Hyundai Accent Hatchbacks

vthuppil · October 2005

My accent did something very weird a while ago. Coming out of a stoplight, my engine got no pull at all, on first gear, I had to provide a lot of accelerator at half-clutch for the thing to even move. And as I moved and shifted, it choked and sputtered and wheezed along, and the check engine light blinked on and off.

It was the same as in those old carburetor engine cars what used to happen if some impurity in the gas chamber entered the engine cylinder or something, but since this car is MPFI, I don't think the same happens. Also what's weird is that this happened a few seconds after I had the heater on. When I turned the heater off, it sputtered along a while, slowly reducing in intensity, and then disappeared. It happened again when I turned the heater on, at full blast only though.

Also my AC light stays on, regardless of whether the AC button is pushed in or not. Do you think that the button is screwed and the air conditioner is trying to work with full heat, and that caused this? I really don't know what to make of it. I'm going to take it to my mechanic tomorrow, just wanted to know what I can expect to hear.

tom71 · October 2005

167,000 miles on your 99 Accent of trouble free service is excellent.
If I were in your shoes, I'd drive this car into the ground - with or without
it's whistling. I have 135,000 miles on my 95 Tercel and it squeaks a lot,
but I've gotten used to it.

vinnyg · October 2005

Yes, Tom71, I plan on keeping the car as long as I can. Still no squeaks or rattles, only the whistle. The great thing about this car is that even in the hottest summer days or the coldest northeast nights, I never even have to warm it up. I just start it up and drive. I attribute the great engine reliability to my using Amsoil motor oil, doing a change every 25,000 miles and a filter change every 12,000 miles. With my commute, I would normally have to do an oil and filter change once a month, and now I do it about once every 10 months. The synthetic oil flows great even on the coldest days, and it doesn't even burn a drop between changes. I hope to get 200,00 miles+ on it, and if and when it dies, I will buy another Accent. Given the current gas prices and the long commute I have, I am trying to keep this car in great shape as long as I can. It is nice to have a car that actually outlasts it's payments. Take care.

farkas · October 2005

I showed the car to one of my friends here, and he said that his opinion is that the problem is probably with the fuel injector, its not set up correctly, it puts more gas then it is needed, especially when idling.
What do you think guys, is this possibble?

phillbill · October 2005

I doubt that a faulty fuel injector would cause smoke to come out of the exhaust.
Have you taken it to a garage and asked what it could be?

What exactly are the symtoms...if you havn't got it fixed yet...is it blue smoke (indicating burning oil) or steam coming out of the exhaust?

Is the car sounding normal when it runs? Has there been any change in performance since the problem?

phillbill · October 2005

If it's not moving with full revvs, could it be that your clutch that's worn out maybe...
Or maybe if it's only causing problems in first gear, the cog for that gear is worn out in your gear box....

Or if you say it's sputtering, it could be the throttle potentiometer, when i was doing car electronics at college i remember disconnecting the throttle pot to see what happened (1997 vauxhall astra i think it was), i put my foot on the gas in neutral, and the engine spluttered like crazy!
It also caused the engine light to come on...hope that's some use

But i don't know about the air con light....it may have somthing to do with it...

farkas · October 2005

Yes this is the point, so the car runs absolutely nice and smooth with a lot of power considering the small engine, i dont feel any loss of power,
the engine never gets hot.
But it looks like to me to have a little low gas-mileage, last time i calculated about 31mpg mainly in the city.
I just cant decide the colour of the smoke, but it looks like greyish,
looks like when you ona cold morning start your car.
And the smoke always comes at the beginning after idling a lot and pushing the gas very hard and it stops smoking after a short time.

phillbill · October 2005

Have you monitored your coolent and oil levels? if they are going down excessivley then yes you probably have got a problem.

But if you say the smoke (more likely to be water vapour) goes away once it's warmed up i'd say it's fine. Nothing to worry about. While a car's not warmed up properly you will see clouds (ok, maybe clouds of the stuff is a bit of an over statement, it's not that bad) of condensation coming out of the exhaust, i would assume it's becuase the CAT's not warmed up properly. But this is normal. Takes mine about 5-10 minutes to warm up and stop giving condensation out of the exhaust.

