2008 Hyundai Santa Fe: sudden loss of power

Filed Nov 29, 2021 · Body, Suspension · 72,000 miles · FL

The contact owns a 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while reversing out of his driveway at 1 MPH, the front end on the passenger’s side of the vehicle collapsed almost causing the wheel to detach. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. There was no injury sustained. The contact had the vehicle towed to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the control arm and ball joint had shattered. The contact stated that the vehicle remained at the dealer awaiting the arrival of the replacement part. The manufacturer was contacted and provided the contact a case number. The approximate failure mileage was 72,000. Repaired at cost of $1666.67 at Napelton Hyundai 3703 Northlake BLVD Lake Park Florida 33403. The car had a faulty fuel gauge which could NOT be repaired after 3 attempts. Car also experienced loss of power brakes and power steering while driving on the highway.

Filed Jul 11, 2018 · Engine, Steering · 113,000 miles · UT

My 2008 hyundai santa fe stalled twice today. It also stalled on the same day twice last week. This happened each time I came to a stop light or wanted to make a turn. The engine stopped running, the power steering ceased working, and check engine light came on. After each occurrence, I switched my hazard lights on, pushed the transaxle to park and then restarted the car to pull out of traffic. The stalling is often accompanied by loss of power (power steering and brakes too), complete failure to accelerate, and the check engine light comes on.

Filed May 9, 2018 · Fuel system · 110,000 miles · AZ

The fuel gauge fluctuates and does not show an accurate fuel level. It's only accurate after filling and then after usage is inaccurate. This at times results in check engine lights that would fail emissions. Highway driving is a concern if the car suddenly lost engine power. Started at 110k miles.

Filed Jul 25, 2017 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 76,000 miles · OK

I actually have 2 issues occurring. One of these was deemed to have been fixed by a previous recall (campaign 105/110 - fixed /closed jun 23, 2014). However, my ESC off light and ABS light are again lighting up. I have (luckily) not yet had loss of engine power or control. The second issue is in regards to campaign 936. I've had the front engine valve gasket cover fixed, along with my alternator replaced (after my husband and I did it ourselves after losing all power on christmas eve in the middle of road before barely coasting into a nearby parking lot where we were able to sort of park out of the way). We changed my oil this weekend, have had no other work done on the car since (except oil changes) and my husband noticed that the alternator is again covered in oil. Between the 2 issues, it is most likely a matter of days (if I'm lucky) before my car loses power in some form and I am potentially in a wreck with my family in the car. I don't know how much the dealership wants to "re-fix" the first 2 campaigns that should have already been fixed, but for just the valve gasket work, it would be at least $500, not including the alternator that will need to be replaced when the car does go out. Apparently the gasket that is leaking this time isn't the front one, it is the rear one. My personal thoughts on this are that if the front one is faulty, then it's not a stretch to get to the rear one being faulty. My hyundai dealership even warned me when replacing the front one that my rear one would most likely need to be done too (for $500+). If the dealerships know, it makes me wonder why the recall didn't include both valve cover gaskets or a new one hasn't been issued for the rear one. Hopefully, both of these issues can be re-addressed. The date below is of first warning lights. The lights come on from park or while driving.

Filed Jun 9, 2017 · Electrical, Steering · 143,000 miles · CA

My car has stalled several times this past week without warning or indication that anything is wrong. The vehicle will suddenly stop and lose power completely while I anxiously try to restart it. It has put me at risk with other drivers where I've had to put my hazards on and hope vehicles are able to stop in time so they don't hit me. I've taken it in for service and they can't seem to replicate the problem. The car is a safety hazard and no one seems to be helping me. I found information online about hyundai getting slapped with a class action suit for the same problems I'm reporting, but the suit appears to only cover 2010-2012 models, mine is 2008. I don't know what to do!

Filed May 17, 2017 · Brakes, Engine · 124,000 miles · WV

I was driving at a low speed, making a left-hand turn when the car lost all power. No brakes, no steering. I was able to get the car into a driveway. I was able to restart . About 1 hour later the same thing, only this time I was making a left-hand turn across a very busy city street.. I was almost hit by an oncoming vehicle. This is very dangerous and will probably sell the car & tell the new owners about my issue. I have not taken it to a garage, as the closest hyundai shop to me is an hour away. I do not feel safe driving that far.

