Hyundai Elantra Maintenance and Repair

jlflemmons

Based on my best guess from your description, you could have a starter solenoid starting to go out. Simple repair, but with over 100K miles, I would change the starter, too.

Jim

1racefan

My wife's '02 Elantra is constantly needing to have the rear drums cleaned and adjusted - I mean like every 6K miles they are needing cleaned and adjusted. The dealer assures me they are wearing fine, and have plenty of life remaining on them, but they seem to need cleaning and adjusting more often than any vehicle I have ever owned before. As a matter of fact, I drove her car this morning, and as I backed out of the garage I could hear them making a little noise as I braked. I was just curious if anyone else is having issues with the rear drums - or how many miles people are getting out of them.

backy

This is strange. Rear drums are supposed to be self-adjusting, when you back up and brake. My '01 GLS has 32k of city driving (lots of braking) on it now and I can't remember if the rear brakes were ever adjusted, or cleaned--maybe at the 15k service, but I'd have to check.

How many miles are on your brakes? Sometimes in the morning, esp. a damp morning, my cars' brakes make a squeak when I start out, but it goes away when they dry out.

1racefan

and has 60K miles on it. It is garaged over night. I have had a couple of mechanics (that I trust) in the past tell me that those self adjusters on drums are pretty worthless. I know my wife isn't hard on brakes, as she got 50K out of the original front pads - plus I am familiar with her driving. When I backed out of the garage, and braked at the end of the driveway, they made a little bit of a rubbing/scratchy noise - almost like there was dust inside the drum interfereing with the braking mechanisms. Then, when I got to the end of my street and braked (going forward)it made the noise again. From that point on, the brakes were perfectly quiet. I will say that we have been really happy with this car. My wife is a former Honda owner, but has loved this car. The only problem to date has been a faulty throttle position sensor that was replaced under warranty at about 45K miles. We just had all of the belts replaced, including timing belt, spark plugs, tranny fluid, etc... and we are planning on keeping the car until it dies. At some point this year, it will become a third car to keep the mileage down on my car and whatever we buy her to drive next.

jlflemmons

There was a TSB issued on the Elantra '01 and later that called for a cleaning and adjustment after the first 5K miles or so. The service was done on mine (no charge) and I was told that the problem was that the rear shoes dumped so much dust in the break-in period that the adjusters would not work. Once the shoes were worn in a bit, the problem did not recur.

The little noise you hear in the morning for the first couple of brake applications is the small amount of harmless surface rust that accumulates on the drums and rotors overnight. Take a look at the disc rotor of any car after it has sat in the rain. The rotors will be orange.

1racefan

Now in the case of her Elantra being in the garage over night, would rust have accumulated on those drums? The reason I am driving the car today is because I am supposed to take it in for an oil change after work, so I will have them check the adjusters and amount of remaining life left to the rear brakes then.

jlflemmons

Yep. Unless that garage is hermetically sealed, you still have moisture. And if you have moisture in the air, it will form a very thin veneer of rust on any unprotected iron based material, such as rotors. But as I said, one good brake application and the rotors are all nice and shiny again.

jlflemmons

lets try this again. the computer hiccupped and deleted my reply.

Unless your garage is sealed and humidity free, you will get a thin veneer of rust on any unprotected iron based material. Such as brake rotors. But one or two stops and the rotors are all shiny again.

jimpimms

I just had my '01 GT at the dealership for its 36K service. While there, I was talking to the Parts Manager, and he mentioned that the '01 GTs seemingly have a brake force distribution design flaw, as they normally go through rear brake pads more quickly than front pads (i.e., the rear brakes are doing more work than they should be doing). He also stated that Hyundai must have identified the problem, as they don't see this happening on '02s and up.

