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Comments
My wife and I are fanatics when it comes to car maintenance (we probably spend more than we should). I actually have every receipt for every oil change over its' entire 70K mile life. It has never gone more than 3500 miles on an oil change. I just have a hard time believing there is a critical problem going on inside that engine - but if so, we still have the 100K powertrain warranty.
I may try an oil additive, and if that doesn't cure it, switch to synthetic.
Last night I had removed the plastic cap behind the bulb and the harness. I saw two rectangular leads (from bulb) coming out. How can I pull out the bulb? Should I just hold the leads and pull it out, or should I rotate it before pulling it out, or do I need to remove any screws to pull out the bulb. Please advice.
Thanks
Almost all of my driving is short city trips, so the drop might be explained by the engine simly not having enough time to heat up to allow optimum performance. Tire pressure was also a bit low, so that likely contributed a bit as well.
Just curious as to what effect the cold weather has your MPG.
melbatoast, "2006 Hyundai Azera" #665, 25 Dec 2005 8:37 am
I thought, what if this happened to Elantras over the years? Could the vibration experienced by some Elantra owners be caused by this same kind of problem? If so, maybe Hyundai just wasn't as proactive in addressing it with their high-volume Elantra than with their low-volume near-luxury car. Just a thought...
Maybe high tire pressure prevents a flat spot during shipping, but perhaps that also shifts the bead which leads to all this RFV stuff.
Of course, the mud flaps block the flying debris from the tires, thereby minimizing the chipping, etc. of the paint on the rocker panel and rear quarter area. However, it's been my experience with SAABs that the mud flaps can actually have negative long-term effects, i.e. moisture retention and eventual rust.
In the SAABs case, the mud flap retains water/moisture where it mounts up to the body, and over time this promotes the formation of rust. Are there any folks on this forum with older Elantras with the mud flaps installed? If so, have you experienced a rust problem around the mud flaps? Or, is it a win-win solution with these.
I note that my car has a coating of protection material on the underneath side of the rocker panel area, but nothing on the rear quarter behind the rear wheel.
Any input would be appreciated.
As you said, there is already a protective coating on the rocker panels. You may have noticed too there is a little protrusion behind the front wheels, which may serve to protect the underbody from flying debris. Also, I have found with other vehicles with mudflaps is that snow and ice accumulate in them, moreso than without them.
So I wonder if the mudguards are worth the cost, and the risk of corrosion as you have mentioned. I suppose you could put the guards only on the rear, where they attach to the plastic bumper. I have found that the rear bumper gets more junk on it (tar etc.) than the rocker panels up front.
I'm wondering if a better solution is selective application of 3M Scothguard Protective Film. This is a clear urethane film applied by professional installers to reduce rock chipping of lower body panels, and even the headlight covers. I came across a discussion on this material when I was "considering" a new Ford Five Hundred last Spring. Evidently, Ford had a major problem with debris chipping the paint on the rocker panels until they issued a TSB to incorporate the 3M film on all new production, and retrofitting earlier cars.
Since I switched to Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil many years ago, I haven't had any noisy hydraulic lifters on any of my cars. And, cold weather cranking is night and day as compared to petroleum-based oils. Knock-on-wood, I haven't had an engine-related failure since I've been using synthetic oil. My daughter's 1987 SAAB 900S has over 250,000 miles on the clock, and it hardly uses any oil between 3K oil changes. Yes, I still adhere to 3K mile oil change intervals, even using synthetic as most of the driving is city stop-and-go.
I wouldn't worry about the lifter noise at startup. If it goes away within a short period of time, it's quite normal for a car with 70K miles. One correction to my earlier statement regarding noisy lifters: The aforementioned SAAB's lifters will make some noise at startup when my daughter doesn't drive the car for a week or so (she's a college student). The lifters simply leak down over time, and pump back up after driving a very short distance. However, this is a sign of lifter wear, but after 250K miles, I'm not complaining!
My son has a Mitsubishi Galant, and we replaced his tires some time ago with a set of Bridgestone Turanza LS-T tires. I know others who use this tire, and it is an excellent tire. In fact, the local shop who installs these are amazed on how little balancing is required. Very little, if any, balancing weights are required with this tire, and they are dynamically very good. Plus, the warranty on this tire is very good. Here is a cut and paste of Bridgestone's Platinum Warranty on the Turanza LS-T:
"The free tire replacement period: If within 3 years from date of purchase (Proof of Purchase Date Required) or 4 years from the date of manufacture, whichever is to the owner's advantage, and before wearing down to 2/32nds of an inch of remaining original useable tread, a tire covered by this warranty becomes unusable for any reason within the manufacturer's control, such tire will be replaced free of charge (including mounting and balancing)."
