2003 Hyundai Santa Fe Logo
Dobi Posted on Jan 16, 2013
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Hi,Everyone! To start with ,the other day I had problem with my 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe 2 wd,automatic transmition .I was driving to work and my car was changing the gears a little rough.At one point the rpm starts going up and down all the red lights and check engine light flashed and I managed to pull over at a small plaza ,before my car completely died.I recently changed timing belt ,have about 3000 miles with the new one.At first I tought it has something to do with the timing belt or may be the transmition.I try to start my car after 5 min,it turns on ,but died in about 10 seconds,so I left it there and had it towed to the garage.The tow guy was refusing to tow it ,because he said the car started and ran fine which was a big surprise for me,I had to explain that will probably die in a little bit so,he took it to my mechanic garage .The same night I searched online including this website and everyone with simillar problem was told that is most likely the cranckshaft position sensor and may be a tuneup needed.The next day the mechanic called me and said exactly the same,so he replaced that sensor andtuned up the engine.I spent $320 on that.I got my car back ,drove to work,about 6-7 miles without any problems.After work I was driving home and I felt the car shaked a little ,the check engine light came on again.I took my foot of the gas and the problem stopped,then I accelerate again and car shaked again and check engine light comes on .I did that a few more times with the same result.I decided not to push it anymore so I get home.When I got pretty close I tryied again and this time ...no problems?!Before all this start it, I had exhaust leak thru one of the pipes close to the manifold which I temporary secured with aluminum sheet and numbers of clamps.I mention that just to find out if that could be releated to the issue I'm having,like some other sensor failing due to the exhaust leak.Any help will be appreciated!Sorry for the long post!Thank you!

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jamiem1416

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  • Posted on Jan 16, 2013
jamiem1416
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If you hillbillied the exhaust at the front manifold, then you are losing pressure and your O2 sensor, [oxygen sensor] won't read properly. This can cause the car to buck and lose power. Also, if the O2 sensor isn't working, it can cause your IAC, [ Idle air control] to start getting clogged up, and your engine isn't getting enough back pressure to run properly. I would suggest getting that pipe replaced first. If you do or did already, and it's still acting up, I would change the O2 sensor. And what kind of tow truck driver refuses to tow your car? ha ha Never heard that one before. Hope this is helpful, if you have anymore questions, feel free. Cheers from Nova Scotia! Please rate this solution

  • 6 more comments 
  • Dobi Jan 16, 2013

    Thanks a lot! I asked my mechanic on the exhaust leak to be a reason for the problem,but he said that is not.The pipe damage is not at the manifold I didn't explain correct may be, it's close to the manifold ,but is under the car next to the oil pan.About the truck driver I don't know if he said that ,because is some AAA rule and I wasn't present when he towed my car.I asked a friend of mine to wait there and give him the keys and pay him and he called me saying the driver doesn't wanna take it ,funny but...Thanks for the respond,I'll ask the mechanic again on the exhaust when I bring my car back.Take care!

  • Dobi Jan 17, 2013

    Today I brought my car to the shop in all of sudden it turns to be a nightmare for me,nothing off or I was thinking to be.It is the belt which is next to the timing belt ,I believe is called camshaft belt,which was broken and this is why all my problems started.So the car probably didn't need any tuneup or replacing camshaft position sensor or at least not before the belt is fixed.The shop which did miy timing belt I guess didn't replace the camshaft belt at the same time while they replacing the timing belt ,so now a couple months later I got to to all over again plus a few more parts damaged ,because of this.And that's not all,my mechanic told me that I might have a valve bent ,but he would'nt know before he put the engine together after raplacing all the belts,may be water pump and sensors and I don't know what else and then I might end up with engine head damages.Advice:timing belt and all other jobs requiring profesionall repairs,not only replacing brake pads or somwthing else pretty simple,I thing you better go to your dealership or well known mechanic as it could actually save you alot of money and big headaches.

  • jamiem1416
    jamiem1416 Jan 18, 2013

    I just watched a full length video of the timing belt replacement. The timing belt and the camshaft belt are the same thing. There is no other belt under the timing belt. I'm guessing that this is the same mechanic who changed the belt??? Anyway, these are interference motors which means that if the timing belt is not installed properly, and is off only one degree, or breaks, it can be bad. The valve will actually hit the piston, bending the valves. Sometimes if the timing belt is put on even one tooth off, it can and will cause havoc. If you google '' difference between timing belt and camshaft belt '' Same thing. There is a crankshaft sensor behind the timing belt that should have also be changed for preventive measures at the time the belt was changed., but Id say your this sensor, or timing was out to begin with. If your old belt is stretched or broken, it is vitally important to get the gears lined up exactly the way they need to be to time it up just right. 2mm on one gear will make a big difference. If I was you I'd get another mechanic, and if this is another mechanic, get rid of him, he doesn't know the difference between a cam belt and timing belt, or maybe he does and is about to rip you off. If you google 03 santa fe timing belt replacement, you can give your mechanic a lesson. If you watch it yourself, you may understand a bit better as well. Good luck, let me know what happens Cheers from Nova Scotia!

