Hyundai Elantra 5-door

kentavos

I just wanted to comment on the increase of GT's on the road. I live in Orange County, CA and I've seen the amount of GT's increase here significantly. I probably see at least three a day.

Has anyone else notice this?

codata99

Hyundai dealers cannot order cars. They are assigned by HMA.

archangel5

12,000 miles on my '02 GTi and I have loved every one.

For the guy with 4,800 miles... the engine will continue loosening through 10,000 miles. You should start to kind of notice it around 8,000 miles.

The car is hands down the best deal in the market today.

~archangel5

p.s. Hyundai is much more popular in the west than it is in the east. That's why you're seeing several in California and none in Florida. I was in NYC this past week, and I saw one.... after a week of looking. By the way, that should be a reason to buy the car, not a reason not to. If you drive the car in Florida, you'll notice people eyeing your car trying to figure out what kind of new Saab you are driving.

cookie55

MRVAN Thanks for your reply. I agree that the woodgrain installation would "warm up" the dark interior of the GT. All that black and gray is kinda somber. I've seen woodgrain in the 4dr and it does give an upscale,warmer look. I'll probably wait for the '04s before I buy.

gpagpa

Just wanted to check with everyone and see how their first year of owning the 02 5sp GT was going. Other than a few minor adjustments like the alignment was off, noise from driver side was fixed with new weatherstripping, with backing from TSB, and that noise from the back passenger when driving over bumps, I guess I am used to that by now. The first warranty milestone is approaching and I wanted to see if there were any major adjustments that people had done in their first year that would not be covered after 12 months. Its my understanding that anything cosmetic or any wear items are covered under the 12 month adjustment warranty. I guess its habit, but every time I to the dealer, I always ask "there is no charge for this, its under warranty, right?" Thanks for any last minute necessary adjustments that I should have the dealer look at.

beatles363

does the elantra gt have the feature where the headlights turn off buy themself if you forget to turn it off?

gtovrit

Yes, and you also can't lock the doors and leave your keys in the ignition by accident, the door locks will pop back open.

aznmonty

The GT is awesome. There were a handful of times that I left the interior lights on overnight. In the morning I thought the enginge would be dead. But behold! The good people at Hyundai thought of the careless people who forget to turn off lights. The engine started without a hitch and that was the end of that nuisance.

elantraman

Saw a recent post about replacing OEM tires, and the fact that the driver only got 40K miles from them. I would love to get that kind of mileage. I don't know if driving around western PA has something to do with it, but most people around here never get that kind of mileage. My personal best is about 33K. Average is about 20-25K I have had tires last as few as 12K.

beatles363

nice thanks, yeah there were a few times i'd go to the car in the morning and when i turn the ignition, id notice the parking lights come on, thank god for the auto shutoff.

gaelsguy

I leave my lights set to the "on" setting all the time. I like the safety of lights while driving in the daytime. I see so many drivers in the twilight time with no lights whatsoever. The lights default to "parking" when the ignition is turned off and ignition key is removed. They completely turn off when the driver's door is opened. I never have to touch them. A great feature. One other thing, my mileage dropped after I did my first oil change. I used 10W30 per instructions. My 94 Voyager used 5w30. I wonder if the break-in oil was "thinner".

aznmonty

When I went to get my first oil change, the person changing it used 5w30 instead of what the manual said 10w30. He mentioned that the info on the hood recommended that weight of oil. And it has worked well, engine runs smoothly and getting great mileage out of it. Still happy at 5950!!

gaelsguy

I know this was addressed before but..... I am inclined to go along with the book and use the recommended amount even though it will register above the "full" dot on the stick. My thinking is that it is easier to miss tamp the stick than to misprint the amount called for. Has this ever been resolved by Hyundai? I have had no problem doing this. I only wish I had looked at the dip stick early on to see where the factory fill registered.

mxo11

Took my GT (19K so far) for oil change yesterday. The supervisor called me to tell me it needed alignment (something they had already told me before, at the 15K service) AND an engine flush. I ok'd the alignment (very expensive, I think: 70 bucks!) but not the engine flush. Has anybody done this? Is it necessary, considering the GT's 100K warranty?

