What to do to a new Elantra?

Yes

These days, just about nothing. Last time I changed a bulb it already had the dielectric grease on it.

Years ago, I'd agree with you. I remember being at my brother's house one morning and he took the battery out to clean and paint the battery tray. I came back that evening and he had the entire front end of the car apart to prime and pain the underside. Bumper, fenders, cowlings, etc. It was a '69 Impala they was his daily driver until he bought a 2003 Grand Prix. He also owned 15 other cars, but they were not driven much. (from 1928 Model A, three 66 Mustangs, '55 Ford Convertible, etc)

They don't build 'em like the used to.

Most modern cars use sealed electrical connectors that seldom give trouble and many even have dielectric grease in them from the factory.

I also put grease on exposed bolts and nuts that I think I may need to remove some day. I also put grease on the exposed part of the lug studs (if they don't have the full cover lug nuts as is more common today) so that the nuts come off easier when I next rotate tires.

I apply Vaseline to the battery terminals.

There really isn't much to do on more cars and trucks nowadays.

Matt

A couple of more suggestions:

*Make sure you are "working" all the components of your car at least occasionally. A good example would be the electric windows, especially the rear ones which don't get a lot of work. The electrical motors definitely work better when used frequently.

*Keep your car clean. There is little more you can do to help it maintain its good look. With two-sided galvanized steel, clearcoat paint and more, the manufacturers have ramped up their ability to keep your car looking nice for years. But you still have to hold up your end.

*Be the same "fiend" concerning maintenance you always were with the older cars. With the older ones, you did it in hopes that you had "saved" it. You treat these new ones well from the very beginning (SO many don't), and they will treat you well. And I am quite sure that you understand that this means a WHOLE lot more than just oil changes.

Hope this helps.

This is especially true for the parking brake. They die from rust long before they will wear out. I use mine every time I park and I've never had a cable seize.

Matt

You should NEVER put grease on lugs, as it will result in them being over-torqued. The specified torque setting for lugs are for DRY lugs. Greasing reduces friction and when tightened to the recommended torque, there will be too much tension on the lug, creating a risk of breakage.

The front rotor do have a tendency to seize to the hubs, though considering the heat involved and the length of time they're likely to be on your car, it seems questionable whether applying anti-seize between them would make any difference. If you've got nothing better to do, it can't hurt.

No kidding. That is why I only put grease on the threads that are exposed (as I clearly stated above) after the nuts are torqued. If the nuts are the "acorn" style and fully cover the studs, then no need for grease at all.

Matt

I've read this here many times, and I've also read links that people point to in supporting this point. It has never convinced me though. I've always seen in those links, something beyond the simple issue of grease vs. no grease. The dry lug contention in my opinion, refers to a new condition, clean lug. That's something seldom found on a car that has a few thousand miles on it. Taking the matter to a further length, too much normal corrosion will yield a higher resistance to lower torques, and will create a false torque reading, as the reading will be responsive to the thread resistance and not the force being applied to the wheel. It's the torque when mating to the wheel that you're interested in and not just the torque on the lug. If the nut can easily run up the lug and snug to the wheel, then you're going to get a truer reading than if the lug is rusty. A light coat of grease is not going to create a significantly different resistance to torque at the thread, but a dry and normally corroded lug will. Put down the impact gun and run a nut on by hand and you can easily feel the resistance. As in everything else, there's more to the issue of grease/no grease than the simplification of reducing the matter to a statement that says no-grease.

All it takes is a light brushing with a stainless or bronze brush to remove any rust from the threads if necessary. It takes no more time than greasing does. There is no need to use grease. It DOES make a big difference in the friction when installing a lug. If you don't want to take my word for it, ask Hyundai. For that matter, there are more than a few people on other forums who have snapped off Elantra wheel studs after greasing them. Go ask them what they think of the practice now.

For the record, you should also not install lugs when they or the wheel are wet, for exactly the same reason. Sometimes it's unavoidable - when changing a flat in the rain, for example - but you should remove them when it's convenient, let them dry, they re-torque them properly.