My wife's former car, a '97 Tiburon FX, which was closely based on the Elantra platform, had a similar problem, but that was caused by a misadjusted parking brake cable, which was never addressed by the local dealer from which it was purchased. They merely told her that the rear pads were extremely thin, without investigating the cause. It was another dealer that identified and corrected the problem, but alas, too late to save the early expense of a rear brake job. Needless to say, the local dealer no longer services either one of our Hyundais.

momthomas

Hi,I'm new to this, but I'm hoping to find someone with similar "problems". I bought my "00 Elantra 2 years ago and last year after it got inspected by my local mechanic the "check engine" light came on and has been on ever since. The shop at the dealership said that as long as it stayed on steady it would be okay. I know that with NY's new emission laws my car won't pass inspection now.Is it possible for the wiring to have rotted? I ask because I can't really afford to have it "hooked up" to a machine just so they can tell me what the problem is.It'll cost me a minimum of $75 just to look at the car at the dealership where I bought the car.Any ideas?

backy

If the engine seems to be running OK it could be an O2 sensor. When the rear O2 sensor failed on my '01 Elantra, the check engine light came on but the car ran fine. I had it replaced under warranty. Do you know the original purchase date for your car? It's possible it's still under the 5-year factory warranty, if it has less than 60,000 miles on it. Since the light has been on awhile, it's probably not a loose gas cap.

jlflemmons

They will check the fault code for no charge. Just be careful, my friends car was diagnosed as having a bad O2 sensor, when the problem was contact corrosion in the connector to the sensor. Cleaned it up and problem solved.

justduckie

I just purchased an Elantra GT 5 Door Hatchback a little over a month ago and on two seperate occassions, while driving, my driver's side door popped open. Not all the way, but where you can tell it is opening with air coming in and the open door indicator coming on. I just brought it to the dealer the other day and they told me nothing was wrong with it and now the 2nd time has happened this morning. Has anyone experienced this? Thanks! I've already had to bring my car in for a couple other problems. I didn't have these problems with my first Hyundai (a 2001 elantra gls).

jlflemmons

That is just too weird. If the door striker (latch) is adjusted too tight, it is a very simple 5 minute adjustment. Another thing to consider is that these cars are so air tight that the door may not be closing completely. Either way, the dealer should be able to correct this in minutes.

Sounds like the service dept. needs a wake up call.

justduckie

Thanks. They do need a wake-up call. Hopefully it will get resolved the 2nd time I take it to the service dept.

backy

I have not yet received a notice for the airbag reprogramming recall on my '04 Elantra GT. This is the recall on '04 and '05 Elantras that was prompted by the IIHS frontal offset crash test in which the driver's front airbag failed to deploy until Hyundai reprogrammed it. However, when I scheduled an oil change at my Hyundai dealer, I asked about the recall and they said they could do it now. So I'm having it done today with the oil change.

I took the GT to another dealer, Metro Hyundai in Bloomington, MN, after giving up on the original dealer, Rosedale Hyundai, after 4-1/2 years of on-and-off incompetence. The last straw was when I took my '01 GLS to Rosedale a few weeks ago for a TSB on the exhaust manifold (no problem found) and asked them to look into a squeak in the clutch, which also appeared about 3 years ago and they fixed it then. I demonstrated the squeak for them and showed them the service papers from the last time it happened, because it took a couple of trips before they fixed it right. When I picked it up, the squeak was gone but I noticed all they had done is squirt some lube in it--which I knew from the last occurance would not fix the problem. Sure enough, the squeak returned the next day. This kind of thing has happened a few times before, plus they have stopped providing shuttle service back to the dealership to pick up cars. So I decided to give the dealer closest to me a try. Metro is only a few miles away from my home; Rosedale is 30 miles (but just a few miles from downtown, where I can use an office). If Metro does a good job, I'll take my GLS there also.

When I brought the GT in, I asked them to look at the driver's side headlamp, because there is some water in it for several days after a car wash. Of course, the water had dried out by this morning. But they said they'd look at it. This happened before when I brought the car to Rosedale Hyundai, and they wouldn't touch it because they didn't see any water. We'll see what Metro does about it. I know this is not "normal" because I've never seen any moisture in my GLS' headlamps.

sonnydaye

Just bought an '05 Elantra Hatch. Anyone notice anything strange about the left outside rear view mirror? It makes me dizzy. I suspect they made it a bit concave or convex to give you a bit more viewing area (to eliminate the blind spot). But there's no "warning" on the mirror (like there is on all RIGHT mirrors) and there's nothing in the book about it. I noticed the same thing with another Elantra I test drove a few weeks before. Everyone at the dealership said they never noticed anything or got any mentions about it from customers (although I didn't have them look at MY mirror). Although it is very disconcerting to me everytime I glance at it, I'm probably willing to put up with it to get rid of the famous "blind spot". Hopefully, I will get used to it.
Otherwise, so far, I love the car!
I'm looking for confirmation that someone else has noticed this and I'm not going crazy. Thanks!