But if you are still unsure just take it down to a garage and ask them to test it, as mentioned prevoiusly in this message board, garages do have special bits of kit which can tell you almost instantly if there's a leak somewhere.

jordis · October 2005

:mad: . I intend to buy an Accent 2006 as soon as it comes available. I have one question, are Accents equipped with "Electronic Throttle" I mean the 2006?.
I just got rid of my Rav4, 2004 that I bought new, because of that. I had four incidents of " Unwanted Acceleration"- Sudden surge- and I was not going to wait until the next one happens and get involved in an accident ot kill a pedestrian. I was lucky nothing happened in those occasions. There was an investigation in the near past about this, after the electronic throttle was blamed by a lot of people that had the same trouble in their new Toyotas cars, they found nothing wrong and the drivers were blamed. Well, the thing is that I was going to get the new Toyota Yaris 2006 and found out that it comes with Electronic Throttle too, no way! that is why I want to know if Hyundai uses the same system, I know GMs does. Thanks

allfiredup · October 2005

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FirstDrives/articleId=107687?mktcat=insideline- &kw=HTML&mktid=NL990482&DARTmail

phillbill · October 2005

Doesn't say anything on that link about the electronic assistet acceleration....

I've not read anywhere about the acceleration system you mentioned being on the new Accent, but you could easily phone up your dealer and ask weather it's on the 2006 Accent.

beliver · October 2005

jordis: As to "unintended acceleration" I think most, if not all (remember Audi) reports of this were found to be untrue. Every time some 80 year old "bluehair" drives thru the front of the local Seven Eleven in their Crown Vic they always say " I kept pressing on the brake but it just kept going" LOL !! The chances of this happening are so slim as not to be even considered.

Next time you fly and are enjoying that bag of peanuts they now give you @ 35 thousanf feet and 600 + mph consider that the aircraft probably has "fly-by-wire" control systems. If it works for Boeing and AirBus it'll sure be ok in the automotive world. I doubt that Hyundai would go that high-tec in the Accent's price range tho.

believer

farkas · October 2005

Well i monitored the coolent level myself and it doenst goes down, thats sure.
But the oil level looks like to go down.

I just got another problem( this is crazy.)

Now smoke is coming out from the hood, after the engine gets hot,
i tried to analyze it where does it come from, but once i stop with the car it disappears, It smells like something is burning, like a burning rubber or so.

The biggest problem i dont know which service i can trust.
Last time i went to a place and they charged 80$ ! for an oil change.

farkas · October 2005

Well, we found fresh oil spots around/under the engine so the smoke coming out from the hood is caused by that oil is burning on the surface of the engine when it gets hot. I think these are some better news, so i have a leak somewhere, at least it looks like the oil is not getting burned inside the engine, as well the smoke coming out from the exhaust is looks like disappeared as well.

Where can be the leak? Bad sealing? Valves,Piston rings?
How much should it cost to repair these kind a problem?
Thanks.

farkas · October 2005

Newest, I just remember i changed 3 weeks ago to fully synthetic oil,
is it possibble that this cause the piston rings to leak?
Because fully synthetic oils are much thinner.

beliver · November 2005

farkas: Synthetic oils are not "thinner" per sey. 10W / 30 oil for instance, is the same viscosity range whether it's full synthetic, syn-tec blend or 100% petro based oil. What may have happened is the synthetic oil you put in MAY have softened up some seals or gaskets. This may or may not be the case on your car. I've read that on older vehicles this can happen as the gaskets and seals were not designed to contain the synthetic types of oil back a few years. Three weeks seems very fast for this to occur tho.

Any oil "experts" out there know anything about this ?

believer

phillbill · November 2005

I reckon your head gasket may have gone from what you have just said....a leak in the system therefor not cooling engine down properly, hence the clouds of possibly steam coming from the engine area with everything being too hot, and the smell of rubber, could be anything rubbery within the engine area getting too hot. Maybe the timing belt, may be a spark plug lead touching part of the engine body.