Thanks!

sweetpa

I have an '02 GT with just over 7,5000 miles (9 months old) that is pulling sharply to the right. Is an alignment covered under warranty at this point? My friend says it should be, but I thought it was a maintenance issue. Any info on this? Thanks!

compensate

Over the past month, I have ntoiced that my engine, when first started in the morning, seems to be making a lot of noise that sounds a lot like valve clatter. This noise slowly fades away as the engine warms up, however, the engine does not have to be "cool" for this noise to occur, as I have had the noise come back after the car has been "off" for as little as 20 minutes after extended driving.

I took it to the dealer (how I dread dealer service centers) who said that I should try to use a heavier grade of oil than the 5W-30 I had been using. He also mentioned something about how several Japanese autos will tend to make this type of noise after a few thousand miles and is normal for many such cars (sounded bogus to me). The oil viscosity explanation sounded odd to me as well, but I did it, switching to a mix of 2 qts 15W-50 Mobil 1 and 1.5 qts 10W-30 Catrol GTX, which I felt should be more than "heavy" enough. 1500 miles later (46,500 total miles) after the oil change, the noise has not decreased at all.

I dread a return visit to he dealer (especially after my "paint issue" experience), but suppose I will have to go back.

Any suggestions or comments?

lngtonge18

It does sound like you have a hydraulic valve lifter problem. The noise can disappear or decrease by putting in a heavier weight of oil (heavier oil builds pressure quicker and can help alleviate the slack in a lifter). However, what you did is a big no no. You should never mix different grades of oil nor should you mix different brands since the detergent formula is different between each brand. I would suggest draining the oil and replacing it with either a 10W-40, 20W-50, or straight 30W oil and don't mix brands this time! If the noise still persists, than you might want to take it back to the dealer and have them investigate it further. It's possible one or more of the lifters has an internal leak which doesn't allow it to get to the correct operating pressure and thus has too much slack, causing the tapping you hear.

p.s. Hydraulic lifter noise is actually quite common in Japanese cars. Mazda has had extremely bad luck with them and so did early 90s Nissans (Nissan has since switched back to a solid lifter design due to all the problems). In Mazda's case, they made the oil passages too narrow, thus starving the lifters of oil and causing obnoxiously loud lifters on the Miata, 626, 929, and first generation MPV. There is no fix for it and honestly, the noise doesn't cause any harm so it's not a big deal. Thicker oil is the only thing that will quiet down the lifters on my 92 Miata.

aznmonty

I do not know too much about oil and engines for that matter. But why are some engines supposed to have a certain grade of oil? Does it do anything to the engine with the wrong engine oil?

codata99

http://www.hmaservice.com/webtech/iindex.asp?id=394886633#_394886- 633

codata99

Elantras don't have hydraulic lash adjusters.

codata99

Who was that Hyundai dealer?

kaz6

Has anyone checked the paint around their OEM spoiler on the back lid? Mine had some plastic remaining and it was sticking out from the base corner. I took the spoiler off to remove it and noticed that there was a spot where the paint was worn off...I assume this happened during installation as the spoiler has no play when secured.
I am also concerned with corrosion starting underneath the spoiler as there is no drainage for the moisture underneath. Anyone have any problems with theirs?

lngtonge18

The Elantra doesn't have hydraulic lifters? Maybe I'm getting different models confused, but I know for a fact the Accent and Sonata/Tib/XG300 V6 use hydraulic lifters. I seem to remember the Elantra being advertised as having a maintenance free engine which means it would have hydraulic lifters. Does the maintenance schedule require an inspection and adjustment of the valves at 60k like solid lifter designs? If it does have solid lifters, than I retract my advice to compensate.

lngtonge18

Oil viscosity can vary from what the manufacturer suggests, just like fuel octane. You use the proper viscosity based on the temperatures you encounter. For hot climates, you want to use a heavier weight oil for better engine protection. For cold climates, you want to use a lighter oil for easier starting. A lot of cars are switching to recommending a 5W-30 weight oil, but there is nothing wrong with using 10W-30, 10W-40, 20W-50, 30w, etc. The 5W-30 is just an easy way for car companies to try and eke out a little extra fuel economy.

compensate

lngtonge18,

You are always a great source of knowledge. I really thought it would be OK to mix the oils. I won't make that mistake again (I'd better stop listening to my brother!).

