We have been told by mechanic that our car has a manufacturer defect resulting in metal pieces in the oil, and the engine will soon fail. This is the same problem as the 2011-12 Sonatas. The Sonatas have been recalled but Hyundai is doing nothing about the Elantras. Has anyone experienced a similar problem?
Iām curious as to how a mechanic has determined that your engine has a defect causing metal pieces to be in the oil.
Where was the metal detected? Was there some reason that the mechanic would be searching for metal in the oil?
Why are you posting this problem twice in different posts?
Iām new and wasnāt sure where the best place was to state my problem.
Thank you for your reply. We have had the car in three times over the past nine months due to it intermittently not starting. Finally the mechanic drained the oil and put a magnet in. He said metal fragments were pulled out. He recognized it as the same problem as the Sonata engines. After a class action suit Hyundai finally did a recall of the Sonatas. Hyundai told us since our car is no longer under warranty there is nothing they will do to repair/replace the engine.
Did you see the metal?
Metal fragments in the oil would not cause intermittent failure to start and it would be much more plausible to open the engineās filter and wash the debris from the outside of the filter element to find metal debris which would mostly be non ferrous and therefore non magnetic.
+1
While I am not doubting the possibility that the OPās mechanic found metal fragments in the motor oil, that situation would absolutely NOT cause the engine to intermittently fail to start.
And regarding the Sonataās engine problems, it would appear that a failure to flush out machining debris from the crankshafts oil ports causes problems lubricating the rod bearings. That debris is trapped in the crankshaft until the damage is done and the engine dismantled unless the engine is operated until it catastrophically fails as in throwing a rod.
Metal fragments in the crankcase can collect on the crankshaft position sensor and cause no-start/drivability problems.
The engine in the Elantra is not related to the Sonata engine.
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Whoa, hold on a minuteā¦
ļhyundai ļelantra
Model-Year? Approximate miles on this vehicle?
What, specifically, is/are the symptom(s) of your carās engine problem(s)? Intermittently not starting is not a symptom of metal fragments.
Why was the car at the mechanicās shop? Was it for diagnosis and repair of a problem or just for maintenance (oil change, etcetera)?
CSA
Good catch by @Nevada_545. The 2011/2012 Elantra used a 1.8L engine. As the OP said, the Sonata uses either a 2L turbocharged engine or a 2.4L naturally aspirated engine. While it is possible that the 1.8L has the same problems as the Sonata engines, it doesnāt automatically follow that it does.
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How good is your āmechanic?ā
I donāt know what the model-year is of your Elantra (I donāt know an Elantra from a baked potato as theyāre not sold near here), but I see 2 problems for starting trouble with 2011 models.
One is a Service Campaign (voluntary recall) for battery terminal replacement and one is a Technical Service Bulletin for automatic transmission inhibitor switch.
Those are more likely to point in the direction of a starting problem than metal shavings.
CSA
Thank you for all the replies and information. The car is a 2011 Elantra SE. It has 89,200 miles. We took it to the dealer mechanic because it was rattling and occasionally not starting. We have paid $600+ for various repairs over the past few months but the same problem kept happening. I donāt know why the mechanic decided to check for metal fragments in the oil. But he said thatās what he found and that itās a manufacturer defect. Itās an authorized Hyundai service center who has been doing the work. He told us the Sonatas had the same problem and we should contact Hyundai to replace the engine. But that phone call led no whereā¦ Hyundai simply said it was no longer warrantiedā¦
Ouch! 
I guess Iām kinda glad they donāt sell them around here! When the companyās own technician tells you that you bought a defective product, but the manufacturer wonāt stand behind it, that stinks!
Iād go on the NHTSA website and look up this model car and reported defects. Then Iād register my complaint. Enough similar complaints would probably trigger an investigation.
CSA
This person has two threads about the same thing. They bought vehicle used and it is out of warranty. Most likely sold " AS IS ". I wonder if they took it to a Hyundia dealership because it is unusual to speak to the mechanic at those places.
@cdaquila Carolyn, You might want to combine the two threads.
We did not purchase the car As Is - there was a warrenty to 60,000. We did take it to the Hyundai dealership for service.
Iām sorry for the confusion of creating two threads. Is some one able to tell me how to combine them?
Thank you again for all the very knowledgeable and helpful replies. I have learned so much!
The moderator will combine them tonight or tomorrow. Donāt be too concerned about it, dozens read these posts and very few find this troubling.
The 5 year/60,000 mile warranty transfers if the Hyundai is sold used. Unfortunately the 10 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty does not.
Thanks Nevada, Iām glad to know the moderator will combine them.