Timing belt, etc. -- questions/costs -- 2004 Santa Fe

. Regarding the timing belt, you may already know the recommended interval is

The timing belt should be changed at 60,000 miles. You also have an interference engine.

As for other work, you can check the manual for recommendations. I'd not do the transmission flush as done wrong, some do more harm than good. Maybe change anti-freeze. Most spark plugs are good for 100k these days.

If you are going to trade the car, I'd do nothing and dump it this week. If I was going to keep it or sell it private, I'd do the timing belt for peace of mind, better resale value, and not having the buyer come after me late at night after the engine is trashed.

If you buy a newer Santa Fe, the 3.3L engine has a chain or gears, no belts to change. The 2.7L is interference also, a cost down the road. You m ay find a really good deal on a brand new one also. Remember that the 100k mile warranty drops to 60k for the second owner. If they are trying to clear the present models for the 2011 the deals will be very good You can get $2500 rebate on an 09 if you can find one still around. I got 0% financing on my 2010 Sonata.

Thanks. Interesting link. It said the estimate for replacing the timing belt ranges from about $550 to $700 in my area -- plus more if water pump etc. are done at the same time.

Thanks. That's a lot of good information. That's interesting about the newer 3.3L engines not having belts. I'll have to give it all more thought before deciding whether to keep this vehicle longer or get a newer one. In the meantime, I'll probably start checking out prices on newer models.

Service intervals on 2004 Santa Fe that may be of interest:

Coolant: 2 years/30,000 miles Spark plugs: 4 years/60,000 miles Timing belt: 4 years/60,000 miles Transmission fluid: 7 years/100,000 miles.

I'd recommend replacing the coolant by time, the plugs and transmission fluid by mileage, and the timing belt by either.

The timing belt and spark plugs are going to be expensive for this vehicle.

Honda calls for 105,000 miles or 7 years on their timing belts -- Pilot for example. Why 60k on Hyundai.

Because every car engine is different.

I don't know, but maybe it's due to the type of engine that the 2004 3.5L Santa Fe has. It's an "interference type" engine (or something like that) which means that if the timing belt breaks major damage to the engine can result. On other types of engines when the timing belt breaks the engine just conks out suddenly but the engine isn't damaged. So I assume that Hyundai needs to proactively prevent the timing belt from breaking and ruining the engine by replacing the belt sooner.

That's actually a dilemma that I am facing now -- whether to push my luck and keep the vehicle a little longer and hope the timing belt doesn't break and ruin the engine, or get the timing belt replaced now, or trade in the car now and get a newer Santa Fe.

So, the design of the Hyundai V6 is such where timing belt life is less than Honda, Toyota and so forth. Given the other comments vis plugs and so forth, the maintenance costs for the Hyundai must be quite high comparatively.

"tww1491" wrote

Not true. Less than some, the same as many others. Gates, the largest timing belt maker recommends 60,000 miles for many cars. As for maintenance cost overall, in 67000 miles on my last Sonata, my only cost of maintenance was oil changes and two tires. It has been the lowest maintenance cost car I've ever owned. Most of the newer engines no longer have belts so that cost is eliminated.

You can check here:

Not 'quite high', almost the same, as long as you compare same type of car of same year as another brand, and as a plus you get 10 years drivetrain warranty and a much lower initial cost ... does Toyota or Honda give you anything comparable ????

Well, I guess it depends on how you define "life". It just cost me $800 to have an independent shop replace my belt, waterpump, serpentine etc. because I didn't feel up to the challenge at the time. I'm the second owner of the car, and I have the records. No sign of the timing belt being done, so I presume it lasted 7 years and 104K. I didn't feel like finding out exactly *how* long it would last. I don't think I'll do it again, if I get 7 years out of this one, I think it will be more practical to take my chances.

Dealer quoted me $400 for a "tune up"(plugs and wires). I'll do it myself, it's not often I make $300 in one afternoon .

Just had the timing belt package (water pump, seals, gaskets, all drive belts -- such as ac and so forth, coolant change, inspection brake clean) replaced on our 03 pilot at 90k miles. It hit the 7 year mark for change. Price with a 10% discount at my local Honda dealer was $631.23. Thought that was a reasonable deal.

That's excellent deal!

Got a nice dealer, keep him, not too many of these around.

Thanks again for all of the feedback.

I called the dealer today and got prices for various work. In case anyone else is interested, the costs were:

$590 for timing belt replacement $ 97 more if it needs a new Tensioner $ 79 more for two regular belts if it needs them $109 for transmission service/flush $ 72 for radiator flush

So, from $590 to $947 depending on what it needs and what I decide to get done.

Plus sales tax (7% in New Jersey)

And no one seems upset by this.

Is this common for ALL Asian brand cars ?

Other than fluid changes, I don't remember this "50K-mile bite in the ass" from any American made cars.

I remember back about 25 years when I was still working, a lot of employees had Ford Escorts as company cars. There were cases where a timing belt broke and destroyed the engine.

---MIKE---