Yeah they will charge an excessive amount of labour for changing the oil, as when the engine's cold when it's done the oil will be thicker so will take a long time to drain, so while your cars slowly draining oil your paying a mechanic to sit down with a cuppa tea and read the news paper for half hour or so.

beliver · November 2005

phillbill: No flat rates in "ole' blighty" ? The quickie oil change joints as well as most dealers here in the colonies charge a fixed fee (oil & filter NO labor) out the door in about 15 mins. Some as low as $19.95 US. Of course they always twist your arm to try to get you to buy new wiper blades, flush your tranny etc.

believer

phillbill · November 2005

True, most jobs in garages have pre determined prices including labour. But last time i got a garage to do a service on my car it said on the invoice approximately how many hours labour it took to do each job....said 0.5 hrs for oil & filter change...id guess it's all saved on the computer for how many hours labour to put down for each job though.
Never noticed a place that just does oil changes over here in the UK. Tyre, brake and exhaust specialists yes, but never oil places.

Any more ideas on Farkas's smoking Accent that seems to be the heat of the discussion at the mo... :sick:

beliver · November 2005

phillbill: Rather strange the "quickie" oil change shops are unknown in your country. They are all over the place here. Jiffy Lube, Texaco, Grease Monkey and the larger Wal-Mart stores to name a few. They will top-off washer fluid, brake fluid if needed, check air pressure in the "tyres", Check tranny fluid AND lube the chassis as needed (if needed) all for the one price. I mostly do my own but at times it's nice to pop in and be on one's way in about 10 minutes and stay clean in the bargain plus not to worry about disposing of the used oil as well.

cheers, Believer

navygz19 · November 2005

I have an '04 Accent GT...looking to change out the plugs but I don't know the tourque specs for putting the new ones in...can anyone help?

phillbill · November 2005

Hi, I haven't been able to find the torque settings for you, but they may be in your owners manual for the car?

If not, im sure if you phoned up your local Hyundai Dealer they would be able to give you the torque specs, my local hyundai garage has been very helpful with that sort of thing so far.

Is there anything to be carfull of when changing spark plugs on accents? E.g. on some of the Ford KA's, i've heard that the spark plugs have a tendency to not want to come out, and when enough force is put in to remove them, they can break, resulting with the electrode dropping into the engine :sick:
Just that i'm thinking of doing my plugs in a few months.... cheers.

dancerman · November 2005

The torque will depend on the type of seat and the thread size. Flat seat (gasket type), 12 mm is 10-15 ft-lbs. Be sure to use a little anti-seize lube and do not cross or strip out the threads in your aluminum head.

frenchcar · November 2005

My wifes 04 Accent GT has started to knock on cool morning start ups and lasts for one mile. Dealer listened to it and claims it is piston slap on # 3 and 4 cylinders. They claim to have run into this before and it usually is one cylinder on all the ones they have replaced a piston on. They want to try thicker oil (20W-50) than the 10W-30 Synthetic we were using and if that doesnt cure it they will replace the offending piston. HAVE ANY OF YOU ACCENT OWNERS RUN INTO THIS OR HEARD OF IT??? Help appreciated.

5port · November 2005

I wouldnt settle on 20W-50 as a fix because it will have bad effects on a small displacement engine:

1) It will lower your mpg

2) It will be very sluggish on cold mornings

3) Engine warm-up will take longer

Other makes such as Suzuki have had the same problem.

frenchcar · December 2005

The engine noise was there 3 times that day and the dealer changed oil with Valvoline 20W-50 conventional oil and the noise disappeared and has not come back. Since I live in Tucson with temperatures that range fron 28 to 113 this weight is fine and the car still warms up quickly but mpg will slip. Valvoline makes 4 variations of 20-50 oil including plain, racing, Durablend and full synthetic. I will go with the full synthetic in the future. I do not agree with the dealer that the problem was piston slap. I think it was a temporary hydraulic lifter that had collapsed. Not uncommon. It happened on a cool morning of 30 degrees in Tucson but also in the afternoon at 70 degrees. (not a cool morning of 10 below zero in Colorado or Montana). I see where BMW and other expensive brands are pushing 5W-40 synthetic oil for all climates and it makes sense. --40 to + 140 degrees

phillbill · December 2005

I'm about to change the spark plugs on my Accent, they have washers on them...do i still need to use some copper grease on putting the new ones in?

