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Sedans Hyundai Elantra Hyundai Elantra Cooling System Problem
29 messages, Last post on Jul 27, 2009 at 1:36 PM
You are in the Hyundai Elantra Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
| My 2005 Elantra just died! The radiator overheated, broke a hose and blew up the engine! I heard the same thing happened to someone else I know. Both cars had 70k miles on them! Is this a widespread problem? No engine light appeared to alert me to the problem. Just had the oil changed and everything else checked in late July. I'm wondering if this is a defect that hasn't been fully reported. | |
I bought my Elantra brand new back in '03. Regular maintenance has been performed by my own mechanic since the dealer is more expensive. I took the car to the dealer to get the clock fixed and they informed me that I need to replace the thermostat. They asked me for my maintenance records which I handed over no problem. They then told me that due to the fact that I did not have a coolant flush performed at 24,000 miles, the warranty would not cover the repair for the thermostat. I held off on having the thermostat fixed because I did not have the $. Just this past weekend the car broke down had to be towed and the dealer is telling me that I need to replace the head gasket and thermostat. Because I did not have the thermostat replaced originally the warranty will not cover these repairs either. Does this sound right? Also would not having a coolant flush performed at 24K really cause the thermostat to need to be replaced and cause the domino effect where now the head gasket needs to be replaced also? My owner's manual and maintenance log book as well as the maintenance schedule on HyundaiUsa.com all say a coolant flush doesn't need to be performed until 30K. Any advice? Also, the dealer is telling me that to replace the 2 items it will cost me $980 but I keep reading that a head gasket normally costs a few thousand dollars! If that is the case why is the dealer only charging me $980. Not complaining about that just curious. Maybe they aren't telling me the truth. Any one with any ideas on how to handle this situation? Right now the car is just sitting at the dealer waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. Money is very tight and even $980 is out of my reach.
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Replying to: favesis21 (Oct 03, 2007 5:14 am) |
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Replying to: sherryls (Oct 03, 2007 4:32 pm) Belts, hoses and clamps do break, as you painfully found out and can happen with any make of car. We did not notice whether or not the car was overheating, it was driving fine and after being parked for a few minutes, it wouldn't turn over. The fact that you did not notice that the engine was running higher than normal and becoming dangerously hot, unfortunately, was your fault not the car's. The fact that there was no smoke only means there was no fire. It was super heated metal (cylinders and block) that caused the engine to seize. Again, sorry for your misfortune, but there is no easy way to say the problem was of your doing and not a defect of the car. |
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Replying to: sherryls (Oct 03, 2007 4:32 pm)
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Replying to: favesis21 (Oct 03, 2007 5:41 pm) Umm.... YOU did, when your mechanic TOLD YOU about it. I mean.... DUH! If a thermostat fails, you don't wait MONTHS to fix it! And replacing a thermostat at 40k is not unheard of. It doesn't happen a lot, but once it a while it does. If I were the dealer I wouldn't fix your engine under warranty either. I know of several people that have had major work done under Hyundai's warranty. The difference between them and you is they took proper care of their cars.
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Replying to: doohickie (Oct 03, 2007 6:51 pm) |
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Replying to: favesis21 (Oct 04, 2007 4:37 am)
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Replying to: doohickie (Oct 04, 2007 1:52 pm)
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Replying to: favesis21 (Oct 04, 2007 3:43 pm) Since your mechanic advised you that there was nothing wrong with the thermostat after your Hyundai dealer advised you to replace it (I thought that is what you said?), have you asked the mechanic if he/she would be willing to cover the cost of the repair? To my knowledge, a thermostat replacement is not an expensive repair. Sometimes it is the best policy to pay a little now vs. (potentially) a lot later. Another example is timing belts. The replacement can be fairly expensive, a few hundred dollars if done at a dealer. But if it breaks, the engine can be ruined. So holding off on replacing it can save money now, and maybe it won't break. But if it does... bad news. This may not be the kind of answer you are looking for, but it's the best answer I have based on my 35 years of owning cars. |
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