5port

My *guess* is that they made a running change in the mirror to make up for the blind spot. You saying you saw it in another car backs this up. If you dont like the effect the mirror gives you the glass can be change at any glass repair shop.

BTW anyone who has the old mirrors should set them so they CANNOT see the sides of the car. If you can see the side of the car they are too close in.

backy

Please tell that to my DW! She drives me crazy resetting the mirrors (so she can see the sides of the car) after I've adjusted them properly. :mad:

backy

My GT's first service visit to Metro Hyundai was a success. They actually did all the work they were supposed to do (something the other dealer had trouble with), including the airbag sensor reprogramming. What I was most impressed by was their attitude. When I brought the car in, I asked them to replace the wiper blades (I know, I can do it myself but I am feeling lazy this week.) The service writer said, "That's going to cost $25-30, is that OK?" Gotta love it. Then there was the way they handled the water-in-the-headlight problem. There's was no water in there when I brought the car in. I told them it appears during a car wash, eventually dries out. The other dealer simply said, "Well, no water there now, too bad." This dealer ran the car thru the car wash, noted the water, replaced the headlight cover, tested it, no water, problem solved. It's the little things in life...

BTW, while I was there I checked a couple of Elantras on the lot to see if the driver's side mirrors looked weird. Well, they didn't, to me anyway. But then I've been driving my '01 Elantra for 4.5 years and have been driving only Elantras at home for the past year. So maybe I just don't see it. But I don't notice any difference when I drive a rental car, which is frequently. So I don't know the answer to that one.

inharmsway

Took our 04 GT in for a few things yesterday. Headlight bulb out, replaced free. A rattle in dash turned out to be the rearview mirror, replaced free. I just paid for the oil change, and they gave me a free carwash. I thought the rattle might have been from the cruise control. So they tapped on mine and others on the lot. Same noise and then after a road test it was found to be the mirror. The dealer is Maita Hyundai, Sacramento CA. They have treated me fine.
Niels

miamixt

my 88 Excel had the Fish Tank Headlight problem too. Drove into the Dealer, they laughed, and fixed it right away. I just don't see the quality these Cars are purported to have. I have had some minor problems, and have been mostly blown off by the Dealer. 1) My Car creaks from the Driver's side Doors upon launch, 2) the Engine PINGS , and according to the Service Department this is normal in 2003, 2004, & 2005 Models. Sure wasn't "normal" in the 88 Hyundai. 3) My front Breaks seem to be grabbing when I apply them slowly, and at slow speeds. I have had the Car for 5 Months with only 1600 Miles on it. This Noise sounds like a "wooo", not a squeal or scrape?
4) And the only successful service was getting the Air Bags re programmed Yesterday, hopefully correctly?

backy

If there's any other dealers in your area, I'd go find one of them if I were you. Brakes shouldn't make wooo noises when applied slowly at slow speeds. The only noise should be if the brakes are damp when first starting out, but that should clear up after a little while.

What did the dealer say when they heard the creak on launch?

Have you experimented with other gas, just to see if it makes any difference on the pings (and if not, you will be ready when the dealer says "it's the gas")?

jlflemmons

Unsealed headlamp/tail lamp assemblies doesn't indicate quality or cost. After the big rains here last week I saw a brand new Lexus SUV that only needed a goldfish to have the perfect aquarium in place of the left rear tail light assembly.

Jim :shades:

5port

Any dealer that passes pinging off as normal is a dealer to get away from. I have an 01 GT that has never pinged.

Brake issue has been dicussed before. When coming to a slow stopped you hear a creaking noise like a door closing. There is pad material built-up on the brake disc. Some people say burnishing the brakes is the way to take care of this. You make a series of hard stops from 80mph (maybe 4 stops). My car used to make this noise and has gone away on its own.

All of the complaints I had in the beginning (noise in back seat over bumps, sticky throttle,etc) was taken seriously by my dealer and all addressed without complaint. Time to shop dealers.

miamixt

As always great advice. Yes Brakes should not "wooo". The Mechanic heard the creak, but did not fix it. I have experimented with other Gas, and Octane too. I will probably go to my selling Dealer for all future issues. Tell me though, because you would know, aren't there some documented Pinging Problems with the recent Elantra's? I thought I read it here?

backy

Maybe, but no pings on my two Elantras. But there could be some fuel management adjustments out of whack, who knows.

mbrayton

Hello folks,
2001 Hyundai Elantra. Does anyone know where I could find a spot to bring a couple of wires through the firewall? CB Radio has to be hooked directly to battery. I don't want to drill if I don't have to. Any help would be great.