Also...do i need to clean round the part of the engine block they go into...if so, what with?

I have a couple of litres of unused part synthetic oil from last year left over, will i be ok mixing it with the new stuff i've bought? They're both 10W-40 part synthetic, however they are different brands. Or should only one brand be used at a time?

Thanks

shrew · December 2005

I have a 2004 Accent gsi and I noticed the other day that I'm getting water in through my moon roof! Ack! We've had a bit of a cold spell lately, but the lowest it's been is maaaaybe -5C, so still pretty mild. I've had the car for about a year and a half and this is the first time I've noticed this, so maybe the cold weather has caused the seal to come away a bit? Has anyone else experienced this or something similar?

greenhyunny · December 2005

I'm having what I think to be a Transmission problem. The other day I had a big transmission fluid leak. One of the hoses popped off b/c the clamp slipped off, so it was reconnected and clamped. Now when I start my car, after I have accelerated just slightly, it feels as if the car is jolty, or harsh. I've looked on the diagnosis, and I'm still not sure what it could be. I'm also wondering how much trans fluid it needs. :confuse:

jetdeck1 · December 2005

I checked my A/T fluid and it looks to be down by half. I want to fill it but can't locate the cap to the resevoir. Can anyone tell me where to look fo it? Please respond.

phillbill · December 2005

On some cars you can top up the A/T fluid by pouring it down the pipe the dip stick goes into...i don't know if it's the same for Hyundai Accents, can't see why not though...

phillbill · December 2005

I have a manual Hyundai Accent, i noticed a bit of jolting from the engine when accelerating, not as though it wanted to staul, but a strange jolting feel from the engine....not very often, but mainly when the revvs were a bit low for the gear i was in....last week i put some injector cleaner in my petrol tank to clean the injectors, as they can get clogged up over time....it seems to have cured the problem. Also my fuel ecconomy's looking better again.

You've got nothing to loose by trying some in injector cleaner, it's only £4 a bottle over here in the UK

Hope that's some help

phillbill · December 2005

Since your car is practically brand new, it should still be covered by the warranty. If it's something like a faulty seal round the sunroof then your local Hyundai garage may be able to fix it for you under the warranty

phillbill · December 2005

ps...it should say in your manual how much trans fluid your car takes...and more importantly what sort.

If it doesn't say how much it takes....just keep adding a bit at a time and keep checking the level on the dip stick.

backy · December 2005

I am considering buying a 2003 Accent GL 4-door. I'd like one with automatic and the power package, although I could take a stick. I'd also like to get one with less than 40,000 miles, with the intent of using up its bumper-to-bumper warranty and then selling it within two years to get a new car. I priced it out at Edmunds.com and it looks like a car like that would go for about $6000 from a private party. Does that seem realistic? Too high? I don't see many used Accents of that vintage for sale around the Twin Cities (MN). I want a 2003 or later model because that is when it was refreshed and the side airbags became standard, and also I want to get one with at least two years of factory warranty left. Thanks for any input.

smokey75 · December 2005

You fill it through the dipstick pipe. Just make sure when you check the ATF fluid you start your car, let it warm up, shift through each gear & then leave it in neutral with the engine running & check the fluid level on the COLD section. Also, it should recommend Diamond ATF & not the usual Dexron III, but check your manual. All of this can be found in it.

student1 · January 2006

Hi!
I am a broke student who needs to buy a cheap car with hatch. The only car that fits in my budget is the Accent. I am looking to buy a new 05 and keep it for about 4 yrs. Since this will be my first car, I want peace of mind and hence going for a new car.
If any of you guys can advice me regarding this car in terms of reliability, handling, stability and highway driving as well as other things you did or did not like about this car, I will really appreciate it. My driving will be limited to the city most of the time.
Thanks,

shrew · January 2006

I have had my 05 Accent GSI for about a year and a half and have had no complaints with it. I also do mostly city driving, and I have found my mileage to be very good on this car. Here's my disclaimer: I may not be the best judge of cars as my previous car (the only other car I have driven) was a pile of junk and anything seems like heaven compared to it. But, having said that, I love my Accent and I am very happy with its performance up until now. Hope that helps!

beliver · January 2006

student1: I have a 05 Accent GT just one year old this month @ 16 K miles. I did not buy the car because I had to but because I wanted to. I own a small service business and have the option to buy almost anything (within reason) I want. I was impressed at the level of fit and finish on a car in this price range. The thing is as well bolted together as my wife's Volvo and seems just as solid. For what these things cost thet are a rnnaway bargain.

