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Hyundai Elantra Accessories and Modifications
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Comments
1) Do you have to disconnect the battery before taking off the dash fascia and removing the power connections?
2) Are the wiring harnesses pretty much standard, or am I going to have to matchup, splice and crimp all the wires in the dash?
3) I see some online places also try selling a mounting kit and other things specific to the elantra. What additional equipment is needed when purchasing unit that is the correct size for the Elantra?
4) any other helpful hints? I guess I'm most worried about the wire splicing out in the car for a long time during the hot summer.
Thanks
Always a good idea to disconnect the battery when doing this kind of stuff. That said, I rarely do it unless I'm doing actual wiring mods. But especially if you're new at this, it is the smart thing to do.
2) Are the wiring harnesses pretty much standard, or am I going to have to matchup, splice and crimp all the wires in the dash?
If you are changing it out for another Hyundai unit, chances are good it will just plug into the back of the new unit with no changes. If you get an aftermarket unit, they usually come with a harness that has a connector that goes into the aftermarket unit at one end and stripped wire ends at the other end. You can be a similar piece (an adapter harness), with a connector that connects to the connector in your car, and just twist the appropriate wires together. The stereo and the adapter harness should have enough information with them to make sure you connect everything right (i.e., left speaker hi to left speaker hi, always on power to always on power, etc.)
3) I see some online places also try selling a mounting kit and other things specific to the elantra. What additional equipment is needed when purchasing unit that is the correct size for the Elantra?
You can do the basic mounting of a head unit with what comes in the car. If you buy a single DIN head unit (with a chassis the size of the original OEM stereo), the opening in the dash fascia may be too small to include the bezel that comes with an aftermarket unit, but large enough to leave a gap around the detachable faceplate. There are several options here:
1. If you don't worry about the untrimmed area, it will look like this:
2. Trim out the unfinished area. I had some foam tape that was about 1/16" thick which I put on the perimeter of the head unit *before* putting the fascia and faceplate on. The foam was pressed under the fascia out the outer edge and when I put the head unit face on, it compressed the foam slightly on the inner perimeter. When I had it this way, it looked like the following picture. Other things besides foam could be used including electrical tape, black construction paper or cardboard.
3. Buy the 00271-84004 OEM unit (from a Hyundai dealer, ~$40; order the part number I provided). My Pioneer unit fit perfectly except that there are small tabs that stick out of the unit (I think for security purposes) that I bent over... then it fit perfectly. It looks like this:
4. There is a more affordable OEM option (from a Hyundai dealer, ~$20) that trims out the area but omits the door- it's part number 00273-83000. The doorless kit looks like this when it's installed:
4) any other helpful hints? I guess I'm most worried about the wire splicing out in the car for a long time during the hot summer.
If you buy the adapter harness, you don't have to modify your car's wiring at all; it is all done by making an adapter between the car and the new head unit. When I splice, I twist each connection, then wrap each connection by itself with electrical tape. Once they're all wrapped, I either wrap them with tape to hold them all together, or put a nylon tie strap around them. If you do this, it won't come unwrapped. You'll be fine.
You can do it!
I'm not sure of the rules here with with respect to posting specific retail sites, etc... So I hope you don't mind but I'm going to send you a PM for a very specific question or two.
Thanks again.
thanks in advance,
Jeremy
Also, I'm not sure how much I like the antenna. Are there better and smaller ones available? Where would I look to buy one? Crutchfield.com? Anywhere else?
As for antenna, I know of one shorty antenna some people have tried with poor results as far as reception goes. I know of one guy, though, that simply wrapped the little ball end in tape, pulled it off with pliers, cut his stock antenna down, and put the little ball on the end. He still and good reception *and* a stylishly short antenna.
http://tinyurl.com/bttcg
Also, are there any problems inherent in getting those Xenon/blue bulbs installed?
They are basically equal in current draw to the headlights.
I just bought a K & N FIlter for $45 and am very happy with it. Increased Horsepower, covered for life, never needs replaced!!!
Increased horsepower??? I think I would have to see that on a dyno before buying one. I have read too many things that say the increase in hp is miniscule, if any. Even if it incresed the hp in the Elantra by 2-4, as a driver, you'd never notice.
Last month, I decided to fix up my parents' '06 Chevy HHR as an early Christmas gift from me and my wife. That is a vehicle that I have always thought was just screaming to be modified. I decided to do a "plus 1" size increase to the wheels and tires, change to high performance tires, and to add a billett grill. I also ended up removing all of the stock Chevy emblems and replaced them with emblems from vintage Chevies (that I ordered from a classic Chevy restoration shop) to complete the retro look of the HHR.
Well, I haven't done anything like this to a car in several years, so I had to look for a shop. I went on line, and found a hand full of car customizing shops in my area. One Saturday (I picked Saturday because these places are hopping with customers on Saturday), I drove around to a few, and just browsed their displays, and observed. Most of these shops did everything from window tinting, audio/video, wheels/tires/suspension, all the way to superchargers and exhaust. After spending about 15 minutes at each shop (mainly looking at displays of wheels and things), and listening to the sales guys interact with customers and each other, I was able to either scratch them off the list or keep them on. I then had my list narrowed down to about 2 shops that were possibilities. I then asked them if they had any cars on site that they had customized that I could look at. Both did, and both appeared to have done quality work. I also at that point asked them some technical questions (some that I already knew the answers to as a test), and both gave knowledgable answers. I then ended up deciding based on price (both sold the same brands pretty much).
My point to all of this is that many of us look at cars as being "our babies" - I even treated my parents' car like this while I was fixing it up. Whenever I am having anything done to a car, I want to feel very comfortable with the shop that is doing the work. The route I just described for picking that shop has always worked out for me. I know a lot of people will just tell you to get a referral from someone you trust, but I have found that even people that I really trust that have had things done to cars, often are not as picky when it comes to cars as I am - I still like to see for myself.
