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Comments
Our 2002 GLS has 1200 miles on it and I noticed a deep whistling on the freeway. It seems to be coming from the driver's side fromthe mirror forward but not the hood -- I didn't notice any vibration. If I recall correctly, it was worse between 70 & 80mph but I heard it as low as 60.
I too get a wind noise that has disturbed me.
It almost always occurs at about 80MPH. If it is windy out, it will occur at a low as 55MPH, but it has to be very windy. I perceived the sound to come from the passenger side front wheel. When It starts the car seems to be slowed down a touch and pushed slightly to the right like the right front wheel's brake was activated, gently.
In addition I have found the wandering at freeway speeds to be unnerving. Is this normal? My passengers do not like the movement. I have suspected that it is normal and is caused by the anti-sway bars. But the car had an alignment problem right out the door which was fixed so that it would not pull any more. I have hesitated in taking it back because they put 80 miles on the car and took three business days to finish the alignment!!! Otherwise, I love the car...
The problems could be related, but the wandering occurs at lower speeds than the noise.
I could live with both issues, but it would be better to remedy if possible.
The wandering feels like it is related to alignment or the condition of suspension components. I suspect the tires are tracking the rain grooves on the San Diego freeways. Interesting if I hold the steering wheel steady, the car will gently lurch a little to one side and then it will lurch back, basically holding a straight line. But my natural reaction is that if it lurches say, to the right, I will counter the motion by quickly steering back to the left. It works better to just steer slowly and steadily, but not reactively.
The noise could very well be the A pillar, but for my car, the noise is not faint.
I do not know if they balanced the wheels, but they said that they replaced the tires(with 300 miles on the tires) The wheels appear to be balanced as there is no noticeable high speed vibration that could be attributable to wheel balance.
I have 4500 miles on the car now. If there is an alignment problem, I suppose it may soon become apparent in the tire wear pattern. Next oil change, I should take it in.
I just talked to my dealer's service guy and he said that even after 4500 miles my car is still learning. But I imagine like a computer, a reboot may be in order if it starts misbehaving. Occasionally, my pager needs to have the memory cleared, by pulling the batteries for about 5 minutes.
Regarding the wind noise, he did not say anything other than that they were not allowed to test drive at 80MPH, to which I responded that if we get a strong head or crosswind it will make the noise too.
Regarding the high speed stability, he thinks it is the freeway texture. Other cars don't do this so much, perhaps it is the Michelins??? I kinda doubt it.
Anyway, I am going to take it in wednesday for an oil change and maybe they can resolve some of the issues.
I took my car in today because my key fob had stopped working and pointed out the paint to them, their service manager said he thought it was because of bird poop, that made the paint bubble up. He said he couldn't do anything I would have to talk to the Hyundai Rep. next time she was in.
Now I don't think its cause by bird poop, even if it is, dosen't this mean inferior quality paint job?
Anyone else had this problem?
Anyone had any serious problems with this? I have a road trip coming up and would very much like to avoid any big car problems.
I have a 2001 5-speed Elantra GLS which I bought in March of 2001. It has around 25,000 miles on it now. It hasn't had any major problems, and overall, I am pretty happy with it. However, I do occasionally get the wind noise at 80+ mph that some people have mentioned. I am not really sure whats causing it, but I have a sort of silly guess: The mud guards on the car are fairly stiff, so they don't vibrate at low speeds, but at high speeds they might vibrate, especially if you're driving into the wind head on. I think that, since the wind hits the front tires first, it'll feel as if though the front of the car is being pulled back, but the back of the car shouldn't be affected by the wind b/c by the time the wind has reached the back of the car, its been "broken up" by the front of the car. ... just a guess...
As for the paint, I haven't noticed any blemishes (bubbling, chips, etc.) even though the birds do bomb my car quite a bit (from parking under the trees). The place I get my oil change done gives a free car wash with every oil change, so I usually get rid of any bird droppings within 3,000 miles
Has anyone been experiencing squeaky rear brakes? I do, especially when I first use them in the morning. They aren't too loud, but I was wondering if I should get that checked out.
Thanks.
If what you are experiencing is what I am experiencing, you should have a safe trip. If it pulls strongly when you hear the noise then it may be worth slowly driving to the dealer to check out.
I can barely sense the pulling and slowing when I hear the noise. I am kinda getting used to it and have felt safe up to 95mph, but I want to feel safe at 120mph. One thing I cannot figure out is why it is so intermittant. making the noise seems to be like trying to play a note with a flute. The wind speed and angle have to be just right. I recollect that the noise occurs more often durring headwinds that blow from the left. Daves13's idea about the mudflaps is a good one. I have suspected the holes where the fog lights might go, the grill, and the hub caps. The hood and the A-pillar are also likely culprits, as others have posted. Perhaps tomorrow the dealer can fix it(in my dreams)
"The place I get my oil change done gives a free car wash with every oil change, so I usually get rid of any bird droppings within 3,000 miles"
Bird droppings are acidic, so leaving them there for anything longer than a week in the hot sun will lead to damage of the paint. I would not leave it on the car for any longer than that, and certainly not for 3000 miles. I usually get the bird poop off the car within hours and wash the car weekly.
inside the hood is numerous "pvc" type molding which prevents road-wash from entering the engine compartment area. Some of this protective molding is anchored loosely. I had some road debris fly up and loosen a portion which is adjacent to the oil filter...you could say that the debris 'bent' this molding a little out-of-shape so when driving it caused this on-again,off-again "fluttering" sound(activated mostly when driving against strong crosswinds((weird)). When doing my oil filter change I noticed the 'bent' molding and reshaped it. No more rubbing,no more weird noise. Hope this helps.
