[musicman]

I had done a lot of research and decided that a diesel i30 would meet my needs. In the past I have owned anything from a new Audi A6 to Ford Poplar and everything in between.

Never have I had a problem as I am having at the moment.

I picked the car up from the dealer in Portsmouth on 7th February. It was OK for a number of days, even returning 63mpg on a trip to Heathrow. However, 10 days later it started hesitating when pulling away, and loosing power. I was about 90 miles from home, so decided to drive home in spite of some scary experiences on the M4! As  I arrived home, the engine warning light came on. This was after close of business on Friday 17th (no, it wasn't Friday 13th).

I drove the car to the dealer in Portsmouth on Saturday morning and arrived as they opened. I told them about the engine warning light, but they said they only had skeleton staff on a Saturday and could not do anything. After further discussion, they agreed to look at it. After an hour they said that there was an intermittent problem with the fuel / air mixture, but did not know what. They said they did a reset and the engine warning light had gone out. Went back to the car and the engine warning light came on straight away again. Back into the dealer. A hour later, they said they had done a reset and it was now off. Back to the car, same problem. Back into the dealer. They said they needed more time to look at it and would need thge car for two days. I asked if it was OK to drive with the engine warning light still on, and they said yes. Booked the car in for 28/29th February due to work commitments.

Had to drive to Nottingham and back in the last few days, aroubd 350 mile round trip. The engine was erratic at times, with no power when accelerating and almost stalling on random occassions. There were a number of potentially dangerous situations at roundabouts and road juctions.

I just hope it gets fixed when it goes back to the dealer, otherwise I may not be around to give updates and hopefully details of the fix.

I was going to order an i10 for my wife, but that is now on hold and I may look at something else.

[2i30s]

from what you've mentioned about the engine running poorly i would have just left the car at the dealers.  if the problem is a fuel/air related issue you could possibly damage the engine. 

[Phil №❶]

1st, Welcome to this forum.

I sympathise with you and agree that the engine fault is actually very dangerous indeed. New cars can sometimes have an early component failure then provide years of trouble free use. Don't condemn the vehicle too quickly, most diesel owners here are very happy with their cars. I have 2 of them, both running well.

I would have insisted that they keep the vehicle as the engine warning light obviously means something is wrong. They should have provided a loan vehicle as part of their service, even if it meant making some phone calls on a Saturday to get the necessary approval. With mobile phone communications, no one is unavailable even on weekends.

Hope you get a satisfactory resolution to this matter and let us know how you fared. 

[Dazzler]

Hi Musicman.. this is not music to my ears (or yours either) obviously...

Much of the popularity and goodwill of this site has been generated by happy CRDi owners, so fortunately experiences like yours are very rare..

Could you have got bad fuel maybe 

Does it rev past 3000RPM? there have been just a few issues with the fuel filter assembly 

[2i30s]

it could even be a turbo failure. 

[AlanHo]

I am sorry to read of your experience - fortunately a rare one with Hyundai.

I had an even worse experience 5 years ago with a brand new Audi A3 diesel which they took more than a week to put right. Fortunately I was loaned a courtesy car but my faith in the Audi brand was temporarily dented. It only serves to point out that problems can occur even with a so-called "premium" car brand.

Volume produced products involving so much copmplexity are bound to include the occasional lemon - you have been the unlucky one - but have faith that Hyundai will soon correct the problem and you will join the happy band of Hyundai owners around the World.

[2i30s]

I am sorry to read of your experience - fortunately a rare one with Hyundai.

I had an even worse experience 5 years ago with a brand new Audi A3 diesel which they took more than a week to put right. Fortunately I was loaned a courtesy car but my faith in the Audi brand was temporarily dented. It only serves to point out that problems can occur even with a so-called "premium" car brand.

Volume produced products involving so much complexity are bound to include the occasional lemon - you have been the unlucky one - but have faith that Hyundai will soon correct the problem and you will join the happy band of Hyundai owners around the World.

I'm sure his car isn't a lemon Alan. 

[eye30]

Hope they sort it out pronto so you can then enjoy the delights of driving an i30..

[Doggie 1]

Welcome to the forum and as per the comments of the others, I hope the problem is sorted out very quickly and to your satisfaction.
I am one of those very happy i30 diesel owners that was mentioned, having covered 119,000 trouble-free kilometres in less than three years.
Keep us posted please. 

[Shambles]

Hi musicman.

Did your dealer tell you which trouble code was/is showing in the ECU?

[musicman]

Thank you for all the comments and suggestions - I will drive it to the dealers tomorrow morning.

The visit to try and get it sorted out was on a Saturday morning. They said "we only have skeleton staff on a Saturday, can you bring it back?". I said no, but after sitting there for over 2 hours and them not being able to fix it, I arranged to take it in tomorrow. I was told "don't worry about the light. If the engine seizes up, it's covered by the warranty anyway". No consolation if it stops me in my job from signing a contract with a customer. My employer would not hesitate to carry out legal action if this was to happen.