As many of you know, radial tires are manufactured using two different processes: clamshell molding, and segmented molding. Tighter tolerances as to rolling diameter, inherent balance, etc. are maintained using the segmented mold process, generally accepted as the best manufacturing technique for tires. If the Elantra's front suspension is tire-sensitive, I would stay away from tires using the clamshell mold process.
I hope this helps those with the wheel balance or shimmy problem. I haven't driven my new Elantra at that speed yet (70MPH+), but have my fingers crossed that I don't experience the problem so many of you seem to have had.
w9cw
Are you speaking about the 3M package which includes the Gloss Treatment, Fabric protector, 3M Accent Pin stripes, wheel well moulding, and edge guards? Sure it was an extra $1495, which brought my Base A/T Elantra with Cruise Control & Mats up to a sticker price of $16,409. The reason I ask, I have never seen a White Car that had as much gloss to it. Like the stuff Women use after appling Nail polish. Of course with the out the door price of $11.4 (a short long story) I didn't really pay for it, but it's there!
I wouldn't go so far as to say the stock rotors warped (there was no vibration when the brake pedal was applied...it only shimmied at hwy speeds), but I don't think the rotors had worn evenly over time. I had originally turned the rotors around 35K (when we replaced the first set of pads), but when I replaced them again at 70K, the rotors were too thin to be turned again.
After doing the brake work, I had a set of Cooper Tires put on. I love these tires. Quiet and smooth is the best way to describe them. This car came with the Michelin Energy tires on it originally, and they lasted about 30K miles (we moved into our house after we got the car, and there was a lot of construction in our neighborhood. Nails killed these tires). Set #2 was a set of Uniroyal tires. We got 40K out of these. They still had some life left on them, but I wanted to put new rubber on it going into this winter. By far though, the Cooper Tires are the most quiet of any of these.
Regarding that lifter - the car had set for about 2 days when it made the noise on that cold startup. It has not made the noise again since (knock on wood). It even sat for 4 days over Christmas weekend, and when we started it up after that it was quiet. IF it does it again, my plan is to run a container of Gunk Valve and Lifter Medic through the crank for a few hundred miles, then make the permanant switch to synthetic.
Oh yeah - Ours too has the mudflaps. We get 2-3 winter storms per year, and my wife does drive it in the snow to work. I have noticed no corrossion/rusting at all, but I wax the lip of the wheel wells every six months when I wax the car. I will agree with the statement about snow and ice building up around them as you drive though - we will throw a small shovel in the car to knock that stuff out when we drive it in bad weather.
One thing I can say about the Elantra though - as they get into higher mileage, the gas mileage seems to get better and better.
Apparently Elantras are subject to vibrations caused by imbalances to components other than just the tires, including brake rotors. A rotor that is not warped can still contribute to imbalance of the spinning wheel. I was happy to learn that one of the local Hyundai dealers has the Hunter balancing equipment that can balance the wheels on the car. When they run specials, they do a rotate and balance using the Hunter machine for $29.99.
The service writer said a constantly illuminated CEL, especially after a fuel fill, is nothing to worry about; just open and close the cap, clicking it 3-6 times on closing, should make the light go out after 5 startups or less. She said a flashing CEL means pull over immediately and call Roadside Assistance.
Back to those mudflaps and wheel wells...I have a medium duty pressure washer that I use for things around the house. I will typically use it a couple times a year to spray out the wheel wells, and the undercarriage (not at full pressure of course). I typically will do this, then wash the rest of the car by hand, then wax the car.
We are going to buy a new car this spring for my wife to use as her daily commuter - I will have more peace of mind with her driving a lower mileage vehicle since her workplace is in the downtown area. I am going to take the Elantra at that point and use it as my commuter vehicle, and for running errands (it will be a third car). I figure it will have close to 75K on it once I get it from her, and I plan to drive it until it becomes completely unreliable.
The Brembo brake components that I mentioned in an earlier post are typically standard equipment on such marques as Ferrari, Porsche, etc. Certainly, this doesn't necessarily mean that they're superior, but I've had excellent results using Brembo brake components over the years. It would be interesting to know who manufactures NAPA rotors, and components.
The day I did the brakes, I just happened to be in the mood to tear into such a project (so I had to take advantage of actually wanting to do something like this), so I purchased rotors that were in stock at my local auto parts distributor.
I would not buy another car unless the dealer let me keep it over night.