And when you back the nuts off, you end up with grease on their threads. Do you degrease them before reinstalling them?

Yes, to some degree, but I'm not too worried about it. The torque tables have a fair bit of margin built into them and I don't have much residual lubricant on the threads. I'm much farther away from yielding the stud than are the monkeys at many garages that use an impact wrench to install the lug nuts and tighten them so hard it flows the metal on the rim chamfer.

Also, I'm a licensed professional engineer and know a little bit about fasteners, material properties and torque.

Matt

That is why a fair bit of margin is left with the tabular torque values. Lubrication does make a large difference, typically requiring a 25-50% reduction in torque applied depending on the lubricant type. However, a very light coat of oil on clean threads doesn't make a tremendous difference.

I much prefer the uniformity I get from keeping my lug studs and nuts rust free than the issues that arise with rusty parts that will have wild swings in the torque vs. tension relationship as Brian describes above.

Matt

If they used the dry thread torque setting with lubricated threads, then they might cause a problem, but they would still have to dramatically overtorque the nuts to "snap off" the studs. Most dry torque values are no more than 90% of the yield limit and this is way below the ultimate limit for most common steels. Adding oil to the threads will not, by itself, cause a lug to fail, at least not the first time. If you repeatedly exceed the yield stress, you could elongate the stud to failure, but I'll bet they were also over torquing in addition to lubricating the threads.

I've used grease on my lug studs for 30 years and have never failed a stud. I wipe off and wire brush the studs before I reassemble and what little residual grease remains in the nut itself is inconsequential.

Matt

OK, so work with me on this one Brian. Torque is torque. Torquing lugs to any setting is going to result in the same torque applied to the threads, whether they are lubed or dry. I could see where dry might present a small amount of additional resistance, but that would seem to be trivial compared to the resistance that the wheel presents. If all of these studs are snapping off of Hyunai's then I'd surely suggest the problem more lies with cheap steel in the studs, more than any problem presented by grease on the threads. I don't care what Hyundai says - of course they aren't going to say they have a problem with the studs. Lubricating studs has been a common practice for as long as the stud and lug nut have been around. Suddenly it's a problem?

This would point to a severe quality problem and not a problem of over torquing studs.

In which case the studs tend to give plenty of warning that the threads are stretching. Turning them on and off makes it immediately obvious that a stud is stretching. As Matt implies - there's no sudden death involved here.

As have I, on and off. I have never snapped a stud. If studs are suddenly snapping on a particular model car, I'd say there's some junk steel in those studs.

Doe the "anti-seize" some places (Wal-Mart, for instance) insist on putting on have a similar effect? If it does, should they be reducing the torque to some extent? BTW: I watch them like a hawk, and pre-mark the destination location for the wheels with a sharpie on the wheel. The can't seem to follow instructions regarding cross-forward, but they are cheap, and fast.

That's true, but you've completely lost sight of the intent of torque settings, which is to create a specific amount of tension in the stud. It's an indirect setting - since there's no easy way to directly check the stud tension - and it relies on certain conditions in order to achieve the desired tension. The recommended torque settings are for clean, dry studs and nuts.

If the studs/nuts are rusty/corroded, the increased friction will result in the torque setting being reached before there is optimum tension in the stud. This is not ideal, but it's not typically going to cause a problem, since the increased friction also makes it less likely that a nut will loosen.

OTOH, if the studs/nuts are lubricated, the reduced friction results in the recommended torque setting not being reached until the tension in the stud is higher than desired. The result can be stretching and eventual failure of the stud. It is not always obvious when stretching occurs.

As for asking Hyundai, I didn't mean to ask them if stud failures are a problem, I meant ask them whether they recommend lubricating studs and lug nuts. I'm betting the answer will be to clean off any rust or corrosion and install them dry.

I keep mine rust-free by brushing off any rust, if necessary. Since the car comes with capped nuts, that's not even an issue. The chart you provide proves my point about lubrication.

If you look at the chart at the link that Matt provided, you'll see that anti-seize is the worst thing you can put on wheel studs, as it dramatically reduces friction and will result in too much tension in the studs.