  • Dobi Jan 18, 2013

    Balance shaft belt or counter balance shaft belt is the correct name of the damaged belt,but the timing belt was in good shape .From a different forum someone was explaining had the same problem with the car shut down ,while driving and all other detailshttp://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb... a look at this if you d'like,just copy it to your browser and you can read the whole article.So if it's true that damaged (counter)ballance shaft belt can not be a reason for any valves damage why from the shop they are telling me there is a 50;50 chance of bent valves and the only way to find out is after they repair the belt and sensor mess and start the engine.Do you think there is a different way to check if the valves are damaged ,And if that happend while I was driving the vehicle were they gonna be any kind of noise ,when let say the piston hits the valve or something or that could happened not so noticeable?Sorry if this question sound stupid!Anyway ,in order to get that car on the road I need to fix the belt(s)situation and crankshaft position sensor ,no matter if the valves are o'k or not,and if they are o'k that will save me...let say a lot of money,but I can't proceed without doing the timing,balance shaft belt and camshaft position sensor.Thanks for following my issue ,will see how it will go,hopefully will be helpfull for others and only terrifying for me:)f

  • jamiem1416
    jamiem1416 Jan 18, 2013

    swer - Chosen by Voters Must be a 2.4 L engine for sure. Hyundai used Mitsubishi engine in some Sonata's and Santa FE's. Indeed, when the balance shaft belt brakes, it brakes out the crankshaft sensor as well. The shock is hard and the sensor is too close to the belt. That is the reason for the sensor to get knocked off. The nice part of it is that when only the balance shaft belt brakes, it does not causes profound damages such as bending valve and/or more. You just have to replace the broken belt and crank sensor. While you're in there, its not a bad Idea to replace the timing belt as well. Make sure one thing. Whomever is doing this job must be carefully how he positions the balance shafts. If not properly positioned, it could cause extensive engine vibrations when reaching 2400 rpm's and over. These engines are notorious for balance shaft and timing belt braking. Hopefully, timing belt is OK otherwise, must proceed with a compression test.

  • jamiem1416
    jamiem1416 Jan 18, 2013

    by this, the valve shouldnt be bent. BUT if the timing belt wasnt put in properly, it would have hurt the valves.

  • Dobi Jan 18, 2013

    Thanks again! Hopefully timing belt was put correctly and it should of been ,I drove about 3 months 3000 miles without problems,so may be the reason for is the balance shaft belt,which also was suppose to be replaced when the timing was done. My bad I should of ask more details of what he actually did ,but I think he never mentioned the balance shaft belt.one more question,what if they were both replaced and then the balance shaft belt snapped,what the reason could be,is it because the timing belt wasn't put correctly or something else?Ii will talk to the mechanic who did the timing belt and find out what he did,still have the invoices for parts and labor.Later!

  • Dobi Jan 29, 2013

    Car is fixed finally .Now I will keep it a little longer .It runs great now.I believe it could be a little bit cheaper if that snapped balance shaft belt was discovered the first time my car died,so I didn't have to tow the car twice and didn't have to do tune up as well.Thanks God the valves is not hurt.

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5 Related Answers

Red Lemon

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SOURCE: Car reving up and down on its own 3 to 4 times, then sputtering and dying?

The previous solution to check the idle air contol is in the correct area but needs some clarification.
The idle control is accomplished by two parts: Throttle position sensor ( $35 at Autozone) and idle contol valve approx $190. I replaced the throttle position sensor about a week ago and it runs perfect
to date but am a skeptic after almost two years of dealer incompetance. I researched all the sensors and failure symptoms on the internet and the throttle position sensor failure symptoms matched mine
exactly. See http://wiki.seloc.org/a/Throttle _Position_Sensor

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Anonymous

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  • Posted on Dec 30, 2008

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possibly 1 of the fuel injectors is malfunctioning causing a fuel lock,try getting them tested

Anonymous

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  • Posted on May 21, 2009

SOURCE: I have car trouble.

well its kinda hard to tell whats the actual problem bc every thing is run by computer on ur vehicle but it could be a sensor of some sort or computer problem but its a good thing that the check engine light came on that mean it logged a diagnostic code and a professional mechanic can hook up a diagnostic computer to the car and see waht code it is and should be able to fix the problem for u good luck

Anonymous

  • 131 Answers
  • Posted on May 29, 2009

SOURCE: Car stalled and won't start again

Sounds like it might be either the fuel filter or the fuel pump, cause if you ran the tank down, you probably had sludge in the bottom of the tank that you sucked into the engine, you can try using a fuel system cleaner, you may have sucked sludge into the injectors running it, Zmax sells a fuel system cleaner, or there is one called RUN RIGHT, I would try putting some of that in letting it sit a few min then after it sat a few to soak in and break down the sludge, then start the car up, kick your idle up to around 1500 RPM do not go higher then that cause you will damage the engine, try that and see if that works for you, if not then I is probably the fuel pump or filter.
hope this helps.

Anonymous

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  • Posted on Sep 07, 2009

SOURCE: check engine light is on intermittenly during driving

Well, My engine light came on. I have an 03 4 cylinder sonata and we changed ignition coils, my car vibrates and was hesitating. disconnected battery to reset engine light/computer, and today my car died on me while going down the road. it starts and kills. and when it does run it sputters. i say most hyundais have similar probs.

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