Valve cover leak or head gasket leak
2008 Hyundai Santa Fe engine complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 70, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Vehicle has stalled couple of times while driving. One on the service road just about to merge on the highway 1604 North after taking left turn from the Potranco road about a year ago. Steering got locked and engine died, I managed to pull over to the right shoulder into the parking lot of Med Clinic. After couple tries, I was able to get it going. There is occasional check engine light on that goes off after some time of driving and not sure if this is related to stalling of engine. There is a history of oil leak under the hood. I received recall service notice for leaking cylinder head gasket which outlined same issues that I encountered before and took vehicle to the dealership. It was kept for 2 days for service and was returned to me. There is still sign of wetted oil on the parts. There is no sign that I could see of opening and taking parts apart for the so-called completed service, dust and debris seem to be untouched. I have a doubt that service evert took place. I filed a complaint with the Hyundai Motors requesting independent assessment if gasket was actually changed. They sent an acknowledgement of receiving the complaint, but no one has contacted me.
i change the oil on 4/18/2023 in walmart i park the car in my house i used on 04/23/2023 on i-75 southbound the oil light came out and them smoke star on the car fallow by fire me and daugther an husband where on the suv was tereffied
Head on impact rear ending a truck. Engine locked melted head gaskets and destroyed radiator
On highway, car would no longer accelerate and went into limp mode causing me to slow to 50 MPH and not be able to keep up with speed if traffic. Pulled over, dash lights flashed and car would not restart. Oil had leaked out of valve cover gasket all over the alternator causing the car to malfunction and become inoperable.
Car cutsoff while driving
Turning left thru an intersection th e car stalled, leaving us with no brakes and very little steering. This has happened more than once.
Leaking valve cover is allowing oil to leak down onto the alternator. Car be stationary or running. Most notable when car engine is running.
The car shuts off while driving. No pre-warning or alert before it happens
I was driving along and made a right turn into a intersecting road when I encountered loss of steering control. After almost hitting a car I got it off to the side of road and discovered that the engine had just shut off with no warning. It cranked right back up and I drove it home but now I am afraid to drive it.
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.
While normal driving down a city road going straight the vehicle will stall without any notice or any change in condition. You loose all power, brakes and steering when this happens and have to bring it to stop with emergency brake and place in park. Then you can start the vehicle once again like it has no issues. This issue produces no engine trouble codes and has happened 3 other times in the 6 years we owned the vehicle. This is extremely dangerous and we never know when it will happen.
There have been 3 instances where after turning on my vehicle, the power is throttled and I can only drive a couple miles per hour. I ran a diagnostic scan, and obtained the codes p2106, p1295,and p2135. I searched online and found this to be a common problem. There appears to be a technical service bulletin out for this issue (tsb 09-fl003-2). If this is a common issue, should there be a recall? Thank you.
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.
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.
Took my car to a two mechanics who both said there is a gas leak in the evaporator of the emission control system. I read online that this issue is common with santa fes and I believe the company should issue a recall and get this dangerous issue fixed.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 hyundai santa fe. While driving various speeds, the contact heard a whining noise. Also, when the contact shifted from first to second or from third to fourth gear, the transmission shook violently and the engine warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the purge valve needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. After the repair, the failure recurred several times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 41,432.
While at a stop in a construction zone, my foot was on the brake, when the vehicle suddenly accelerated into the vehicle in front of me. Although my foot was planted hard on the brake, the engine continued racing, and it felt like my car was going to push his car down the street! I shifted into park and turned the car off. Luckily there was only $4,000 worth of damage to my car, and no one was hurt. I refused to drive it, and had it towed to the dealer. They said the computer showed no malfunction, and it had to be driver error. Three months later, it did it again to a lesser degree, in an open area. I turned the car off again, and it was fine until yesterday. It has been 4 months since that last incident, but this one even was worse than the first. Only thing is, now I know to put all my weight on the brake, shift to neutral and turn the car off as fast as I can. This one frightened me so badly, I will not drive it again. It is going to sit at the dealer until they find out what to do. I cannot in good conscience drive it, sell it or even trade it in until I know it is safe! Every time it happened, the car was on a city street, stationary, and heading straight. The engine revs up so loud, it sounds like an airplane! Yesterday I could tell the people in the car stopped next to me heard it and looked at me! I have owned this santa fe since it was brand new, and people tell me it looks like a new car. I keep up with the recommended maintenance and always take it to the dealer for service. Until last july, it has been an excellent car. The accident I had with it was the only accident I have had in 50 years of driving! Please give me some ideas on what to tell the dealer to replace, repair or disconnect. Thanks for your help!