Thank you,
Marc

bikerpa

Head on over to Webtech (using internet explorer; it doesn't like any other browser) and poke around on the schematics available for free download. I ran a wire through for my subwoofer, and it went under a plastic cover towards the center of the firewall, but it is difficult at best to explain without the drawings available at webtech.

inharmsway

Anybody knows if my 2004 GT 5-door Elantra has a cabin filter behind the glove compartment?
Thanks,
Niels

backy

If you bought it new in the U.S., no--not unless you put one in there.

inharmsway

Thanks Backy
The service guy at my dealer didn't know.
Niels

backy

In case you are interested in installing a filter yourself, there are detailed instructions on the Hyundai Webtech site:

http://www.hmaservice.com/webtech/default.asp

vniles100

Hi everyone,
I am new on the site and don't want to seem like a complete idiot but when it comes to cars I am. Okay first thing is I bought a used 2003 elantra back in October and the check engine light has been on ever since. I have taken it back to get serviced on several occasions and each time, the engine light is "fixed" and a mile or two later it is back on. This has been a total waste of time but I really love the way the car runs other than that. I live in New York City and tonight as I was driving I hit a pothole. This cause me some concern so after parking the car, I checked the tire pressure. It then dawned on me that I don't know what the tire pressure is supposed to be on this car. I do not have an owner's manual because one did not come with the car and I haven't bought one yet. Can anyone tell me what the pressure should be and where I can buy an owner's manual. Thanks for reading this long message. Any info would be appreciated
vniles

themanx

check the drivers side door

bikerpa

Welcome!

Take your car to a shop such as Autozone or Advance Auto Parts. They tend to have diagnostic readers that'll plug right in and tell you what is wrong that causes the CEL to appear, and because they want to wow you with service in hopes of selling you parts to fix it, they'll diagnose it as best they can for free. Or you could do like I did with my '95 Sonata and take the bulb out of the dashboard for that warning light, but I wouldn't recommend it with a newer car that you plan on keeping for a while.

vniles100

Thanks.

vniles100

Thanks. I didn't know that. I can take it in today since they do the diagnostics for free. I won't try taking the bulb out but I am sick of seeing the light on. Not only is it annoying but I know that when I take it for inspection they won't inspect it with the light on. Hopefully the Autozone can tell me what is going on.

vniles100

I tried the driver's side door and it does not tell me what the tire pressure should be. Thanks for your suggestion.

backy

Look at the door jamb, right behind the black coating on the door jamb. There should be a label there that lists the recommended tire pressures. If it is not there, that may be an indication that the car was repainted there. Anyway, the tire pressure for the original Michelins is 30 psi. If you want a little better fuel economy, try 35 psi--that is what I have my tires set at.

As for the diagnostics... after you find out what is wrong, if the car has less than 60,000 miles, it's still covered by the Hyundai bumper-to-bumper warranty. So take it to the Hyundai dealer to get fixed for free (at least that is what I would do). Buy other stuff from the shop that does the diagnostics for you, if you want to show your gratitude.

vniles100

Thanks backy. I will try to look again but I think as you have suggested that it may have been repainted. I will check the tire pressure. Also thanks for the advice on the bumper to bumper. My car has only 17,000 miles so I am sure it will still be covered. I want to thank everyone for helping me with my issues.

njdevil

We never had any problems with hyundai honoring their warranty and we do not stick to their scheduled maintenance. we go to the dealer for oil changes which to us in the long run is cheaper. they check the car and let us know if there are any problems. We have had alot of warranty work done with no problems.

zx3monster

We have 5500 miles on our 2005 Elantra. My wife was driving and the check engine light came on and within 5 second the engine siezed up. There was a puddle of oil under the car when the tow truck arrived. Hyundai is saying the last time I changed the oil there was a seal left on the oil filter and so it was seal against seal and that is what caused the leak. The car was driven 2050 miles from my last oil change (which was the first) Hyundai will not cover ANYTHING on this. Best warranty claim is bunk!!!

backy

I am assuming that the Hyundai dealer did not change the oil, and I'm guessing the new filter wasn't a Hyundai OEM part either. If that is the case... why should Hyundai cover someone else making a mistake on an oil change? What if whoever changed the oil forgot to add new oil? (That actually happened to my BIL once.) Should Hyundai's warranty cover that, when the engine siezes?