In terms of the quality of the tint. You could simply ask which brand(s) they use, and then research them on line yourself. Lastly, you will want to find out what the legal limit is for your state (if any), so you don't run into problems at inspection time.
I certainly wouldn't think they would affect things, but with all of the lawyer-ese loopholes, absolutely nothing would surprise me. Hmmmmm
I got 35% tint on the side windows and 20% in the rear.
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(Off Subject) - The second picture down brought back memories of my first (and only) trip to Texas 2 years ago. We went to visit my sister-in-law in The Colony,TX, and the one thing that stood out to me from her neighborhood were the privacy fences around all of the backyards - personally I like the idea, as many of my neighbors now, I really don't care to see :surprise:
Sadly out here in CA, where the front windows can't be tinted (maybe only not more than 5% or something), it'd look kinda goofy to have the back windows tinted, but I'd always thought in terms of something heavy. Perhaps a lighter one like you have would work...
A couple before & after shots.
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
I also put on a front strut bar; makes the steering a little more confident. The bar was only $60; it's OEM Kia, designed for the Spectra. While it improves steering feel, it does touch the underside of the hood and also if I give the car a lot of gas while in reverse, the engine hops up a bit and rattles against the bar. I will keep a strut bar, but I am looking into alternate designs. There are several out there for the Elantra, but none of them is perfect; they all have clearance issues, interfere with the cruise control module, or something.
Just curious - what method do you use to clean your engine bay (it looks really good). I typically take a little degreaser, dilute it in a pail of water, and wipe mine down by hand with an assorment of rags and brushes.
The other thing is that I'm in Texas which means no road salt. And since I've had the car, a year and a half, I've never let it get very dirty.
Since I started getting into this whole car thing, I joined some other forums and stuff, including a Taurus forum since my wife has a 2003 Taurus. I looked under the hood and decided it was way to dusty/dirty under there, and gave it the Armor All treatment and it looks pretty good too:
Before:
After:
The other benefit of just wiping everything down is you get to know the engine. I hadn't spent very much time with my wife's car, but when I cleaned under the hood I found two or three little things that needed attention, including a cracked windshield washer hose.
I also have a 1995 Escort for my son to drive. I tried the Armor All thing under the hood of that car and..... it's time for degreaser. :P
I have an '03 Mitsubishi Outlander that I have stayed on top of since I bought it (bought it with 10K miles on it, now has 45K), and the engine bay looks brand new. I wipe down the engine bay in my wife's '06 Element every 2 weeks, so it still looks new as well.
Unfortunately with the Elantra, I didn't start cleaning the engine bay regularly until it had 50K miles on it. I do it by hand, but it still doesn't get quite as clean as I would like. I though about misting the engine bay with a degreaser, then hosing it down - but I am afraid to hose the engine bay down with all of the connectors I have seen throughout the engine bay.
I'm new to this forum, have a Hyundai Elantra 01, 4dr sedan.
I'll be grateful if anyone could help me with this, the windshield washer doesnt work anymore, I had a look at it, its not the water being empty, or the pipes being clogged, so I think its the windshield-washer motor, cause I dont hear the motor sound anymore, any idea where the motor is located or how do I access it? short on money so i'll have to fix it myself.
Thanx
Well i cheked the fuse, it was the motor, cuase it wudnt make any noise..and is at the bottom of the washed fliud tank,the worst part is, i cant pull it or slide off from the top,found a high pavement and pulled it out from below. the worst part is that the replacement i found has a different power socket so now to friggin go down and try to re wire it.
I've been searching around for the Bumper Covers on the 2007 Elantra. Best I've found is the 2006. Anyone have any idea as to if/when someone will come up with one for the 2007? I'm referring to the Front &/or Rear Bumpers.
Another thing is, I came across a car the other day driving ahead of me in slow traffic. Funny thing is how they had a rubber mat hanging out their trunk hooked by some sort of tape or something. We could only fathom they were trying to protect their bumpers, or hide something we couldn't see. Regardless, I thought it was a neat idea, although why they'd need it while driving I wouldn't know.
The method to my madness? Well, we'd found a deep enough scratch on the corner of my brand new Elantra's rear bumper yesterday. Some numb nut I guess doesn't know how to park or leave a parking area safely. I know, I know. Scratches and such are inevitable but dang!
I've never heard of a rear "bra". I guess it would be called something else, though.
I don't see any bras out there for a 2007 Elantra, but another option is the clear protective film "bras". They are barely noticeable, and you don't need to worry about working around them. They are available for the 2007 Elantra, e.g. www.xpel.com has them.
I'd mentioned the rear end covers since I had seen it online for some models including the Accent and others.
Is there anything else I need to be aware of
Are the mud guards a self-install situation or should you have the dealer do it? The reason I ask is because my SE has the larger wheels/tires and the rear wheel well space seems very limited. Since the front wheel turn, they shouldn't be much of a problem.
Do the width of the rear mud guards equal the width of the optional tires or are the mud guards narrower than the option tires?
Does anyone have any photos of an 07 Elantra w/the mud guards?
Has anyone run across all-weather mats that look OEM but don't cost what the OEMs do?
Thanks -- Rick
What kind of tires should we consider for our 2001 elantra GLS? We need to get the two front tires replace, anyone
, thanks.
As for tires, everyone has their own preferences. Popular tires for the Elantra include Cooper Lifeliner SLEs, Falken Ziex ZE512s and Kumho Ecstas.
2001 elantra gls, want to change front brake pads on car, what racket sockets or other tools are needed to change and replace the front brake pads.
Also on the car the front headlights covers are plastic, how do we take them off and either replace or clean them. \
much thanks