2008 Hyundai Santa Fe

The contact owns a 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed with the cruise control activated, the contact stated that after depressing the brake pedal the cruise control briefly failed to disengage. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. The Electronic Power Control (EPC) and power train warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the stop lamp switch. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 13V113000 (Exterior Lighting); the VIN was included, but the vehicle had already been repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 195,000.

Reference Number: 11520065 This is a follow up to a previously submitted incident involving this same vehicle. My first submission was May, 2023, This vehicle experienced the exact same hazardous condition on February 26, 2024. on I-75 south. After driving on an interstate highway for about 1 hour, I noticed a traffic backup and proceeded to slow down as the traffic was nearly stopped. As I slowed my car down to nearly a complete stop, the engine suddenly surged forward with high rpm's as though the accelerator was pushed to the floor. I immediately pressed on the brake pedal as hard as I could to stop the car from surging forward and then quickly decided to put the transmission into neutral so I would not hit the car in front of me. The car eventually stopped surging and may have stalled. I finally got the car to move again by turning off the ignition and restarting it. I continued on my way and did not have a similar situation for the rest of my 30 minute highway trip. Like all the times before, the floor mat was NOT involved in this sudden acceleration. Last year when I took this car to a Hyundai dealer for inspection, they could not replicate this condition. They said that I needed a new fuel level sensor in my gas tank and a new fuel pump--neither of which I agreed to because first, the gas gauge has no relation to my surging and second, the fuel pump must be working or else I could not drive the car. This surging has occurred perhaps 7 times since I have owned this car since 2008. It is frightening to know that it could happen again with personal injuries or property damage. This condition rarely happens in city driving, but has happened at least 3 times in city driving. Seems like this situation would warrant a manufacturer recall.

WITH ONLY A LITTLE OVER 113,000 MILES ON THE VEHICLE, THE TRANSMISSION BEGAN, WITHOUT WARNING, MAKING A JET ENGINE TYPE WHINING NOISE WHEN ACCELERATING, AND A NOTICEABLE WHIRRING NOISE WITH A FAIRLY ROUGH "WIND DOWN" OF THE TRANSMISSION WHEN DECELERATING. NO INDICATIONS OF A AN IMPENDING FAILURE WERE NOTED PRIOR TO THE TRANSMISSION SYMPTOMS BEING NOTED. ONLINE RESEARCH INDICATED THAT THESE WERE THE SAME EXACT SYMPTOMS NOTED AS A RESULT OF A RECALL OF NEARLY 6000 2010 HYUNDAI VEHICLES, WHICH REQUIRED A RECALL OF THESE VEHICLES. THE 2008 SANTA FE IN THIS CASE HAS THE SAME OR VERY SIMILAR TRANSMISSION AND ENGINE CONFIGURATION, AND AT LEAST ONE OTHER 2008 OWNER HAS COMPLAINED OF THIS SITUATION. IN ADDITION, IN DISCUSSING THIS WITH THE HYUNDAI DEALER SERVICE MANAGER, HE STATED THAT THERE ARE PROBLEMS WITH THE TRANSMISSION AND THAT THERE ARE VERY FEW, IF ANY, IN STOCK AND HAVE TO COME FROM THE MANUFACTURER IN ATLANTA DUE TO THE DEMAND FOR REPLACEMENTS (LATEST ESTIMATE IS 10 DAYS TO 2 WEEKS JUST TO GET THE PARTS!). NOW, HYUNDAI HAS BEEN "GRACIOUS" IN AGREEING TO PAY FOR HALF OF THE COST (SO NICE, CONSIDERING IT ONLY HAS 113K MILES ON IT BEFORE IT FAILED), BUT I BELIEVE STRONGLY THAT THE CAMPAIGN 102 RECALL ACTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE 2010 SANTA FE VEHICLES NEEDS TO BE FURTHER EXAMINED, AND I BELIEVE STRONGLY THAT IT WILL BE FOUND THAT THE SAME CONDITIONS, NEED FOR RECALL AND KIT INSTALLATION, ETC. FORGET THE YEAR MODELS WHICH SEEMS TO BE THE FOCAL POINT - FOCUS ON THE TRANSMISSION PARTS AND MODEL NUMBERS, AND SIMILAR CONFIGURATIONS, PLEASE! THE HYUNDAI DEALER HAS PROVIDED HYUNDAI WITH PART NUMBERS, DIAGNOSTIC INFORMATION, TECHNICIAN OBSERVATIONS, ETC. NO VISIBLE DAMAGE (HENCE NO PHOTOS) WAS DISCERNIBLE ON MY (THE OWNER'S) PART. TRANSMISSION FAILURE OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING IN COLORADO SPRINGS (PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN BROKEN ARROW, OK).

HYUNDAI'S SLAVE CYLINDER IS A FAULTY PART KNOWN ABOUT ONLINE AND IN MECHANIC SHOPS. IT HAS FAILED TWICE IN 65,000 MILES AND CAUSED ADDITIONAL DAMAGE. IT RECENTLY FAILED WHILE DRIVING AS THE VEHICLE SLOWED TO TURN AND SHIFTED TO ACCELERATE AGAIN. THE CLUTCH WAS DAMAGED BY THIS PART AND WE HAD A $2,000 BILL. THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CLUTCH PRIOR TO THIS AND THE DEALERSHIP EVEN INFORMED US IT WAS DAMAGED BY THE SLAVE CYLINDER. HYUNDAI DOESN'T CONSIDER THE SLAVE CYLINDER "PART OF THE POWERTRAIN WARRANTY" AND IS DENYING OUR CLAIM FOR REIMBURSEMENT.

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.

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.