GDay - just got a used one - great car. Off to the dealership tomorrow for some warranty work. Any clues for me on these items?
1. EGR light came ON and stayed ON.
2. ESP OFF light came ON and stayed ON.
3. Rough idle even tho' using premium unleaded.
4. Thumping from front - at least I think it is front - feels like shocks, steering or even an engine mount???
5. Cruise control works when it wants to - a little un-nerving on the Freeway (Yes, we DO have freeways in Australia!!!)
6. Not that I use it but the ashtray is jammed in and will not come out!
7. Clear perspex over the speedo and tacho and gauges has 4 cracks laong the bottom that radiate upwards...3 are 3mm long, the other about 15 mm long - any reports of these clear plastic instrument covers being fitted too tight or failing this way?

Cheers from the sunny Gold Coast, the State of Queensland, Australia...

 

G'day, mate. Welcome to the forum. EGR light is Exhaust Gas Recirculation. It could mean a bunch of things. I'm not sure about Aussieland, but up here in Crazy-yank land we do ODB II trouble code scans. I suspect you have something similar, maybe like the EODB standard or something. You need a scan to better understand your problem.

I don't know what the ESP light is, maybe Ken99 or NovaResource can help you with that.

Rough idle is probably related to the EGR light thingy.

If you got a thumping noise, then yes probably it's a loose strut mount.

Don't know about the ashtray or the plastic cracks.

Gold coast is awesome, it's like Florida on steroids.

 

On second thought, the EGR valve is failing somehow, this is almost certainly why it won't idle.

 

EGR light? I don't know of any EGR light. Like jsinton said, the EGR is the Exhaust Gas Recirculation but I'm not aware of any light for it. Can you post a pic?

ESP is the Electronic Stability Control. It's part of the traction control system including the ABS brakes. It could be something as simple as of of the wheel speed sensors gone bad or something more complicated like the controler computer gone bad. Have you tried pushing the ESP button on the dash? Does that make the light go out?

Premium unleaded is a waste of money. Your Sonata is designed to run on regular fuel. Premium will not improve the performance of your Sonata. My guess is if the EGR is bad, that is the cause of the rough running engine.

There is a TSB about the shocks/struts on the Sonata, take it to the dealer to have them checked out. Shoudl be covered under warranty.

This could be related to the ESP problem.

These two sound like the previous owner was rough on the cars interior. Hopefully the dealer will be able to correct both issues.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

 

GDay everyone and thanks for your welcome and speedy and informative replies. The dealer was great. There was a brake light switch that was identified as faulty through an onboard analysis. That threw everything out so was replaced and the computer reset. The EGR light I was referring to was a CHECK LIGHT (with the little engine diagram) - its like a MASTER CAUTION in an aircraft. The ESP played up too because of the other problem. All now reset and the car goes like a dream. They tightened up the whole suspension system and it feels much more solid. The fuel here is crap - starts with ethanol blend and goes RON91, RON95 and then Premium at RON98. You just HAVE to run your V6's and sensitive V8's here on the top RON98 fuel and the best is SHELL V-Power by far.... The ashtray was jammed thats all and some tiny plastic piece broke so they are fixing that under warranty too, as well as the perspex covering the instruments!! (they fail and crack here due to extreme heat - previous owner had the thing in the outback for 6 months in summer, parked in 120 deg PLUS heat - it must've been 170-200 deg F inside the car!! Go figure - Yee haa am I happy - that instrument cluster is a AUD$1,200.00 part! So all is great - cheers all! Gordon

 

I'm lucky enough to have visited, by Motorhome, all of the lower 48. Alaska still beckons! The Gold Coast is a different beast to Florida - the panhandle white sand is awesome and the everglades, Space Centre, the Disney bit - WOW! but you get Hurricanes there so that sucks! Our surf here is typically 3 to 6 feet but I've surfed it here to 12 feet and bigger - awesome stuff but I'm too old for that crap any more! Sounds like you've been ehre tho' ....

 

That is not called the EGR light, it's called the CEL (Check Engine Light) or the MIL (Malfunction Indicator Light). The EGR is a totally different thing that does not have a light.


Using "premium" or "supreme" fuel is just a waste of money.

Octane is rated numerous ways. One is RON (Research Octane Number), another is MON (Motor Octane Number). MON is always 8 to 10 points lower than RON because of the way the testing is done. In the United States we have a "Pump Rating" which is (RON + MON)/2. Basically it is the average of the 2 tests.

So for comparison:
87 US = 91 RON = 82 MON
89 US = 95 RON = 83 MON
91 US = 98 RON = 84 MON
93 US = 99 RON = 87 MON

All Hyundai gasoline engines are designed to run on 87 US (91 RON):


Using higher than 87 octane (91 RON) on a mostly stock engine is a waste of money. You only need higher octane fuel if you have forced induction (turbo, supercharger), have changed the cams, have raised the compression ratio or have altered the computer to produce a more aggressive ignition timing advance curve or fuel map.

More good reading on the subject:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...r-premium.html
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=939056&page=2
http://www.state.mn.us/portal/mn/jsp...gency=Commerce
http://www.fuelfrugal.com/Gas_Saving_Myths.html
http://ezinearticles.com/?Save-Money...&id=500768

 

Excellent, NovaResource.

Airtrafficone- Sounds like you're quite the globetreker, glad you liked the US. I live here in Florida, so it's just a place to me. But I admit I live in paradise. Never made it downunder, but always planned to. Bought a lot of travel books about Aussie and the Barrier Reef, always wanted snorkel, but you got those big sharks down there. And crocs that will rip your head off. So exciting.

Good luck with your Sonata, I had a 2000 Sonata and it was so much fun to drive. Now I drive a 99 Elantra but it doesn't compair. But it gets good mpg at 34.

 

OK already! LOL I will use the regular unleaded and see how the engine likes it! I think our fuel has BEER in it at lower octane ratings! My 2003 Nissan Maxima V6 3 litre owners manual said it would operate on the mid range high octane best but it carried on like an old tractor unless I fed it the very best fuel. It also showed up in fuel consumption! I do a long run twice a week and with the inferior fuel I would get 9.0 litres per 100 kms consumption, but with the premium stuff, that would drop to 7.9 to 8.2 litres per 100 kms. Weather, road and traffic conditions near identical. Cruise control ON. So I have no idea how it'll work with the Hyundai but even the dealership head of workshops here says to use premium fuel!

I toured the USA Canada and Mexico for a year in 1986 in a station wagon and tent-my wife and I said that if we ever got the opportunity to do it again it would be in a Winnebago. In 1996 we bought one in Los Angeles and saw the rest of those 3 countries we missed last time! What a place you have there!

Cheers everyone! Gordon

 

That was a Nissan, not a Hyundai.

It's your money so you can spend it how you want. I'm just trying to save you some of it. Just be sure to buy quality fuel.