If we find out that the Elantra has solid lifters, how would your advice change?

codata99,

The Hyundai dealer is in Franklin, TN (a new dealership - open less than 1 year), called Franklin Hyundai. I've never had good experiences with any car dealer service department in my lifetime and this one was no exception. One guy questioned the quality of my Bosch Premium oil filter saying it probably didn't meet Hyundai's standards (I know better than that), plus I got a bit of double-talk between the regional rep and one of the service dept managers on my paint issue (more to it than I originally typed in a previous message here). I won't go into details.

beatles363

How far has anyone gone before filling up? I wonder how accurate the "miles till empty" gauge is. My lowest was 19.

gtovrit

I think the answer will depend on what MPG reading you are getting at the same time. I've found the accuracy seems to vary depending on whether the majority of the miles are highway or city. The reading from highway miles seems to be closer more often. I divide the miles driven by the gallons used, and the answer is usually off by a few tenths, but sometimes by 2-4 MPG. I'm running on empty right now, and I usually don't even look at the miles left setting, but I'll check on the way to the station. I'm not willing to walk with a gas can in the name of science, though.

csandste

IMHO, for the most part the danger of mixing oils is over stated. Most additives are supplied by a handful of companies and a single brand name of oil may change significantly in makeup, sometimes from one part of the country to the other. Some people on bobistheoilguy have speculated that changing from one brand to the other may cause shrinkage of seals but this is just speculation as far as I'm concerned.

Most damage to engines is caused by overheating or by not having oil in the first place. There was a news story reported on bobistheoilguy that reported that a remarkably high percentage (20% comes to mind) of oil sold was actually SA to SC oil. If there's that many people running around with clearly inferior oil unsuitable to any car built in the last thirty years, the debates over one brand or another of SL oils is small indeed.

Mixing weights of oils does not give you a pure mathematical average-- i.e. 5W30 and 10W30 doesn't necessarily equal 7.5W30, but the differences would be of little importance.

aznmonty

I came to a very close to emptying it. The estimator started blinking and would not even give me an estimate. That was when i thought i had to call on the roadside assistance, just 2 miles from work. I would not play that game again. But i found that I had a quarter gallon left in the tank when i went to fillup.

gaelsguy

I am looking at my first "check engine" light. I did the re-seating-of-the-gas cap trick. Checked it again a few hours later and still the C-E light. Will probably not get anywhere near a Hyundai shop till Monday at the soonest. I'll post late what, if anything is found.4200 miles and 'lovin this Chantai GT.

backy

It can take up to several days for the check engine light to reset if it was due to a loose gas cap, based on my personal experience. In my case, the trick to getting the light to go out was to make an appointment with the dealer to bring the car in; the light went out almost immediately thereafter. ;-)

lngtonge18

You are indeed correct that mixing oil brands is a minor problem compared to overheating the engine or running with too little oil. My point was that compensate was concerned about valve ticking and after being told to use a heavier weight oil, he not only mixed brands but also the weight. I was just trying to let him know that his experiment with heavier oil was probably messed up by doing what he did. Some brands of oil do come from the same oil company, but Mobil1 and Castrol do not and their different additive and detergent packages wouldn't mix too good and would not be a good indication that heavier oil won't fix his valve tick.