It has had NO problems, NO squeeks or rattles gets over 28mpg in town and I've gotten 34mpg on the road.

If you want one (05) better move fast as the 06's will be here soon and they will probably cost more and no hatch till later in the year.

Go for it, you can't go wrong.

Believer, and then some

student1 · January 2006

Thanks. This is very helpful.

dancerman · January 2006

Daughter's 2001 Accent was running fine but CEL was on. So she took it to the dealer for checkout. They replaced the "pulse generator" under warranty to fix the problem. What is part and what does it do?

phillbill · January 2006

The pulse generator is the device that sends a pulse of electricity to one of the four spark plugs when needed.

There are different types of pulse generator, the inductive type is easiest to understand...

Inside the pulse generator there is a rotor spinning round with four arms on it. As the rotor spins, the arms spin past a set of inductive windings, generating a pulse of electricity which is sent to one of the spark plugs, igniting one of the cylinders in the engine.

Hope that makes sense...

If you're interested, two other types of pulse generator are:
Optical pulse generator
Hall effect pulse generator

There should be lots of information on these on the internet if you type them into a search engine.

farkas · January 2006

Hi All,
I have a 2000 Accent with 80k miles, manual.
I realized (and more frequently) that sometimes it is very hard to put it into first and second gear, 3rd and 4th is fine. What could be the reason for this? What can I look for?
Any help appreciated, thanks.

phillbill · January 2006

I've noticed this on my accent, it needs an extra push to get it into first gear sometimes, feels kind of jerky. I just put it down to general wear and tear. The 1st and 2nd gear are bound to wear quicker than the others, as they are always been changed from the one to the other when doing short trips round town etc.

If the gear oil's not been changed for 2 years (or 20,000 miles) there would be no harm in changing it, see if it makes a difference. Any fragments of metal that get worn off with wear and tear end up in the gear oil, hence the need for changing it every couple of years.

farkas · January 2006

How can I change this gear oil?
Do I can do this on my own? Thanks, again

123shr · January 2006

removed the trans. pan it was clean oil did not smell burnt the band looks good could it be a sensor

phillbill · January 2006

did mine on my own last year, not a problem.
I assume it's a manual Accent?...

turn the steering on full lock left so you can remove the plastic splash guard from under the car...if it's fitted.

Then you'll see the gear box with a large nut on the side, remove this and the gear oil will drain....about 2.2 litres (on my 1.3 1999 Accent)

Put the nut back in, then you should be able to see a smaller nut on the front of the gear box, remove this and you'll be able to refill from here.

I used a 200ml syringe (that i obtained from the local vet) and squirted the oil in bit by bit using that. It was a bit messy though, so have some newspaper to the ready.
Some people use a bit of tubing and pour it in from above, with the other end of the tube inserted inside the filler hole....however i didn't have any tubing of the right diameter and length...so i chose the more tedious and messy method

good luck

phillbill · January 2006

.....if you have a left hand drive car then the gear box may be on the other side, in which case you'll put your wheels on full lock right rather than full lock left...

Also...this website will help you with locating the nuts that you need to remove if you have trouble...

http://www.ennerdale.freeserve.co.uk/dave/manual_gear_box_oil.htm

phillbill · January 2006

slight mistake.... was actually a 50 ml syringe that i used to refill my gear oil with.

usedcargal · January 2006

My daughter is looking for a first car and is considering a 2001 Accent with 96,000 miles. How reliable is this car likely to be? She's going to want to drive it regularly on the interstate as well as in town.

Thanks!

Hyundai Accent Hatchbacks

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles