2004 Hyundai Sonata Transmission Problems

Your 2004 Hyundai Sonata is missing one of its two required catalytic converters and has only a single muffler instead of the dual exhaust system it needs for the 2.7L engine. This improper exhaust setup has caused motor oil to enter your engine block, damaged your heater core, and blown your head gasket. You've had certified mechanics replace parts, but additional problems keep appearing. The fix will require installing the missing catalytic converter, adding a second muffler and complete dual exhaust system, and addressing the engine block oil contamination and head gasket failure.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 HYUNDAI SONATA. WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS SHIFTED INTO DRIVE, IT ACCELERATED ON ITS OWN. THE CONTACT HAD TO TAP THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL A FEW TIMES OR SHIFT INTO PARK FOR THE VEHICLE TO OPERATE NORMALLY. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE DEALER AND MANUFACTURER WERE NOT CONTACTED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 215,000.

THE CAR WAS PARKED IN A RESIDENTIAL PARKING AREA. IT HAD BEEN BACKED INTO THE SPACE. AFTER STARTING THE CAR AND PUTTING THE TRANSMISSION IN DRIVE, THE CAR ACCELERATED UNCONTROLLABLY. THIS OCCURRED SO QUICKLY THE DRIVER WAS UNABLE TO CONTROL THE VEHICLE. BRAKES DID NOT STOP THE VEHICLE. IT APPEARED THAT THE ACCELERATOR WAS STUCK. THE VEHICLE HIT A CAR IN THE NEXT ROW OF CARS. BECAUSE OF RAIN, THE CAR THEN SKIDDED 180 DEGREES AND STRUCK TWO CARS IN THE SAME LINE OF CARS FROM WHICH IT HAD DEPARTED. ONLY AT THIS TIME BY TURNING GETTING THE CAR OUT OF GEAR AND TURNING THE KEY COULD THE CAR BE STOPPED. THE DRIVER BELIEVES THIS WAS THE RESULT OF EITHER A THE ACCELERATOR STICKING ON ITS OWN OR A THICK RUBBER WINTER MAT SLID UP AND JAMMED THE ACCELERATOR. *TR

I OPERATE A 2004 HYUNDAI SONATA. IT EQUIPPED WITH SHIFTRONIC FEATURE, WHERE YOU ABLE TO OVERDRIVE A REGULAR AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION BY MANUALLY SWITCHING TO DESIRED GEAR. HOWEVER, IT HAS OWN LOGIC NOT TO ALLOW YOU TO SWITCH TO INAPPROPRIATE GEAR LEADING TO OVERSTRESS AND/OR DAMAGE ENGINE OR TRANSMISSION. WHILE DRIVING ON SLIPPERY ROAD I USED ABOVE MENTIONED FEATURE TO SLOW DOWN A CAR WHEN APPROACHING AN INTERSECTION (SO-CALLED ENGINE BRAKE). AT SAME TIME I USED REGULAR BRAKES TOO SINCE ENGINE BRAKE IS NOT SO EFFECTIVE AND IT CAN'T STOP THE CAR COMPLETELY. MY CAR HAS ALSO NO ANTI BLOCKING SYSTEM (ABS) INSTALLED. *** AT THE MOMENT, WHEN ROAD WAS TOO SLIPPERY, FRONT WHEELS WERE BLOCKED FOR SHORT PERIOD. I EASED PEDAL LIKE IT'S NORMALLY REQUIRED FOR CARS NOT EQUIPPED WITH ABS, BUT TRANSMISSION LOGIC ASSUMED THAT CAR IS STOPPED COMPLETELY AND SWITCHED TO THE FIRST GEAR AT SPEED AROUND 40 KM/H (25 MPH) WHICH LED THE FRONT WHEELS TO BLOCK PERMANENTLY AND DUE TO THAT I LOST CONTROL OF THE CAR. *** FORTUNATELY, THERE WAS NOBODY AROUND AND I ONLY ENDED UP ON THE ROAD'S RIGHT SHOULDER. I REPEATED THIS SITUATION IN UNPOPULATED AREA AND IT HAPPENED AGAIN AND AGAIN. (THE SHIFTRONIC'S LOGIC IS SWITCHING TRANSMISSION TO THE FIRST GEAR AUTOMATICALLY AFTER CAR IS STOPPED TO AVOID THE ENGINE STALL WHEN YOU START MOVING AGAIN) I THINK, THERE SHOULD BE SOME SORT OF READER AT REAR WHEELS TO DETECT THAT CAR IS STILL MOVING OR ABS SYSTEM TO BE PRESENT AS STANDARD, NOT AS OPTIONAL FEATURE. OR, MAYBE, TRANSMISSION'S BEHAVIOR SHOULD BE UPDATED. *TR

