Battery light sporadically flashing on for 1/2 second or less

Asked by psyprof2006 Mar 06, 2019 at 08:04 PM about the 2012 Hyundai Elantra

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Had a check engine light on.  Took car in and was
told I needed new spark plugs and wiring.  Agreed
to all work.  I was told car was running fine.  Less
than two miles from shop, battery light started to
blink on and off very sporadically and never came
all the way on.  It would briefly flash once and then
flash again a minute or two later.  Took it back to
garage.  They checked battery, alternator, and all
connections.  They said everything was fine.  I
drove it home.  The light is still flashing, just less
often.  Unsure of what to do now.

24 Answers

130

My car is doing the same but when it flickers it shakes sometimes. Everyone says my battery and alternator test come up fine so they're unsure of the problem. I have the same make, model and year of your car.

12 people found this helpful.
55

did you guys take notice if your car does this when it is cold or only when it is warmed up? I'm having similar issue and am beginning the diagnosing process tomorrow however my car only seems to do it once the car is up to temperature.

5 people found this helpful.
150

Mechanicforfun, I am having the same issue as well. Sputtering and light flickering only when warmed up. Frequency and impact of shutter seem to increase as the car warms up to full temperature(~20mins). Did y’all have any luck diagnosing the issue? So far, I have: Tested battery and battery connections-no issue detected.(~12v w/ car off) Tested alternator(idling in park)- providing appropriate voltage. (~14.5v w/ car idling) Changed spark plugs Added fuel line cleaner(haven’t driven it much as I’m still trying to diagnose issue so not sure if this has any bearing here.)

5 people found this helpful.
70

Has anyone found an answer? Same car & hes been doing it for months & can't find an answer. Please let me know! Thanks!

3 people found this helpful.
150

Just pinging this again in case anyone was able to solve this issue yet?

2 people found this helpful.
60

2012 Elantra is doing same thing, battery light flickers randomly and alternator & battery check out ok , car is starting fine

6 people found this helpful.
150

I took mine to the dealership and they told us that in the case of the car shuddering and the battery light flickering in conjunction with the shudder, the mechanic felt fairly confident that it was engine oil that had dropped down into the air intake due to overfilling or spillage during a routine oil change. He advised that we could burn it off by regular driving over a period of time and didn’t need to take further corrective action. He said if we really wanted to have it resolved they could tear it apart and clean the different components for some $500 but that he didn’t think that was necessary at all. Hope this is helpful to all. Note: I never experienced a check engine light in relation to this issue so if that is happening to your vehicle it may be something different.

8 people found this helpful.
70

Having same problem. So very glad I am not alone. Same make and model as well.

4 people found this helpful.
70

Thank you for posting these comments. I have same problem same make and model.

3 people found this helpful.
80

My car battery was dying I kept saying it was my alternator two new replaced batteries everyone argued it was my battery after a month my alternator had to be replaced a year later now I’m having a battery light issue again no change in temperature only light is on 135,000 miles now but not sure of the issue

8 people found this helpful.
70

So I am having the same problem. I did try changing the plugs and wires, I thought it fix the problem. It started again 2 days ago worse than ever. Did anybody ever get an answer to this? Does anybody have a worse problem with the bucking and battery light when you put your air conditioning on? I definitely do. I'm starting to lean towards my alternator and/or battery

5 people found this helpful.
70

It's amazing that Hyundai can't figure this out. I took my car there for another reason with the front end and was told I needed a motor? Lol that was last year. The adviser told me that the motor was going to seize soon and i shouldn't drive it..

2 people found this helpful.
130

@kjkbrann i had the same issue when my a/c came on it was horrible. I replaced my alternator it took a couple of weeks but the issue eventually stopped! I’m having other issues now but nothing as major as that! I definitely think it’s something that should’ve been recalled because so many people have the same issue Hyundai just doesn’t want to pay

1 people found this helpful.
210

Okay people. I think I have the answer. My niece had a check engine light on. A 2012 elantra. She took it to a mechanic. They said it was the number 1 plug and coil. So, when he replaced it. The check engine light was gone. But, now she got that crazy flashing battery light. That happens intermittently. So, the mechanic said it might be the battery. Lucky, it was under warranty at auto zone. But, that didn't fix the problem. So, I had a 2013 elantra. And I swapped the coil. And the flashing battery light was gone. So, I am going with a dealer coil for replacement. Problem solved. Ignition coil.

21 people found this helpful.
20

Did anyone figure this out? I just took my car and they replaced the battery. Drove it home and the light is still flickering

2 people found this helpful.
100

I may have an answer for this. My 2012 was doing this. I checked battery and alternator. Both checked out fine. I removed the main hot wire from battery and alternator and steel wooled the connector to alternator. This didn't solve anything. Tried a few other things I found online. no change. A few days later car started stuttering some. A few days later the engine light came on. Code from computer said #1 cylinder dead. On inspection found coil was bad. I change it out with new one, and replaced plugs in all four cylinders, just cause they looked old. Since then I have not had battery light flashing issue. My coil failed but not all at once. I think this was causing some kind of electrical back feed or resistance to system, and some sensor was not sure what it was. Check your coils. An easy way to do this is disconnect them in order one at a time while engine is running, and see if engine changes in how it runs. However if coil is going in and out, and is working when you check you won't know. I'm not sure this is the issue but it seems to have solved my light flicker problem.

10 people found this helpful.
35

same issue w/ my elantra 2011, battery light flickers during warm up of car. i doubt it is ignition coil because once ignition coil is faulty, the engine starts to rattle. i changed my battery, mechanic tested the alternator's output voltage w/ AC, headlight on, high RPM and everything was fine.

3 people found this helpful.
590

New information for an old question. My 2016 Elantra GT had an ignition coil fail at 171k miles, so I replaced all four coils and spark plugs. Within the day or so after that, I started noticing the random battery light flickers (mostly when accelerating or decelerating). The alternator passed a basic voltage check, but I believe the voltage regulator was on its way out. The voltage might occasionally spike or drop before the failing voltage regulator caught up and compensated, thus causing the brief battery light flash. So I replaced the alternator (since the voltage regulator is built- in), and the issue went away. That was several weeks ago, so I feel pretty confident that it's resolved. Hope that information helps someone! Incidentally, I suspect the voltage spike/drop may also have triggered the ignition coil failure - if the coil was already on the way to failing, the irregular voltage may have been the last straw for it.

1 people found this helpful.
10

mine started when they did a recall update. was fine until then.

1 people found this helpful.

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