed to and when attempting to start lights go off like they are supposed to also.

2. Sometimes you hear the starter try and engage and sometimes you hear absolutely nothing.



Things I've tried

1. swapped battery for a new one(started a few times but could have been a coincidence)

2. Starter rebuild(started a few times but could also have been a coincidence)

3. Checked fuses

4. Checked for loose wires

5. Checked volts on battery(on and off to check increased volts from alternator too)



Is there anything I am missing? Also, there is a black box shoved back inside the steering column with a few wiring harnesses connected to it. It looks like it has a serial number and is made by TRS-AR, Inc.(will post pic soon). Not sure what this is...when I bought the car it had a keychain with a clear cylinder on it about 2" long. Car won't start without it hanging by ignition. Not sure how to disable it or if this could be any of the problem. Any info is helpful.

Sodiscomusic

So I pulled the black box out while it was connected and it seems to be spliced into the ignition wires and straight wired to a few others. When you hold the key cylinder next to it, you hear a click and the car will crank. Inside the box there is a motherboard with a 10Amp fuse and two white relays...(these are where the click sound comes from). Anyone know how to disable this or what it is? It seems now that the cylinder has to be touching the box now, but in the past I didn't know there was a box...and it was 1 1/2 feet away inside the steering column.

Stocker

I'm guessing that's an alarm module. Something stupid may have happened inside it, or you may have bad wiring or grounds. Check all your ignition system and computer grounds as well as battery connections carefully, and have a close look at your wiring. That's the 'easy' stuff off the bad I'd check.

wheel_of_steel

Usually those low end alarm modules aren't overly complex to bypass. All they are is a switch inline with an ignition wire or three.

Sodiscomusic

Matched it to a few different Remote Start/RFID boxes...not exact but close. It looks like it splices into the back of ignition switch on three or four wires and then one or two go deeper into the dash. Hopefully I can try and unhook it. Nothing but a constant pain getting worse.