AnthonyD1987
New member
Apologies if this is the wrong place to post this.
In the last month or so I have noticed that my 2014 Sonic (automatic transmission) has had a couple of issues starting up, and now has gotten to the point where when I go to turn it on, it might not start at all, or it might. It’s a roll of the dice.
About a month ago, I stopped at the grocery store before work, and when I came out to start my car up, there was almost a slight delay of a second or two before the car responded to me turning the key. There was also a little icon that appeared on the dashboard with a car and a lock that looked like this: https://www.directline.com/lib/img/magazine/article/car-dashboard-lights/car-dash-17-child-lock.png
As soon as I got to work I shut the car off, let it sit for about 15 seconds, then turned it back on and it seemed fine. The icon was gone from the dashboard but the compass in the dash and the outdoor temperature reading on my radio were missing, but did come back eventually. This scenario happened maybe 2 more times since.
Then the worst of it came. One day last week I was planning to go out, and when I was walking towards my car I hit the remote start and nothing happened. As I got to the door and opened it, none of the interior lights or the dash lit up, and I turned the key in the ignition and got nothing. Luckily, we could take my girlfriend’s car out instead, but it was more annoying that something was wrong with it. I left it all weekend knowing it had to be jumped, and since there’s nowhere to really go right now, there was no rush.
Fast forward to a couple days later, I’m planning to jump it now, I walk out to the car and for the hell of it press the lock button on the key fob and it works, so I hop in and start it up, and it works again, like a miracle. The usual missing outdoor temp and no compass and the miles-to-empty were changed to mpg (that one always seems to happen when the car has some sort of reset). So it worked. I’m happy and not worried now. I drove it then and one other time with no issue.
Then last night, as I’m going to run out real quick for something, go to get in my car, it doesn’t start again. No interior lights, key fob wouldn’t work, car won’t start from cranking ignition. Wtf. We go out in my girlfriend’s car, gone for 20 minutes and when we come back I press the lock button and all of a sudden it’s working again. Who’s playing tricks on me? We came inside the house and then last night we decided we wanted McDonalds so we used my car, no issues. And as I’m typing this I hit the key fob and the headlights lit up, so it’s working now as well.
So something is up. Is it the starter? Is it the spark plus or something else I’m not aware of. I’m not really knowledgeable about these things, but I do my research once I pinpoint an issue and try to DIY it if I can or have it pre-diagnosed by me before bringing it to a mechanic.
Two other little notes I want to leave that I have noticed. One is I have had noticed a slight/minor jerking/hiccuping when the car is idle, be it in park or when I’m at a stop light. The car will shake a tiny bit and almost have a nanosecond of a stall, but nothing major happens and as soon as I drive, that goes away. The second thing is when I start my car ahead of time and probably just in general when it’s running, I’ve noticed when I walk towards it from the back that the exhaust has been ever so slightly spraying something out behind it onto the pavement. It’s not a lot of liquid, it almost looks like it’s misting the ground behind it, but I’m wondering if this may be connected. I feel like that’s not supposed to happen.
If anyone can offer any help here, that would be really great. I feel like now that I’ve had issues starting it up, I don’t want to be stranded anywhere if this becomes a bigger problem. Thanks!
In the last month or so I have noticed that my 2014 Sonic (automatic transmission) has had a couple of issues starting up, and now has gotten to the point where when I go to turn it on, it might not start at all, or it might. It’s a roll of the dice.
About a month ago, I stopped at the grocery store before work, and when I came out to start my car up, there was almost a slight delay of a second or two before the car responded to me turning the key. There was also a little icon that appeared on the dashboard with a car and a lock that looked like this: https://www.directline.com/lib/img/magazine/article/car-dashboard-lights/car-dash-17-child-lock.png
As soon as I got to work I shut the car off, let it sit for about 15 seconds, then turned it back on and it seemed fine. The icon was gone from the dashboard but the compass in the dash and the outdoor temperature reading on my radio were missing, but did come back eventually. This scenario happened maybe 2 more times since.
Then the worst of it came. One day last week I was planning to go out, and when I was walking towards my car I hit the remote start and nothing happened. As I got to the door and opened it, none of the interior lights or the dash lit up, and I turned the key in the ignition and got nothing. Luckily, we could take my girlfriend’s car out instead, but it was more annoying that something was wrong with it. I left it all weekend knowing it had to be jumped, and since there’s nowhere to really go right now, there was no rush.
Fast forward to a couple days later, I’m planning to jump it now, I walk out to the car and for the hell of it press the lock button on the key fob and it works, so I hop in and start it up, and it works again, like a miracle. The usual missing outdoor temp and no compass and the miles-to-empty were changed to mpg (that one always seems to happen when the car has some sort of reset). So it worked. I’m happy and not worried now. I drove it then and one other time with no issue.
Then last night, as I’m going to run out real quick for something, go to get in my car, it doesn’t start again. No interior lights, key fob wouldn’t work, car won’t start from cranking ignition. Wtf. We go out in my girlfriend’s car, gone for 20 minutes and when we come back I press the lock button and all of a sudden it’s working again. Who’s playing tricks on me? We came inside the house and then last night we decided we wanted McDonalds so we used my car, no issues. And as I’m typing this I hit the key fob and the headlights lit up, so it’s working now as well.
So something is up. Is it the starter? Is it the spark plus or something else I’m not aware of. I’m not really knowledgeable about these things, but I do my research once I pinpoint an issue and try to DIY it if I can or have it pre-diagnosed by me before bringing it to a mechanic.
Two other little notes I want to leave that I have noticed. One is I have had noticed a slight/minor jerking/hiccuping when the car is idle, be it in park or when I’m at a stop light. The car will shake a tiny bit and almost have a nanosecond of a stall, but nothing major happens and as soon as I drive, that goes away. The second thing is when I start my car ahead of time and probably just in general when it’s running, I’ve noticed when I walk towards it from the back that the exhaust has been ever so slightly spraying something out behind it onto the pavement. It’s not a lot of liquid, it almost looks like it’s misting the ground behind it, but I’m wondering if this may be connected. I feel like that’s not supposed to happen.
If anyone can offer any help here, that would be really great. I feel like now that I’ve had issues starting it up, I don’t want to be stranded anywhere if this becomes a bigger problem. Thanks!