I think what you mentioned about shrinkage of seals can occur, based on my experience. Here's what happened: My dad has always been a Valvoline man and when I bought my 84 VW GTI, I continued this tradition. However, one time the store was out of Valvoline so I bought Castrol GTX, since I heard it was a good oil. The day after I changed the oil, on my way home from school, I looked behind me and noticed a huge plume of blue smoke coming from my exhaust. My car had never burned any oil and never smoked so I pulled over immediately. Smoke was just pouring out of the exhaust. I turned the car off and checked the oil level. It was fine. I took the oil cap off and smoke was pluming out if it too and it smelled horribly of burnt oil. I was like, what the hell? I let it cool for 15 minutes and than restarted it. Only a little smoke was coming out so I drove it home. Thinking something was wrong with the oil, I changed it that night and put Valvoline back in it. Lo and behold, the smoking ceased and 7 years later it has never resurfaced. I'm pretty convinced the change in additives and detergents in the Castrol oil caused the smoking problem. It's the only thing that makes sense since my car is a very simple design with nothing else that could have caused the smoking. This experience is one reason I warned compensate about mixing oil brands and weights.

mpgman

GT with 34,000 miles. I have it too when I start and drive away in cold weather. Lasts for about 30 seconds. I think it is normal and just temperature related.

lngtonge18

If the lifters on your car are solid, than really only a valve adjustment would fix a ticking problem. Thicker oil can help quiet the noise but will not get rid of it completely. My 84 GTI has solid lifters and makes a light tapping noise when first started and if it's real hot out and I'm accelerating. The valves have proper clearance so there's nothing I can really do to completely get rid of it. I use straight 30w oil combined with an oil additive called Lucas oil stabilizer and it quiets the noise some. This combo would only work in a hot climate though as my car will barely start once the temp dips into the 30s. My car is very unique in that it lets you know when it's been 3k miles and it needs an oil change. The valves start to get louder and make the noise more often. After the oil is changed, everything is quiet again. Who needs an oil change reminder!

You need to find out which lifter design you have and let us all know when you find out. One easy way would be to check your maintenance schedule and see if it requires a valve check/adjustment at 60k, like all Hondas and Nissans.

boltguy

Valves aren't adjustable in any Hyundai that I know of.

gtovrit

After reading Beatles363 question regarding how far you can drive when the fuel estimator gets low, I left work, knowing I was low on gas, and thought I'd check. What I didn't know was that I was so low, the miles to go indicator no longer showed a number, it was just flashing the sign of the car and gas pump, like aznmonty reported. I don't know, then, when the miles to go stops and the flashing symbols start, but I can say that I made it eight miles to the station, filled up, and used about 14.3 or so gallons. To me, this means if you first notice the flashing symbol when it starts, you will safely have at least ten miles before you have to start walking. It's not a good idea to run it down this low, but at least we know there is a small reserve of gas left when the indicator starts screaming at you.

gaelsguy

I mentioned I would be taking the car to John Hall Hyundai, Daytona Beach and "ta-da" the "check" light went back to sleep. Took about 5 miles of driving the next day after re setting the gas cap but I think the threat was what did it Thanks

gt_fan

The miles-to-empty meter reads down to 30 miles then starts blinking. I've run as many as 15 miles after it started blinking and haven't run out. With me, it's a point of pride to wait until I'm in the lower 30's before filling. It tends to drive my wife nuts though!

gpagpa

On the dirver side door outside,in the lower right hand side of the window, where the glass meets the door I have black tape that is wrinkeling. I had this fixed in June and it is happening again. Anyone have this problem, and if I would of noticed it after the 12 month period, it would not have been covered under the warranty, right? I have one more month till 1 year ownership and I want to have everything that could be covered done within the 12 mos. Anyone have any glaring problems that I should keep an eye out for in the next 4 weeks? Would appreciate any suggestions.

backy

Yeah, I do the same thing with my Elantra. Today I wimped out and filled it up before the light even came on; took about 13 gallons. I knew I wouldn't have time to fill it tomorrow during a busy work day. But I usually wait until the little gas pump lights up, and then I have about 1 gallon left. When I think about it, this is pretty stupid. But there's an element of risk in it that I find attractive, for some weird reason. I'm usually not a risk-taker.

kaz6

My GT has rubber lip on edge where door meets glass. Is this only on newer models?

compensate

Thanks for all of the information about motor oils. I had a mechanic friend MANY years ago who also swore by Valvoline. I have considered switching to it, probably the synthetic blend type.

