by The Sushi Hunter » Wed Sep 17, 2008 3:12 am
Hyundai's are supposed to be really good now, they had a major overhaul when the founder died in 2001. At that time, many Japanese who worked with companies such as Toyota, Mitsubishi, Acura, etc. went to work for and provided their expertise to Hyundai. At which time, Hyundai was no longer strictly a Korean automaker. So apparently, these cars are really good now, so don't sweat it.
About the problem with the car, in the old days, 20 plus years ago, you could see if the alternator is working by starting the car and while it's running, disconnect the positive cable from the battery. If the car starts running bad and/or stops when the cable is disconnected, you would then know the alternator isn't producing enough juice to keep the engine running, which would mean the alternator was the problem. However, if the car ran fine after disconnecting the cable, then you would know that the alternator is not the problem and is working properly.
I say 20 plus years ago because the cars now are so advanced that they don't suggest disconnecting the battery from the car while it's running anymore.
Never purchase batteries from those auto chain stores. The batteries they sell suck. They don't hold a decent charge for any length of time. They are cheaper though cause they were made with fewer internal cells. The more cells the battery has, the longer they can hold a charge, and a charge that is higher in voltage. I have that problem with my classic muscle car. I had purchased the most expensive battery at one of those auto chain stores and since I only start it every three or four months, the battery would always be dead. I even tried disconnecting the battery altogether while the car is stored in the garage, but the battery would always go dead. I eventually went to the dealership and purchased one of their batteries for about twice as much as what the most expensive battery at those auto chain stores go for. And I am glad I did cause it never goes dead anymore.
So sure, you can pick up one of the top of the line batteries from one of those auto chain stores for about half as much as you can at the dealership, but you'll be going back in a year or so cause it isn't holding a charge anymore. Screw that, I've got way better things to do with my time, maybe you do too.
About the a/c problem, that is a bit more difficult. I doubt the alternator has anything to do with that. It soulds like it needs a recharge. Or it may be the a/c fan switch is not working properly. The only way you can find out which one it could be is by bringing it in to the dealership. They can check the a/c to see if it's properly charged or not with special equipment that they have. If the a/c is charged, they will then look at the a/c fan switch. The purpose of the a/c fan switch is to turn on or off the fan when the a/c is running. If the fan doesn't kick on, a sensor may tell the car's computer to shut down the a/c, cause if that fan isn't running, you'll burn out your a/c pump.
And it is very important for you to know that if your car is still under factory warranty, do not bring it to some place other then the dealership for repairs. READ YOUR WARRANTY! If you do bring your car to some garage and not the dealership and they perform some work on it, your car's warranty will be void! If a garage does the work and they fuck it up worse and so you end up having to bring it back to the dealership, that's when they will void your warranty and not work on your car.
I've never eaten a piece of sushi I didn't thoroughly enjoy.
I thought we were still on the battery vs. alternator thing. 
I guess we're addressing the 
But alright. I'll let you know. Palmolive, please.
You know I can't resist bringin' da noise and bringin' funny.