Bought GLS 2.4L 2 yrs. ago. No problems until last week after 10 min drive, engine cut off and I thought I heard a noise like hitting a pot hole. Was able to start car eventually but AAA was already arrived so they towed it. No codes showed on check up. Has been driving ok since, but just around town. Need to drive home about 500 miles. Should I be worried? Anyone ever heard of this? 85k on odometer. Thanks in advance.
There is a similar complaint posted on carcomplaints.com regarding your model year.
On a road trip from Fort Worth to Galveston, Texas (about 300 miles) I first experienced lack of acceleration. The car would hold speed while on cruise control, but I could not accelerate to pass someone on the highway. About 10 minutes after noticing this issue, the engine began to make a knocking noise. It started out softly and increased in volume. I was traveling on I-45, and was located on a stretch with no easy access to a gas station or other location to pull in and stop. I hoped to go an additional 10 miles to Madisonville, Texas, and stop there.
Suddenly, the engine made a very loud noise. The car shook, the engine raced to over 6000 rpm, and then shut off. When the engine raced, the engine light came on for the first time. I had enough speed to be able to pull over to the shoulder. I turned the car off, and upon trying to turn it back on, the engine tried to turn over but could not. The car was completely inoperable. I had to call a tow truck and have it towed 40 miles to the nearest dealership in Huntsville, Texas. Kamkad Hyundai diagnosed the engine as completely ruined, most likely due to a bearing failure. The dealer stated it would cost approximately $6,000 parts and labor to replace the engine, and that none were available for months. Dealer offered me $1,000 for the car.
This was an extremely dangerous situation. I sat on the shoulder of a major interstate, with traffic whizzing by at 80 mph, for an hour and a half. My car has had regular oil changes, a fresh battery, and was in good, clean operating condition. I am extremely lucky that I did not have an accident or suffer an injury as a result of the engine failure.
My immediate family all owns Hyundais, and until last week, I would have recommended a Tucson to anyone. I will no longer be doing so, and will be seeking redress from Hyundai.
- Monica B. , Fort Worth, US
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Thanks for the response. My Tucson at the moment is still running around town seemingly ok. No engine lights ever came on and all the electrical still worked at time of event, which happened last week. And of course, no codes ever presented. Still puzzled and in a quandry whether to drive this vehicle 500 miles home. This is the first problem with the car in 3 years now, other than routine maintenance, etc. Thanks again.
Engine cut off while driving could be due to a defective ignition switch.Ask an independant mechanic to test it before your road trip.
The ignition switch is one of the most important electronic components that is commonly found on many road going cars and trucks. It is usually located on the steering column, just behind the ignition lock cylinder. The two work together to power on and start the vehicle. The ignition switch has several positions that power on different systems as the key is turned. Most ignition switches will activate the electrical accessories on the first position, power on the fuel and ignition systems on the second position, and crank the engine on the third.
As the ignition switch is frequently used, every time the vehicle is powered on and started, it will eventually wear out and begin to have issues. Usually a faulty ignition switch will produce a few symptoms that can alert the driver of a potential issue.
1. Car stalls while driving
One of the first symptoms of an issue with the ignition switch is a vehicle that suddenly stalls while the engine is operating. If the ignition switch fails while the engine is operating it may cut off power to the ignition and fuel systems, which will cause the engine to stall. Depending on the exact issue, the vehicle may or may not be able to be restarted a short while later.
car was towed to shop? what did mechanic say?
Thank you for that info. Would this condition not show up as a code? Also, all electrical, lights etc. were working at the time and no engine lights were on. Thanks.
It won’t show as a code.I hope one day they could integrate this malfunction into a CEL.
Thank you for your help.
Jim Smith
I would wonder if the RPM limiter failed on this Hyundai?
This could happen on high performance vehicule.
I guess you are referring to the Rev limiter , couldn’t that happen to any vehicle ?
It could happen but its very rare.I have never seen one fail on a passenger car.
I don’t recall any posts here on that topic for this vehicle, but you could see what the Car Talk forum search feature says, maybe there have been some posts about this. Click that icon above right that looks like a magnifying glass.
This sort of intermittent problem is difficult for a shop to diagnose unless it occurs when they are testing it. The best plan is have a shop with the Hyundai scan tool (or equivalent) and Hyundai experience do a general inspection to see if they can find anything wrong; then if they don’t find anything, have the shop keep it for a week or two and test it from time to time. They’ll look through the applicable tsbs, and might have one of their crew use it as their daily driver. If it’s going to fail this way again, it will probably fail during this interval, and they’ll be able to figure out the cause. If it doesn’t fail, it probably isn’t going to fail this way again anytime soon. You’d have to come up with another form of transport in the meantime. If you don’t want to go through all that, one idea is just to drive it with a single key in the ignition, rather than a chain of dangling keys. Sometimes the swinging of the key-chain can damage the ignition switch & cause symptoms similar to this.
Good point here!
Same here. Never buy or recommend Hyundai to anyone. Still having engine issues emitting white blue smoke randomly, burning oil consumption, never warning lights, not safe to drive on highway. Has been in dealership so many times they’ve now actually refused to work on my car under manufacturer warranty & Hyundai corporate will not address certified letters or phone calls. I will warn everyone!!!