CHARGING SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONED, SENSORS MELTED IN VALVE TRAIN, RADIATOR ELBOW AND FILL NECK BLEW OFF, COMPLETE ENGINE FAILURE AND BATTERY FAILURE.
As background information. I have had a problem with the "Check Brake" light and an alarm going off. However, when I stopped driving and had it towed to the dealership they could find nothing. I discovered that when this happened, if I turned off the car, the problem would correct itself. I could not drive to the dealership because car would lose power to little more than idle speed, and the brakes would feel funny and work poorly. I could not have it towed in as if I turned it off the problem would correct itself. Service advisors advised me there was nothing they could do without active light/sensors and advised me to keep driving the car until I could find a way to get it in with the sensors flashing and alarm going off. Last time it happened before this incident, I took a photo of my dash, I had 76,499 miles and the coolant meter did not read hot. I had had the coolant system flushed at 65,000 miles, and I had all oil and fluids checked again after this incident.
THE BREAKDOWN:
When I was driving from Miami to Deland, FL, about 3 hours into a nighttime highway trip, the a/c began blowing warm, simultaneously - the "the Check brake" light and alarm came on, and the "check charging system" light came on. This was a first time for check charging system. I lost power to accelerate and immediately pulled over and took a photo of my dash warnings. There was 76919 miles, The engine heat sensor was in the "cool" quadrant, the battery gage showed no power. I had the car towed to COGGIN'S HYUNDAI IN DELAND, FL.
Note, that being the original owner I should have the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty - a major reason I bought this car. Since buying the car, however, I have found this warranty to not be so good. My car has been in the shop repetitively for things that Hyundai could not explain why they happened and often did not want to cover. My window switches, door knobs, cables, all seemed to be faulty, and many things were quite expensive to fix.
At the dealership, my service writer, Lance, first accused me of ignoring the sensors and continuing to drive as a reason the radiator blew. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE. I was on the interstate, middle of the night (3:00 am), and hour away from my destination, and the car lost all power to accelerate. I called AAA immediately -as I had free towing. Why would continue to try to drive. Where to at idle speed if it would progress at that.
Then the service tech, Tiffany Richardson, made a request of corporate/warrenty to "replace long block engine, starter, radiator, coolant elbow, 12 volt battery and both water pumps." She stated "tech found that elbow and radiator have holes in them vehicle overheated causing engine to blow." When asked why the radiator elbow blew off and fill neck blew off, Tiffany Richardson answered "tech believe vehicle was driven with low coolant level causing vehicle to run hot melting sensors in the valve train and the pipes to fail." However, I believe the tech is wrond and does not have such evidence.
HMA declines to provide assistance due to "evidence of the lack of coolant/overheating and not a factory defect."
Again, coolant system was inspected and flushed at 65,000 miles, and was not sure for another inspection for 30,000. miles. I had had coolant levels checked less than 1000 miles ago, and the heating sensor gague on the dash did not read hot either now (at the point of breakdown) or after a road trip 500 miles ago. THe tech is not considering all of the evidence or doing her research.
I have looked they Hybrid Forums and found many people with the same problem - even when the car was new. The engine did not alway blow and cause sensors and the radiator to blow the they had hte same symptons of my breakdown even with only 3000 miles on the car. THey said it was the HPCU.
According to the forum, all of the power for both electric motors is routed through the Hybrid Power Control Unit (HPCU) THe inverters allow the a/c motors to be driven by the D/c Batteries. This casued the "check charging system" error, and I believe there may have been a recall of this part in 2011.
The inverter has a control board, power semi conductors, DC-link capacitor, bus bar, current sensors, and heat sink. The control board covers inverters for the two motors with one 32 bit processor.
I am not sure what that means - but many people have had the same symptoms shut down their car.
Hyundai's District manager covering the Deland, Florida office, has instructed the dealership not to provide me ither photos of the affected parts. They obviously have something to hide. I spoke to a new service manager (Scott) briefly, and he was supposed to call me back but did not. They have refused to give me the service manager, dealership manager, or District manager's phone number or email address, or to let me speak to them in any way.
Lance referred me to corporate, who let me speak to a case manager (case number 10167295). Case manager doesn't know anything about the mechanics and is not one to speak to. They would not take the complaint and just referred me to the BBB lemon law section. They took my complaint then sent me a letter saying Hyundai did not arbitrate anything with more than 60,000 miles! Some 100,000 mile warranty! This is a company of scammers. What happened to me is a noted and known safety concern, as many in the forums I have read noted. No one will even talk to me about it. Lance wouldn't even write up the problem as I described it - referring to the check brake and check charging system lights and alarms - only mentioning the check engine light.
Do not buy a Hyundai - do not use Coggins Hyundai for any service or purchase! Please report these issues - even though the car is older now. Many people are effected and it is still a safety concern. I still owe almost $4000.00 on this car and it is not worth fixing.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
CHARGING SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONED, SENSORS MELTED IN VALVE TRAIN, RADIATOR ELBOW AND FILL NECK BLEW OFF, COMPLETE ENGINE FAILURE AND BATTERY FAILURE.
