Santa Fe (CM - 2007-12) :: 2008 GLS - No Sign Of Turning Over And Car Will Never Start

I have an intermittent problem with my 2008 Santa Fe GLS (Canadian model). Sometimes, when I insert the key to start the car, the in-dash key symbol won't come up (while it usually does when everything is fine). When the problem occurs, I have all electrical power and the engine will crank over; The cranking is going very fast but shows no sign of ever turning over and the car will never start. It really looks as if the immobilizer does not recognize the key and so refuses to start the engine. So I have to remove the key, wait some time and try again. Usually, it can take 3-4 times (and up to 15 minutes!) before the key-symbol light comes up again in the dash, and then the engine will start as if nothing ever happened.

This problem occurs approximately once a week, but you never know when. I went to the dealer just for that problem but they had no clue and could not reproduce it, .... so they ended-up doing nothing to fix it. The car also has a remote starter that was installed at the dealer. It usually works fine. But the problem also occurred a few times with the remote starter trying to start the car by itself. I could hear the never ending cranking noise from the spinning starter, until the remote starter stopped for few seconds and tried again. I had to stop the remote starter manually.