[J47KLY]

Hi everyone, I'm new to here and I hope you can help 
Last winter my I30 1.6 CRDI was sluggish when cranking on cold start, after a few seconds it would catch and fire up. Ok, so I always let the glow plug light go off before trying to start the car EVER, but especially in Winter i would normally do this a couple of times as my dad advised me it may help.  But last winter it got to the point where it felt like the battery was dying, really slow crank etc and sounded dead. But it lasted (had no money for replacement) to spring and summer and it was absolutely fine , fired up almost on the first couple of cranks. But in the last couple of weeks as it has begun to get cold again, same problem and I honestly thought it was the battery that was crap - so I took it to a garage, bought a new battery @ £90! and thought that would be the end of it. Woke up this morning again to a frosty cold morning and the bloody thing is sluggish again, so either 1 of 3 things
1) they didnt actually replace they battery and left the old one in (I will kill them)
2) they gave me a crap battery that had somehow lost its charge (I will kill them)
3) it was never the battery and must be something else like glow plugs, starter or alternator??  (I wont kill them)

Can anyone please help? Is this a familiar story for I30s? 
It is 4.5 years old, 35k miles and warranty runs out in March 2014 so if its an issue I can hopefully get it fixed under warranty?

Helppppppppppppppppppppppppppp
 

[Phil №❶]

Starting difficulties in the Diesel are not common. At 4.5 years, your car hasn't done much work, so it is possible that the journeys have not been long enough to keep the battery in tip top condition. The battery for the Diesel is a high capacity calcium type battery. Did you replace with the same capacity or try to save a few pounds.

Check the terminals for dirt or corrosion.
Check the full length of both wires + and - for any corrosion, as this will affect the battery's ability to both crank and be charged.

Failing all of the above, take it to a dealer whist still in warranty.

[eye30]

Before you bought new battery did they do drop test!

Also, check new battery spec out to make sure it is rated for the diesel.

When i had my diesel it did start differently in the winter than summer and from memory did take extra turns to start.

Glow plugs may need looking at

May be shambles who lives in your area can report how his diesel has been starting since the colder temps have come.

[Shambles]

Welcome to the forum

My motor spins quickly and starts first time. Every time. I've got 115,000 miles on the clock 

With a new battery performing equally as badly, I'd suspect loose or dirty connection(s) at the battery or starter as Bill №❶ says.

[Phil №❶]

 

[Asterix]

Hi J47KLY

 

I think it's the glow plugs. When summer, the glow plugs are not much needed, so it will start if 1 or 2 is defect.
Now when cold, all 4 of them needs to be in good shape.

Last winter  my car would have very uneven idle for 10 seconds, when starting cold. 2 glowplugs were dead.
I changed all 4 of them, as the car had done ca 170.000 km at that time. Now it starts just fine at first crank 

[Lakes]

 
I've had two i30 CRDi & both start first go just like a petrol car.
the first one i owned, glow plug light took longer to go out, new one goes out almost instant. most new Diesel Trucks now glow plug light goes out.
with out being there to see &check things it's a bit hard to say. but check battery voltage, check when motor running, that charging system working, check all terminals. it was pointed out @ one time by a member with some first hand diesel knowledge, that the intake manifold is heated ( i never bothered to check this out myself ) he told me once he used to start an old diesel truck that never had glow plugs, by heating up manifold. but i know this can't help you just mentioning it.
i've started Diesels that had  glow plugs, not working . with "Start Ya Barstard " an Aussie product that has eather in it, i too cover off that goes to filter so i could spray it directly into air intake manifold, spray some in while cranking motor.

but think your best bet if battery & terminals all check out & battery getting charge when motor runing & lights on, if that all checks out ok, take it to Hyundai , if thats not possible take it to a trained Diesel wrench.
good luck with it.

[J47KLY]

Thanks for the welcome guys!
Yeah when I bought the battery the guy in the motor factors checked all the information for the car before looking up the batteries on the system so without actually knowing that he didnt give me a defective battery id say it was the right one for the car. I paid £90 so as far as I am aware that isnt exactly cheap but it wasnt from Hyundai because it probably would have been a hell of a lot more and charged to have it fitted too id say.
it wasnt a cheap backstreet garage either so up until now I trust them to fit the right one.
I, ll have a look at the connections as I have already had issues with corrosion on other parts (tyre valves)  so its entirely plausible especially as it was factory fitted.

On failing that its a trip to hyundai for me I think

[Dazzler]

 

[Keith]

Sluggish cranking.... There's the key.
Not glow plugs as they warm the combustion chambers only.
I'd be looking at everything in the starter motor feed for an unexpected volt drop.
Maybe needs an earth / ground re-fit or a supplemental cable provided, but a good check and clean of existing connectors is in order.

[Aye30]

How cold are we talking about? Most batteries have a temperature range that they work best in. Couple that with a cold engine, with cold oil, and presto. But I drive a petrol, so may not be relevant, also it doesn't get very cold in Perth Australia.

[Keith]

How cold are we talking about? Most batteries have a temperature range that they work best in. Couple that with a cold engine, with cold oil, and presto. But I drive a petrol, so may not be relevant, also it doesn't get very cold in Perth Australia.

I won't argue with that but remember cars used in VERY cold climates have lubricant graded to accommodate that enabling proper cranking speeds.

[marti30]

When the starter motor on a previous petrol car (Rover 414sli 16v) became dodgy it quickly flattened the battery if the car didn't start immediately. Eventually it burnt through its connection. Only when this happened a second time was the starter motor investigated and found to be the cause of slow cranking, poor starting and battery flattening. 

[Keith]

Agreed but surely it's easy to drop a jumper lead from the battery -ve to the starter motor body just to be sure the earthing is as it should be...? I'd baulk at buying and fitting a new starter motor... The car is still young with low miles and.... It isn't an old Rover lol!

Personally I'd rule out what I could then get the dealer on the case under the warranty terms.

[Asterix]

Agreed but surely it's easy to drop a jumper lead from the battery -ve to the starter motor body just to be sure the earthing is as it should be...?

I did that with a Peugeot 106 I had a few years back. Sometimes it would start, sometimes not. Drove with the jumper cable for 14 days, no problem. I then cleaned the earth connection points and never had the issue again.

[i30sean]

Mine had started doing that for about a month, would turn the key and turn over 2-3 times and not start, I then turned it over again and immediately started, I had the car serviced last Monday and mentioned this to them they checked the glow plugs and put some cleaner through the injectors or something like that and since last Monday has started first turn every day. I would take it your dealer, they said they had changed a set of glow plugs on another one just the week before with similar symptoms.

i30sean