While accelerating to merge with traffic the engine starting making a strange noise. It continued to run and the noise decreased, and sometimes even quit. The next day the noise was back and while driving down a hill the engine died and my wife was able to coast onto an exit ramp. I was able to get it restarted and drove it to the dealer. The dealer stated with the knocking sound and they found metal in the oil it would need a new engine. I could not afford the over $7,000 estimate so I loaded the car on a trailer and took it home to repair myself. When I dissembled the engine I found one of the connecting rod bearings had spun and all the main bearings had significant damage consistent with metal debris on the bearing surface.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 hyundia santa fe. While operating the vehicle, the check engine indicator illuminated and the fuel gauge indicator provided false readings. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 143,000.
My 2008 santa fe with 109,000 miles suddenly shut off on me when approaching a stop sign. The stop sign was on a slight turn and I never realized it until I had no power steering and saw all the lights lit on the dash. I put car in park and it restarted with no issues. Later that day I went to start the car and engine made a loud clunk sound and car shook for a second. I decided not to drive it that day. It has been 3 days since the first shut down and so far the car has been running like normal. Called hyundai and made note of my complaint but didn't seem to know about this issue or so maybe they are not at liberty to say if they have. They never gave me an answer except to take it to a dealer to see if they can diagnosis the problem. I see recall was put out for the 2010-2012 model years but not for older models.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 hyundai santa fe. While having the vehicle routinely inspected for emissions, the vehicle failed due to a faulty fuel gauge. The check engine indicator illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing, but the details could not be provided. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 102,129.
After 141,000 miles the engine threw a rod, I had heard a clicking noise for a while but was assured it was a normal engine sound after taking it to the dealer. I change my oil regularly and have my slips, the engine completely failed while driving. In the last year and a half I am having to replace approximately one low beam headlamp per month.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 hyundai santa fe. The contact stated that the speedometer was reading empty and all over the place. The check engine warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 54,000. Updated 05/10/16*lj
When driving and you hit the breaks, the vehicle attempts to stall, or if you use the high or low breams the radio shuts off and the GPS turns on or you loses it all, while on high way way if you use your high or low beams the engine starts to stall then keeps going causing the vehicle behind you have to break quickly to avoid hitting you as you loose all power for a matter of seconds this happen while moving or parked, I mhave installed two new alternators in the past three weeks and the problem coniinues
I also had the fuel sensor go out and had it fixed. And I had to have my alternator replaced twice. Once when it went out and again in 9 months due to recall for a fuel gasket cover default. So I paid the first time out of pocket $700 only to find out it was probably due to the default. Lynda
While accelerating to get on the highway the vehicle rapidly accelerated without pressing the gas pedal. When this occurred the pedal started going to the floor. Prying up on the pedal with your foot did not have an affect. This has happened twice and the dealer has looked at it twice and has advised that they could not find a problem.
I exited a toll and proceeded to enter the nj turnpike, suddenly, the steering became tight. I noticed that the power steering was out, along with the engine. The engine just turned off. Thankfully, no traffic, I proceed to pull to the feeder of the entrance. Put car in park, and the car restarted. I am not sure what happened, and fearful that this could happen, with trucks behind me, unable to pull to the side and risk serious injury. No check engine light warning was indicated. I recently had two knock sensors replaced at the hyundai dealership.
Fuel gauge has been faulty and check engine light would turn on and off after replacing what I thought was a bad battery one month ago. One week ago while driving, all lights on dashboard came on (battery, check engine, ABS, ESC...), engine started to rev, electrical and power steering failed, and car had to be turned off in the middle of the road and towed home. This has happened twice while driving now. Issue is from a failing/failed alternator caused by oil leak from front valve cover. This problem is identical to issues with '06-'12 veracruz, recall #121.
While I was driving along at approximately 25 MPH in my hyundai santafe the steering became very difficult and there was no throttle response. I stopped the vehicle completely in the middle of the boulevard street and put the vehicle in park and restarted the engine. I was very frightened during the incident that someone was going to run into the back of my car and that the vehicle would stop again before I got home. I refused to drive the vehicle again and followed my husband in another vehicle as he drove the faulty vehicle to the dealer the following day. The tech rep we spoke with at the dealer casually said the throttle positioning sensor was bad and if we wanted it repaired it would cost about $400. I couldn't believe they would let me leave the dealership with this malfunctioning part. The symptoms are the same as the general motors ignition switch problem. I looked it up online and this seems to be a common problem with the hyundai santafe. Where is the outrage? Where are the recalls? Is it going to take many deaths and 10 years to correct this problem like gm ignition switch problem? Does somebody have to die before this is taken seriously? Hyundai management refuses to discuss this problem. I sincerely hope I can appeal to your sensibility and force this korean company to address this dangerous problem.
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