Any suggestions?
I hate this car now and wish I had never seen it.
Thanks
michelle :lemon:
Also you might make sure the lumbar support (lever on the side of the seatback) is not mis-adjusted. If it's too prominent, it might be forcing your hips into an uncomfortable position.
For others who may want to test an Elantra over a long period of time, they are available from some rental car chains, e.g. Hertz and Enterprise.
The trunk light is a little on the dim side, and does a rather poor job of illuminating the trunk's interior. In reviewing the Owner's Manual, I noted the trunk light is a 5W bulb, whereas the 5-door hatchback uses a 10W bulb - both use the same fixtures, but located in different areas of the trunk. Since a 5W bulb draws 416ma at 12V, and a 10W bulb draws 833ma, it would seem that it would be OK to replace the stock bulb with a 10W version. The circuit certainly has sufficient reserve capacity, and this is a only around a 0.5 amp increase in current draw. My only concern is the current capacity of the wiring to the light fixture. Any comments?
The only other glitch we noticed during the drive from the dealer (we didn't hear it on the test drive) is road/tire noise coming from the right-rear door area. From the driver's seat, you can hear it over your right shoulder - it almost sounds like the window is very slightly open. Here's what I've discovered. The door's rear edge is not flush with the body; in other words, it sticks out just a bit. On the other hand, the left-rear door rear edge is perfectly flush with the body. Therefore, perhaps a minor adjustment of the striker plate on the door jam is in order?? I hesitate to do this, but it's the only alternative as the door seals on the door and the body are intact and perfect. I expect that the door simply is not compressing the seals enough to make a good seal. I'm sure this would be covered under Hyundai's 12 month/12,000 mile Adjustment Warranty. I've done this myself on a number of cars, and in the case of the Elantra, it's just a matter of loosening two screws on the striker, and moving it in ever so slightly. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated also.
As for the trunk lighting, I have a 5 door and guess what? the lighting on the 5 door cargo area isn't too great either. I went to a junk yard, got an old backup light off some old car (with uses an 1156 bulb)... the junk yard let me have it for free. I fashioned a simple bracket to hold it and mounted it on the left side of the cargo area and connected it electrically to the stock light on the right side. That backup light makes a lot of light.
I also did the same thing under the hood, by the way, and rigged a switch to it so it comes on when the hood is opened.
The results are below. The extra cargo light is in the top center of this pic:
And under the hood:
Any info appreciated.
Larry
I haven't had any problems with the Kenwood unit in my '04 GT over 1.5 Minnesota winters. But the car is garaged (non-heated) and this winter hasn't been that cold yet.
I like that. Minnesota winters not cold yet. HooHah, been there, done that, froze my keester off!
I'll stick with shorts and tee shirts for Christmas, thank you.
Happy New Year, Backy
I think the next cold morning we have I'll haul out the digital camera and see if I can snap some jpeg's of the errors.
If she didn't like the Kenwood so much I'd just go aftermarket and upgrade the head unit. She's learned the controls and nuances of this model though, so I'll keep hoping it has the good graces to die outright.
It's going to be 40 deg or higher around here for the next few days, which is a little strange for Boston at this time of year......
I am having a problem with my '03 Mitsubishi Outlander. I have posted over on the Outlander boards, but there isn't a lot of traffic. I know a few of you guys on this board are pretty knowledgeable about how things work in general, so I was just hoping to take a stab at getting some input by posting here as well (as I have gotten some good feedback regarding my wife's elantra here). Here goes, so please bear with me...
Specifically, the car is an '03 Outlander AWD, with 36K miles on it. The front end makes a bit of a "thud noise" when you hit a bump at low speeds. It seems to be worse when you hit a bump at low speeds with the steering wheel turned, but does also occur with the wheels pointed straight. I have taken it to the dealer, and they have checked the torque on every front end connection point, and say that everything is fine - although they acknowledge they hear the noise as well.
I have been thinking it is the struts - so they dissassembled the front struts and found no problem with them. They then reassembled the struts, put them back on the car, and told me they will call me after they get to drive it a couple of days to see if the noise comes back (I am encouraging the tech to drive it back and forth to work). Apparently Mitsubishi makes them dissassemble the struts and look for an obvious failure before they approve replacement.
I have read over on the Acura RSX boards where some RSX owners are describing what sounds like a similar situation, and it has turned out to be the upper part of the spring in the strut assembly shifting a bit in its' seat when the car hits a bump at low speeds. Apparently Acura doesn't have a fix for this from what I have read over there.
Anyone over here have strut experience?