hi all,

i just bought my santa fe a couple days ago. it's a 2.7 L, and so far i'm pretty pleased. i'm coming up on 60,000 miles, and it's recommended that i replace the timing belt, and the mechanic said i might as well replace some other heads, water pumps, and seals while i'm in there.

what has been your experience with the timing belt issue?

any other repairs that this model typically needs? what about the automatic 4WD function, i'm curious how that works exactly...does the car just know when to activate it? or is it always on?

 

Yes, the timing belt MUST be changed at 60k. The water pump doesn't need to be changed unless it's leaking but many people do it with the timing belt because much of what needs to be removed to replace the water pump is the same stuff that is removed when changing the timing belt. Since it's already apart, many people change it as preventative maintenance.

I'd also suggest changing the trans fluid as it should be changed every 30k miles.

The 4WD is always on.

 

alright, thanks. so i should ask the mechanic to check the trans fluid while he has the car open for the timing belt issue?

also, is a standard oil change fine for the santa fe? should i get synthetic ones instead?

 

No, not check the trans fluid, CHANGE the trans fluid. Unless you have documented proof it was changed recently, change it now.

For the engine oil, that's up to you. Personally I use synthetic in all my cars but you don't need to. Standard dino oil will be fine as long as it's a quality oil and it's changed regularly.

 

alrighty, thank you very much!