HYUNDAI SONATA, 5 SPEED, 2005, 4 CYLINDER, 47,500 MILES, APPROXIMATELY 4 YEARS OLD. THERE WAS A LOT OF PLAY IN THE CLUTCH, BUT IT STILL ENGAGED. ONCE ENGAGED HOWEVER, THE VEHICLE WAS SLOW TO BUILD UP SPEED. TOOK IT TO KEY HYUNDAI, THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS PURCHASED. WAS IMMEDIATELY TOLD THAT THEIR 5 YEAR, 60,000 MILE BUMPER-TO-BUMPER WARRANTY WOULD NOT BE IN EFFECT BECAUSE THIS WAS DUE TO NORMAL WEAR-AND-TEAR. THEY NEVER DROPPED THE TRANSMISSION TO LOOK AT THE INTERNALS. THEY GAVE ME THE CHOICE OF $1,100 FOR REPAIRS, AND $2,500 IF A NEW FLYWHEEL WAS NEEDED. SINCE IT WASN'T COVERED BY A WARRANTY, I TOOK IT TO MY MECHANIC. HE DROPPED THE TRANSMISSION AND NOTED THAT THE FLYWHEEL CAME LOOSE FROM THE SHAFT IT WAS ATTACHED TO AND CAUSED WEAR TO THE CLUTCH ASSEMBLY HOUSING. THE FLYWHEEL AND OTHER PARTS WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED. THE FLYWHEEL ALONE WILL COST $1050, AND THE ENTIRE JOB ABOUT $2300. NO AFTER MARKET FLYWHEELS ARE AVAILABLE FOR THIS VEHICLE. HYUNDAI SHOULD HAVE HONORED THEIR WARRANTY. I SPOKE WITH SEVERAL PEOPLE AT KEY HYUNDAI PLUS HYUNDAI USA CUSTOMER SERVICE. KEY SAID THAT IT WAS NOT GOING TO BE WARRANTED AND CUSTOMER SERVICE WOULD ONLY REFER ME BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP. NO ONE COULD GIVE ME INFORMATION ABOUT AN AVERAGE LIFE FOR THE CLUTCH. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 HYUNDAI SONATA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT AT 40,000 MILES, THE VEHICLE'S CLUTCH FAILED TO ENGAGE WHEN SWITCHING BETWEEN FIRST AND THIRD GEAR. THE FAILURE CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO ONLY USE FOURTH GEAR. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER WHO STATED THAT A NEW CLUTCH ASSEMBLY WAS NEEDED. THE DEALER ALSO STATED THAT THE FLY WHEEL HAD OVERHEATED AND SHOULD BE REPLACED. AT 60,000 MILES, THE FAILURE WAS DUPLICATED. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE FAILURE RECURRED BECAUSE THE FLY WHEEL WAS NOT REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED BY ANOTHER DEALER WHO STATED THAT THE VEHICLE'S TYPE OF FLY WHEEL WAS DESIGNED FOR A TRUCK, NOT A SEDAN. MORE SPECIFICALLY, THE DISC IN THE FLY WHEEL WAS MOVING UP AND DOWN INSTEAD OF SPINNING. THE FLY WHEEL WAS DAMAGING THE ENGINE HOUSING WHICH CAUSED THE CLUTCH ASSEMBLY TO FAIL. THE ENGINE SIZE WAS UNKNOWN. THE CURRENT MILEAGE IS 66,000 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 40,000. THE CONSUMER PROVIDED COPIES OF THE REPAIR INVOICES FOR THE VEHICLE. UPDATED 07/06/07 *TR

I PURCHASED MY CAR IN JANUARY OF 2005 (IT'S A 2004 MODEL, PURCHASED NEW). I'VE BEEN DRIVING A STANDARD SHIFT FOR 8 YEARS. STARTING IN MID JULY, I BEGAN TO EXPERIENCE PROBLEMS ACCELERATING. TAKING IT IN TO THE SHOP, I WAS INFORMED THE CLUTCH HAD "BURNED OUT", AND WOULD NEED TO BE COMPLETELY REPLACED. I WAS ALSO INFORMED THAT I "RODE THE CLUTCH" WHICH CAUSED THE FAILURE. AS MY PREVIOUS CAR, ALSO A HYUNDAI, HAD GONE FOR MORE THAN 50,000 MILES OVER THE 6 YEARS I OWNED IT AND NEVER HAD A CLUTCH PROBLEM, I AM SUSPICIOUS OF THIS PARTICULAR REASON FOR MY CLUTCH FAILURE. *JB

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED AFTER HAVING A FLAT TIRE DUE TO A ROAD HAZARD, THE DEALER PERFORMED AN INSPECTION AND IT WAS DETERMINED THE TREAD DEPTH WAS DEPLETED. THE TIRES WERE REPLACED. THE TIRES WERE MICHELIN MXD4 PLUS H 205/165/115. ADDITIONALLY, THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION WAS SLIPPING INTO GEARS WITHOUT WARNING WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS. THE VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED BY THE DEALER WHO WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM. THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SEIZED AND WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER. THE VEHICLE IS CURRENTLY AWAITING REPLACEMENT OF THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION.

MY 2004 HYUNDAI SONATA HAS BEEN HAVING CLUTCH AND FLYWHEEL PROBLEMS STARTING AT LESS THAN 10,000 MILES. IT IS NOW AT 40,000 MILES AND IT'S GETTING WORSE. I'VE HAD MECHANICS (NOT BIASED HYUNDAI PERSONAL) TELL ME THAT THE FLY WHEEL IS MOST LIKELY WARPED, CAUSING THE CLUTCH TO SHIMMY AND SLIP UNDER LOAD (UP HILLS WITH PASSENGERS, ETC). I HAD THE DEALER LOOK AT IT AND THEY SAID IT WAS "FINE". I'M THINKING ABOUT TAKING IT TO ANOTHER DEALERSHIP. *JB