'02 Santa Fe: Currently at Dealer - need sanity/labor check

Joined: Feb 08, 2007 Posts: 0

Would really appreciate a 2nd opinion on this!

Took my '02 Santa Fe (110,000 miles) back to the dealer for additional and previous unresolved issues.

Note: I have the 120K powertrain warrantly.

Four issues on the ticket:

1) Coolant Leaking (new issue again)
2) Squeel Noise from the serpentine belt
3) SHift hesitation for first 3-5minutes when starting the car first time of day into 1st and 2nd. Very pronounced in cold overnight weather.
4) Vehicle stalls ocassionally while idling at stop light first few minutes after starting car.

NO MIL lights have ever come on.

Background: about 3 months / 5000 miles ago, was also leaking coolant, and overheated. At that time, head was rebuilts, aslo had timing belt and water pump replaced. Also ATF was flushed.

At this point, they say they can't address the stalling / shifting issues unless I take care of everything else they found.

No charge for #1 - Warranty (Good thing I specifically asked for that replacement at the timing belt change).

#2 -- I am being told that there are two probelms here -- the tensioner and the idle pulley. He says tensioner is covered by warranty, but the idle pulley is not. DOes this make sense????

Strangley, he reports the belt is "just fine". Considering its never been replaced (I thought it was during the last major work)... I'm not going to "save" $30.00 for a belt that is 100K miles old.

With respect to #3 nd #4, he indicates the are not getting any transmission codes, but they do see codes P0330 (Knock Sensor 2) and P0441 (Purge Valve)

Any he indicates these codes may have nothing to do with my trouble, but I must fix them by

A) Replace purge valve ($35 + 1 hr labor) and
B) Replace Knock Sensor (part cost ??? + 3 1/2 hours labor).

Only then can "test" the transmission/stall issue.

Total Costs: $1300 - with no insurance that it wont go up since they are not addressing #3 and #4.

Any thoughts on this, especially the 3.5 hours to replace the knock sensor? Wondering how much of this is duplicate labor,since they are going to have to tear down to get to water pump anyway, as well as replace the belt. Or would this truly be completley seperate labor in an unrelated area.

I asked him to look into this, but I got the feeling that if he can "double dip", he is not going to let me interfere with that without me showing more knowledge.

All help is greatly appreciated.

Joined: Sep 11, 2006 Posts: 107

#1. Excellent.
#2. I'm actually surprised either is covered. "Powertrain" doesn't typically cover anything external. If these pulleys are for the drive belt, they should be included with the water pump labor. Both must be removed to take the timing belt cover off.
#3. Not feeling the shift hesitation, it's hard to say, but this may be normal. The transmission control module (TCM) changes shift points based on temperature to help achieve desired fluid temperature quicker. This should not be affected at all by the purge valve or knock sensor.
#4. The purge control valve is an excellent explanation for the stalling. If it's stuck open, you'll get vapors bleeding off into the manifold when the vehicle is off. It'll make the vehicle difficult to start after it's been sitting awhile and run poorly after starting. The knock sensor can cause some minor performance issues, but shouldn't make the vehicle stall. It's located under the intake manifold, so there's no overlap with the other work. If you're looking to combine it with something, it combines well with the spark plugs/wires. I'd be tempted to repair only the purge valve, clear the codes, and see what happens.