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patricia_frost1

Seat Alhambra starting issue

Okay, I'm officially freaking out! My Seat Alhambra (2012) with a gasoline engine is giving me serious grief. It has 102405 km on the clock. Went to start it this morning, and nothing – it just cranks and cranks but won't fire up. The 'Check engine' light is on. I'm guessing some sort of ECU failure or something equally horrible. I've read online that bad cable connections of the battery might be the cause. Anyone else experienced this? Any ideas before I'm forced to sell a kidney to pay for repairs?

4 comment(s)

valentinablitz1

Dude, sounds like a nightmare! My Alhambra had similar symptoms a while back – engine stalling, check engine light, the works. Turned out to be dodgy cable connections at the battery. Give those a wiggle and see if it helps.

patricia_frost1 (Author)

Interesting! When you say dodgy, do you mean completely disconnected or just loose? And did your 'Engine fault' light come on immediately, or did it take a few tries to start before it appeared?

valentinablitz1

Loose as in not properly tightened, and a bit corroded. The 'Engine fault' light came on after a few failed start attempts. If cleaning and tightening doesn't fix it completely, get a proper Engine diagnostics done. You might still have an ECU failure or some other issue, but definitely start with the simple stuff first. Going to the workshop is probably the best option.

patricia_frost1 (Author)

Just wanted to let you know that you were spot on! I checked the battery cable connections, and they were indeed loose and corroded. Cleaned them up, tightened everything, and the Alhambra started right up. The check engine light is now off. I took it to the workshop to have the error memory cleared and an engine diagnostics performed, all in all 155€. Thanks a million for your help!

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