2000 Sonata troubles Attn: Hyundaitech

Joey Goldstein · 2007-01-18T14:54:12+00:00

2000 Sonata, Automatic, 4 cylinder, 107,000km.So about a month ago my Check Engine light came on again. This time I took it to a Hyundai dealer/service center. It was the same computer code again, P0171 (mixture too lean), that the other shop (a few months earlier) had tried to fix by, essentially, giving me a tune up. This time the Hyundai service center told me it was a leak in a front exhaust pipe dealing with the emissions system. They fixed the exhaust under warranty, which was a pleasant surprise because the car has over 100,000km on it.But last week the light came on again. This time they said it was the air flow sensor and they charged me over $900.00 CAD (incl labor and tax) to install a new one.It seems to me that this code can mean almost anything, and that these guys are just going to keep telling me I need to do more stuff and charge me more money every time the damn light comes on.Then their head mechanic, who they've built up as being some kind of a "master mechanic", tells me that my timing belt needs to be changed. I inform him that I already had it changed in Feb. 05 @ 73000km. He then says that, in that case, they didn't do it right and that "the counterbalance shafts, on the exhaust side, aren't timed properly". He says he can tell this because he feels a vibration in the engine at 3000RPM. To demonstrate this vibration, we sat in Park and he revved the engine up to 3000RPM. It sounds totally normal to me. Sure, the car vibrates at 3000RPM a bit more than it does at 2000RPM and a bit less than it does at 4000RPM. Isn't that normal?So, now he wants me to go back to the guy who changed my timing belt and try to convince him that something's wrong enough for him to open the thing up and re-set the timing on the the counterbalance shafts for free. By this work was only warranted for a year and that time has passed already. Plus, I don't know how I would convince him that there's anything wrong. If the original guy (who also owns a Hyundai dealership...

J

Joey Goldstein 19 years ago

Today I drive to work, a 75km commute on the highway, with the rpm indicator still not working.

8 or 9 hours later I get in the car and start it up to drive home. Rpm indicator is working again. It seems to work perfectly all the way home.

What the f...?

Vote

J

Joey Goldstein 19 years ago

Just got it back from Tom. He says that everything is, and was, fine. He opened it up again today and looked at it and he did what Peter told him to do, but he didn't have to change anything. Peter had even faxed him some stuff showing some things about the Sonata timing belt that he (Tom) hadn't been aware of. That's why he (Tom) wanted me to come back again today. But Tom says that it was fine in the 1st place.

To recap... All that Tom has really done since his shop began looking into this (because of the "vibration" that Peter says he felt) was to lubricate one of the rollers (for 3 f...... hundred dollars). He (Tom) says that everything else checked out fine.

So either Peter's full of s... Or Tom's full of s... Or Peter's trying to screw me. Or Tom's trying to screw me. Or they're both trying to screw me.

I guess I'll take it back to Peter one more time and see if he still hears his "vibration". Don't know if I'm going to give him the $400.00 he wants, or more, to fix this phantom of his though.

And Tom says he has no idea what caused the rpm indicator to just stop working for half a day.

So, hyundaitech, do you still think that Peter (Peter is the "master" mechanic at the Hyundai dealership who felt the "vibration" at 3000rpm) really knows his stuff and that I've got something to worry about still?

Vote

J

Joey Goldstein 19 years ago

Vote

2000 Sonata troubles Attn: Hyundaitech

Join the Discussion

Didn't find your answer?