As background information. I have had a problem with the "Check Brake" light and an alarm going off. However, when I stopped driving and had it towed to the dealership they could find nothing. I discovered that when this happened, if I turned off the car, the problem would correct itself. I could not drive to the dealership because car would lose power to little more than idle speed, and the brakes would feel funny and work poorly. I could not have it towed in as if I turned it off the problem would correct itself. Service advisors advised me there was nothing they could do without active light/sensors and advised me to keep driving the car until I could find a way to get it in with the sensors flashing and alarm going off. Last time it happened before this incident, I took a photo of my dash, I had 76,499 miles and the coolant meter did not read hot. I had had the coolant system flushed at 65,000 miles, and I had all oil and fluids checked again after this incident.
THE BREAKDOWN: When I was driving from Miami to Deland, FL, about 3 hours into a nighttime highway trip, the a/c began blowing warm, simultaneously - the "the Check brake" light and alarm came on, and the "check charging system" light came on. This was a first time for check charging system. I lost power to accelerate and immediately pulled over and took a photo of my dash warnings. There was 76919 miles, The engine heat sensor was in the "cool" quadrant, the battery gage showed no power. I had the car towed to COGGIN'S HYUNDAI IN DELAND, FL.
Note, that being the original owner I should have the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty - a major reason I bought this car. Since buying the car, however, I have found this warranty to not be so good. My car has been in the shop repetitively for things that Hyundai could not explain why they happened and often did not want to cover. My window switches, door knobs, cables, all seemed to be faulty, and many things were quite expensive to fix.
At the dealership, my service writer, Lance, first accused me of ignoring the sensors and continuing to drive as a reason the radiator blew. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE. I was on the interstate, middle of the night (3:00 am), and hour away from my destination, and the car lost all power to accelerate. I called AAA immediately -as I had free towing. Why would continue to try to drive. Where to at idle speed if it would progress at that.
Then the service tech, Tiffany Richardson, made a request of corporate/warrenty to "replace long block engine, starter, radiator, coolant elbow, 12 volt battery and both water pumps." She stated "tech found that elbow and radiator have holes in them vehicle overheated causing engine to blow." When asked why the radiator elbow blew off and fill neck blew off, Tiffany Richardson answered "tech believe vehicle was driven with low coolant level causing vehicle to run hot melting sensors in the valve train and the pipes to fail." However, I believe the tech is wrond and does not have such evidence.
HMA declines to provide assistance due to "evidence of the lack of coolant/overheating and not a factory defect."
Again, coolant system was inspected and flushed at 65,000 miles, and was not sure for another inspection for 30,000. miles. I had had coolant levels checked less than 1000 miles ago, and the heating sensor gague on the dash did not read hot either now (at the point of breakdown) or after a road trip 500 miles ago. THe tech is not considering all of the evidence or doing her research.
I have looked they Hybrid Forums and found many people with the same problem - even when the car was new. The engine did not alway blow and cause sensors and the radiator to blow the they had hte same symptons of my breakdown even with only 3000 miles on the car. THey said it was the HPCU.
According to the forum, all of the power for both electric motors is routed through the Hybrid Power Control Unit (HPCU) THe inverters allow the a/c motors to be driven by the D/c Batteries. This casued the "check charging system" error, and I believe there may have been a recall of this part in 2011.
The inverter has a control board, power semi conductors, DC-link capacitor, bus bar, current sensors, and heat sink. The control board covers inverters for the two motors with one 32 bit processor.
I am not sure what that means - but many people have had the same symptoms shut down their car.
Hyundai's District manager covering the Deland, Florida office, has instructed the dealership not to provide me ither photos of the affected parts. They obviously have something to hide. I spoke to a new service manager (Scott) briefly, and he was supposed to call me back but did not. They have refused to give me the service manager, dealership manager, or District manager's phone number or email address, or to let me speak to them in any way.
Lance referred me to corporate, who let me speak to a case manager (case number 10167295). Case manager doesn't know anything about the mechanics and is not one to speak to. They would not take the complaint and just referred me to the BBB lemon law section. They took my complaint then sent me a letter saying Hyundai did not arbitrate anything with more than 60,000 miles! Some 100,000 mile warranty! This is a company of scammers. What happened to me is a noted and known safety concern, as many in the forums I have read noted. No one will even talk to me about it. Lance wouldn't even write up the problem as I described it - referring to the check brake and check charging system lights and alarms - only mentioning the check engine light.
Do not buy a Hyundai - do not use Coggins Hyundai for any service or purchase! Please report these issues - even though the car is older now. Many people are effected and it is still a safety concern. I still owe almost $4000.00 on this car and it is not worth fixing.
- Natalie N., Miami Beach, US