I mentioned your post to the service manager when I dropped off the car for its appointment this morning, they called at 5pm, to say they did not have time to look at it today, so they will keep it another day. Did I mention that it took them 3 business days and 80 miles on the car to do a wheel alignment....This place has the best Better Business Bureau rating of four Hyundai dealers that I looked at in San Diego, so I am giving them a second chance. But I am getting impatient.
"With the first use of the fan after the car has been started the A/C comes on with the fan and I have to turn it off. Happens every time, is this how it's supposed to be?"
This is normal when the ventilation mode is set to defrost the windshield. This happens to many cars. AC improves defrosting/demisting.
Switch the dial away from both of the two defrost modes and it won't happen.
Another advantage is that your air conditioner compressor will probably last longer as it should be used frequently to lubricate the compressor's seals. If one does not turn the AC on for months, the seals can dry out.
But don't overdue it as you will also dry out your sinuses and eyes;-(
Funny you should mention it. My car just spent three days in the shop in an attempt to diagnose a sound that is more of a howl than a whistle. It almost sound like the wheel rubbing against something. Well, the result of three days in the shop is that they think the sound is the weatherstripping around the windshield. I was very skeptical of this creating the howling sound that appears to be coming from somewhere lower like the wheels or the hood. So, I have to make an appointment this week for them to have a windshield expert "fix" the windshield...The odd thing is that when I picked up the car Saturday, it was making a new whistling noise. I asked to my girlfriend repeatedly, "do you hear it?" as the noise would come and go. She never heard it. I am afraid the windshield expert is going to fix only that noise. Which may be a solution for your whistling. I will keep you posted with the results later this week. My newest two theories for the howling are: 1) where the bumper meets the hood it is sometimes flush and sometimes not because of the loose mounting of the bumper. 2) There is a slotted water drain on black pieces of plastic in front of the wheels. The slot could be acting like the reed in a cacaphonic saxaphone. If I come up with the proper solution I will sell it to Hyundai, but post it here for free;-)
Re A/C, you should take the car in (is it a '01 or '02 Elantra?). My '01 GLS's A/C is so cold that I usually have to set the thermostat up and turn the fan to low unless it is really hot. Others have posted similar experiences.
I usually have mine on 9:30 (using the hour hand on a clock as an analogy) and the fan on "1" with the outside temperature being 90° and humidity over 90% as it was today here in Houston. It was cool enough (and I am from Canada). Anything lower than that and it feels almost too cool.
There was little wind today in San Diego and too much traffic at mush hour to get up to 80MPH. So, I will fill you all in later on the results. One thing is for sure is that my car drove better than the loaner car, which felt like it had ten times more miles on the odometer than it did. Maybe it was just the tires...
Did anything come of your suit against Hyundai for the A/C problem? Inquiring because my '02 GT has the same irritating, high-pitched whistling noise mention by you and erk3 (post #20?). Have brought mine to the dealership twice for repair and service department purged and recharged my a/c unit each time, with no relief of problem. Will bring in for an overnighter (will get loaner!) and see if they can remedy.
I too have the same issue on my new 2002 Elantra VE (GLS equivalent here in Canada). It's driving me nuts. I don't hold out much hope that your dealer will be able to remedy it--from what I've read, no one's been able to get it fixed. If you're the lucky one, please let us know what was done!
Cheers,
Dave
Thanks very much for posting that--it's all I've had to go on as far as suggesting a fix to my dealer. I'm just wondering, though, how that solution would be the fix. The whistling noise doesn't occur with the recirculation fan on and A/C off; wouldn't that also use the blower motor and fan? Also...even if it WAS the blower motor/fan that's the culprit, the fact that so many people are having the same problem with new (or at least relatively new) vehicles means that the blower motor/fan is new, yet not working right; so how would replacing a brand new part with an identical brand new part fix a problem?
Don't get me wrong--I hope that your friend's problem did get fixed and stays fixed. I'm just thinking out loud wondering how it happened
--Dave
My car (if I remember correctly) has the A/C whistle also. It only seems to make the faint noise while driving (2000 rpm), and only when the compressor kicked on. While I had the car in for an oil change, a mechanic tightened the belt. That did nothing. I'm guessing the compressor is the problem, but someone mentioned the fan (evaporator fan) which could be it.
--Dave
Sometimes, at around 80 MPH on the freeway, the steering wheel vibrates rapidly in my hands. I'm on a good set of tires, so that can't be it.
Usually it goes away after a minute or two. it's very annoying. I drive a 2000 Elantra, and this is the first remotely-problematic issue I've had.
43,500 miles + or - .
At lowers speeds the problem never occurs, but I do notice that when I turn right and have my hand on the lower left of the wheel, I can feel what can only be described as a slight, repeated knocking (on that side of the wheel only) as the wheel turns.
Any ideas?
As for the transmission, it has "fuzzy logic" which means it will learn your approximate driving habits and shift accordingly. If you drive very slowly and grannylike, it will shift early. If you drive it briskly from a stop, it will wait a bit longer before shifting to the next gear. The computer stores this information. Early models with automatic had a "shift-flare" glitch, but that should have been gone by the 2002 model.
Jim
Anyone know anything about my steering column vibrating?