2007-12 Hyundai Santa Fe no start

These vehicles are known to have problems with a no start concern where the engine will crank but not start. It almost presents itself as a possible fuel pump issue, but is actually an electrical issue related to the factory immobilizer system. The system consists basically of a key which contains a programmed chip in the head of it, an antenna coil ring which goes around the ignition cylinder, and the “smartra” or immobilizer module. The way it works is you put your programmed key into the ignition and turn it to start the engine. The antenna coil quickly reads the chip in the key and sends a signal to the smartra, which tells the vehicle computer that the correct key is in the ignition and the vehicle can be allowed to start. When the vehicle exhibits the no start concern intermittently, it can occasionally be due to a faulty antenna coil, but is usually caused by a faulty smartra 99% of the time. There is actually a TSB released by Hyundai for this concern, where they recommend replacing the smartra with a newer part which also requires a new wiring pigtail be spliced onto the harness. To complete the repair, all keys that are going to be used with the vehicle need to be reprogrammed to work with the new smartra. I have encountered this concern most often in damp weather, and a stranded driver can sometimes get the vehicle started by taking the key out of the ignition, turning it over and placing it back in the ignition and trying to start it again.