Filed Oct 12, 2015 · Fuel system · 90,000 miles · NH

Fuel gauge started intermittently going up and down, then stopped working completely. While driving in the left lane on i95, at 70 MPH, the vehicle stalled running out of gas almost causing a crash, due to the loss of all power.

Filed Sep 15, 2015 · Brakes, Electrical · 101,356 miles · TN

I lost power steering and power brakes while stopped at a stop sign going up a very steep grade. I was unable to shift into park so that I could turn my car off. I had to lay on the brake with all my weight to keep from rolling backwards into cars behind me. There were no warning lights. After a minute, which felt like much longer, I was able to shift to park and turn my car off and back on. The second time I lost all power, was a couple months later. I was going about 40 MPH on a curvy hilly road. I was unable to steer, accelerate, decelerate, or apply the brakes. There were cars behind me and I was terrified I would end up off the road or heading into oncoming traffic. The vehicle finally came to a stop when it didn't have enough momentum to make it up a hill. I was able to shift into park and turn the car off and back on. Both times my infant was in the car with me. Thank goodness both of us were unharmed, because we could have very easily been hurt or hurt others. I was in a several thousand pound vehicle which was out of control. I had it towed to the dealership the next day as I refused to drive it. They didn't seem to think it was a big deal and said I needed a new alternator. Luckily, I had purchased an extended warranty which covered the alternator replacement.

Filed Aug 21, 2015 · Steering · 96,490 miles · PA

Lost power steering, without warning. Luckily I was going slow crossing an intersection, and stoping. After that it was a losing tug of war with the steering. Mechanic found rack lines rusted and leaking. If I was traveling at any speed, I may have lost control. Very dangerous! Please help prevent an accident or death.

Filed Jul 28, 2015 · Acceleration, Engine · 99,617 miles · LA

My santa fe awd 2008 was bought in june 2009 and now has ~99k mileage. I had four or five similar incidents with my santa fe starting on 4/21/15, which LED to significant power loss and speed loss of the car on the road. The first time, I was driving on a local road at ~25 MPH. Suddenly I felt the car lost the power and began to slow down. I stepped down on the accelerator, but the car could not accelerate (the speed dropped to ~10 MPH). I saw 3 system indicator/warning lights on: the ESC off(electronic stability control) and check engine indicators had a steady light and the awd system warning light was flashing. I pulled off to the side of the road, shut off the car, waited ~1 minute, and then restarted the car. The check engine light stayed on, but the other lights went out. Then I drove the car to continue to my job. The 2nd incident occurred on my way home. The same scenario except that I was driving at ~40 MPH at the time. The sudden power loss caused the car speed quickly dropped to ~10 MPH and probably LED the car behind mine to make a sudden stop to avoid a crash. Again, I pulled off to the side of the road, shut off the engine, and then restarted the car with the check engine light staying on. The other times I was on the cresent city connection (bridge) in the center lane. I had to work my way over two lanes to turn the vehicle off to restart to continue on my way to or from work. After the 5th time, I did some research online and found an article stating that this problem was on the tsb (technical safety bulletin). Maybe someone somewhere should be aware of more than one vehicle having this problem.......

Filed Jul 7, 2015 · Engine, Transmission · 20,000 miles · MD

After several hours of normal highway driving, the vehicle experienced a sudden loss of power as the engine computer entered "limp home" mode. Pressing the accelerator had no effect. Diagnosed as throttle position sensor failure. This problem occurred several times, with an engine restart clearing the problem temporarily. While these incidents did not result in a crash, they could easily have, depending on traffic circumstances.

Filed Aug 20, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 169,748 miles · FL

While driving on I-95, the charging system warning light came on followed by a loss of engine power and then engine stopped completely. Was able to safely make it to the road side. Dealer diagnosed a defective valve cover gasket allowed oil to leak which dripped on and into the alternator causing it to fail. Second identical failure on vehicle in two years. V-6, automatic, 2wd. Found manufacturer just issued a recall on veracruz model which shares the same platform for identical symptoms and failures.