Actually, you are lucky that "only" the engine siezed. Honda CR-Vs had a notorious problem with filter gaskets sticking on the OEM filters, causing oil to drip onto hot engine parts, causing... fires! Honda has refused to this day to recall existing CR-Vs with the filters, but did at least make a manufacturing change to new filters.

Now if you used an OEM Hyundai filter, I'd defintely press this with them.

zx3monster

I can understand that, but there was oil in the car and it was fine for 2050 miles with NO leaks and 5 days ago there was full oil in the car (I checked). Then all of a sudden the oil explodes out of the car on the freeway. How can we monitor a problem if there are no signs that anything is wrong?

backy

All that means is that the dual gasket held somehow for 2050 miles, then maybe because of heat etc. this mass of rubber gave way. As far as the car was concerned, there was no problem for 2050 miles. Unless there were some kind of "there is a double gasket on the oil filter" monitor--unfortunately those don't exist yet.

I stopped changing the oil on my cars years ago. I figured since my dealer charges $17.95 and that includes all the fluids, inspection etc., it isn't worth my time and hassle (recycling the oil, cleanup etc.), plus we (Hyundai and I) know exactly who to blame if there is ever any problem related to oil/filter.

ems1

What kind of filter did you use? The OEM filter is larger than the aftermarket filters.
If the gasket from the original filter was stuck on the base and a smaller aftermarket filter was used, I can understand how all the oil blew out. Even If you used the OEM filter, 2 gaskets are a failure waiting to happen.
There is no way you can blame Hyundai for this problem, unless they did the oil change.

darby78

I agree completely with zx3monster - Hyundai's best warranty claim is bunk! I have a 2003 Elantra GT that just experienced a radiator failure at 70mph on the interstate. The engine is ruined. The car has 61000 miles, so I expected to have to pay for the radiator (grr), but when it was determined that the engine had overheated and was damaged, I hoped that the mighty 10/100000 mile warranty would take care of it. Unfortunately, since the damage was caused by the failure of a component no longer under warranty (by 1000 miles!!!!) they will not fix it. Now I realize (now) that this is typical on most powertrain warranties, but I have been completely frustrated with Hyundai corporate's attitude on this matter. No assistance, no 'good faith' help or cost sharing, and no apology. I was stranded 7hrs from home for 2 days, my wife and I lost two days of work, had to rent a car for 2 weeks - and Hyundai could give a $#$! That's fine - they are a business, but don't advertise about standing behind your vehicles and taking care of the customer - I haven't even owned it two years!!!
I found it comical that the latest Hyundai magazine talked about 'word of mouth' helping to sell Hyundais. Well after my experience (and others) hopefully no one I know will waste $ on a Hyundai product. Its worth the extra for a Honda, Toyota, or Subaru for their customer service alone.

TO ANYONE CONSIDERING A HYUNDAI PRODUCT: BUYER BEWARE!
--you get what you pay for- cheap korean car with cheap korean parts (that WILL fail)

--if you already own a Hyundai - SERIOUSLY consider selling/trading before you drive off of the bumper to bumper. Don't know how many out there have gotten their 03s over 60K yet, but more radiator failures may be coming....

Good luck!
-from a former Hyundai true believer

backy

Actually, you may have a case here, here is why: when the radiator failed, it would take some time (maybe a few minutes at freeway speeds?) for the engine to overheat to the point where it would be damaged. It would not happen instantly. During that time, the temperature gauge should have been rising towards the red zone, warning you to pull over and stop immediately. There might also be a warning light, I don't know. So apparently that didn't happen here, since you drove the engine until it overheated, meaning the temperature gauge/sensor was faulty. Have you tried approaching Hyundai with that angle?

jlflemmons

Have to agree with backy on this one. Engines do not seize instantly upon radiator failure, even if the failure is cataclysmic. I had a heater hose blow apart on a vehicle at 70MPH and the only engine damage was the clean up to get all the antifreeze.

How did the radiator fail?