My daughter has an 09 AWD Hyundai Santa Fe w 80K miles. She recently had a lot of work done on the vehicle (replaced both CV axles, timing belt). Also had to replace the AWD clutch in the rear differential as it failed engaged - fortunately this was covered under the extended warranty. However, prior to all this work (and noticed by both my daughter and the shop) and since the work was done, there is a slight pulsing vibration as the car accelerates from a stop or as you accelerate after you are in a turn. Once you are at speed, there is no vibration; only seems to occur when engine is under a load. The mechanics noticed this pulsing too, but could see nothing underneath that would point to any particular cause (motor mounts looked good, drive line appeared good, etc). Tires are pretty new and do not show any unusual wear; it does not seem like an alignment issue.
If the frequency of the vibration increases as speed increases, sounds like an inner CV joint failing.
An engine miss might be described as a pulsing while accelerating. Are there any diagnostic codes? Is the check engine light on or has it been on?
I also think that this sounds more like a misfire. It doesn’t always trigger a check engine light. Is this a 6 cylinder or 4 and when were the plugs changed?
I will still scan it for codes.
Thanks. This is a 6 cylinder; Check Engine light has not come on; the shop did not say anything about diagnostic code issues.
Thank you. Both CV axles were replaced (each has a CV joint in the axle). When you say inner CV joint, is there a CV joint in the transmission?
it is a 6 cylinder; not sure when the plugs were changed
No, the inner CV joint is part of each axle you replace. You replaced the front axles, but not the rears, right?
yes, just replaced the front cv axles