Thanks, mpgman, for your comments, too. Makes me feel better about my valve noise!

Overall, after about 47,000 miles, I do love the car. Even the CD skipping/erroring I was getting fairly regularly has now stopped completely over the past 6 months, which was amazing, yet bizzare. Once I pass 60,000 miles, however, I'm going to install my 15-year old Alpine CD/tuner head unit, separate 4-channel Alpine amp, and self-amplified Bazooka bass tube and then REALLY enjoy the music!

As far as the miles-to-fillup estimator, I always let mine start flashing, too, before filling up. I usually can drive 30-40 miles once it begins flashing. Once, I actually filled it with 15 gallons (cut that a bit close, huh?).

My only sadness is with the paint adherence on my front bumper. I have noticed a few new small bubbles appearing now. Wish the Hyundai regional rep would have approved the warranty extension. . .

gpagpa

Well, its hard to explain where, but will try. If you open the driver's door while sitting down and look at the upper left hand corner of the door, you can see where the tape comes over from the other side and overlaps. It is set in with a heat gun. I thought it was paint, but if you look closely you can tell its tape. Better yet, it where the drivers door meets the column (don't know the exact column letter) with the rear door, where the seat belt comes out from. Now I'm confused. Well, if you don't see any bubbling of the tape, then you are ok.

5port

This is pretty common with the older GTs (mine is an 01). I have it on both B-pillars at the bottom as you describe. Please note that there is a TSB out for this and my understanding is that the dealer will fix this problem up until 60K miles or 5 years (not 1 year). The TSB has the dealer removing the black tape and painting the B-pillars black like they should have been from the beginning. I know someone who had the TSB done and they claim there is a slight mismatch of the black between the front and rear pillars afterwards. If I can find the TSB I will post it.

kaz6

Mine is a '03 so I have paint...at least I think it is. I'll have to look closely at it.
The recent heatwave here and high humidity has taken a toll on my mpg. With the a/c on all the time and our wonderful traffic in LA (aka parking lot) my mpg has sunken to an all-time low of 19!!!
Well, the worst I've had in a small car still goes to my old Ford ZX-2 (17!!!) but my ECHO never got below 29. Still love my GT! Before anyone questions the mpg, my driving consists of a 12 mile drive that can take betweem 20 to 45 minutes daily each way depending on traffic.

gtovrit

I had the pillar black vinyl wrap replaced soon after I bought my car, as bubbles were starting to show, and it had been gouged before I took delivery. They replaced it, but didn't do a really great job, they should have cleaned the surface better before applying the new piece, because you can see bumps from the old adhesive. Now I have noticed the wrinkling near the bottom where it meets the rubber window seal. When it gets a little uglier, I'll take it in again. I don't understand this concern about one year deadlines, I thought a five year bumper-to-bumper warranty covered everything but normal wear items.

gpagpa

I guess I need to review what exactly the warranty includes. Confused with the 12 mo/12kmi adjustments clause. But if there was a TSB out on the tape then I guess it should be under the 5yr/60k. I was too concerned with the 12mo adjustments warranty, when the majority of problems, outside of the wear items, would be covered under the 5yr. As for the pillar TSB, they just used a heat gun and reapplied a new strip of tape, they did not paint the pillar. Should it have been painted?

donl68

I also have the problem with the black tape on my '02 GT. As soon as I have time I will have it repaired. I did not know there was a TSB for it though.

kaz6

Just took a close look at my door frames and yes, they are tape! I wonder how much money is saved using tape rather than painting the frames black or using plastic moulding?

compensate

My '01 has the black tape, as expected (being the first model year).

So far, my black tape looks quite nice, on both pillars. I wish I could say the same for the paint job on my front bumper, which continues to deteriorate.