I was not offered a loan car on the Saturday morning,

The problem occurs intermittently at around 1500 rpm. I don't know what the diagnostic code is yet, but I will try and find out. I have ordered one of those 3-in-one gadgets that connect to the diagnostic port, as I am a bit of a gadget freak and would like to know what's going on (if I can find the socket to plug it in to).

As I said, my wife wanted an i10, but is holding off until we see how the dealer handles the problem on the i30.

I had an Hyundai Accent a long time ago, and never had any problems with that. Cars can only get better, but having worked in reliability engineering and quality assurance, I know that nothing can ever be 100%.

I will keep you updated when I pick it up from the dealer on Wednesday.

 

[Keith]

Sounds like a dodgy EGR to me, not unheard of across all brands but not nice on a new car.

It's the dealerships that carry the burden of Customer care, good dealers doing brilliant things make for Happy Owners, I wont bore you all with my first Hyundai experience (and the last by the way). But mine is a used car, 08 plate & seeing the end of Warranty coming up. So I guess try a different Dealer if yours lets you down Musicman... dont let that Dealer put you off an amazing brand of motor car... 

[Talking Hoarse]

As I said, my wife wanted an i10, but is holding off until we see how the dealer handles the problem on the i30.

Sorry to hear about the problem.  Sadly any product can have faults, what makes the difference is how the dealer puts it right - they can turn you away and you tell your friends that they are useless etc, or they can solve the fault, put a smile on your face so that you return and buy again.  I hope your experience is the latter.
I am in a similar boat - my near 2 year old i30 is in for a repair or replacement auto gearbox after 18000 miles.  To me it is a minor hiccup - and if it is sorted out I will think no less of Hyundai etc.
The loan car is a fresh i10 - by the way.  Charming little car, nice to drive etc - even the poverty spec base model.  For me I reckon the ride is bouncy and it is not anything like as quick as it feels.  I would prefer the model with adjustable drivers seat height though, but it is a bargain basement car.
Looking forward to a happy conclusion - for you and me both!

[Asterix]

Hi musicmann

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

It is correct, that in many cases you can drive on with the engine lamp on IF the car behaves normal. In your case the car can suddenly loose power without warning, and after resetting the ecu, the error occurs again immediately.

That is a safety issue, and you should point that out for the dealer if they try to send you away in your defect car again.

Sounds like a dodgy EGR to me, not unheard of across all brands but not nice on a new car.

...

I agree.
If dealership wants defnitive proof. Tell them to blank the EGR and if loss of power doesnt return you have it for sure.
Lazy and incompetent dealership is truly a major disapointment in brand.

[AlanHo]

I was going to order an i10 for my wife, but that is now on hold and I may look at something else.

My wife has had an i10 for a couple of years - a lovely car that I quite enjoy driving. She has not had a single problem with it.
In my opinion you would be cutting off your nose to spite your face by not buying the i10 just because of a problem with the local dealership.
You would serve the brand better by complaining to Hyundai head office if the dealership fail to come up to scratch.

[musicman]

After two days in the dealer the problem was fixed. I got it there for 8:00 on the Tuesday morning and picked it up at around 3 the next day, as they said they has to order a part. I think they said it was the mass airflow sensor (if that makes sense to anyone). Done about 1000 miles since with no further problems.

[AlanHo]

After two days in the dealer the problem was fixed. I got it there for 8:00 on the Tuesday morning and picked it up at around 3 the next day, as they said they has to order a part. I think they said it was the mass airflow sensor (if that makes sense to anyone). Done about 1000 miles since with no further problems.

Thanks for reporting the outcome - that is good news. You can now settle down and enjoy a great car.

[Dazzler]

Good news musicman .. I couldn't find any other reference on this site about the mass airflow sensor .. but no doubt there is info on Google...

[Doggie 1]

Great news - glad it's all sorted. 

[Phil №❶]

Thanks for the update, all of us on this forum are now wiser from your input and will be aware that the maf sensor is a possible, although rare, problem area. I wish you many joyful kms in your car. 

[Shambles]

The problem occurs intermittently at around 1500 rpm. I don't know what the diagnostic code is yet, but I will try and find out. I have ordered one of those 3-in-one gadgets that connect to the diagnostic port, as I am a bit of a gadget freak and would like to know what's going on (if I can find the socket to plug it in to).

That should have given us a clue. Did you get one of those gadgets? I'm sure it would have shown up a code in the following range:

P0100 Mass or Volume Air Flow Circuit Malfunction

P0101 Mass or Volume Air Flow Circuit Range/Performance Problem

P0102 Mass or Volume Air Flow Circuit Low Input

P0103 Mass or Volume Air Flow Circuit High Input

P0104 Mass or Volume Air Flow Circuit Intermittent

P1100 MAF Sensor Intermittent/ Check of all OBDII Systems Not Complete

P1101 MAF Sensor Out Of Self Test Range

P1102 MAF Sensor In Range But Lower Than Expected

P1103 MAF Sensor In Range But Higher Than Expected

P1104 MAF Ground Malfunction

After two days in the dealer the problem was fixed. I got it there for 8:00 on the Tuesday morning and picked it up at around 3 the next day, as they said they has to order a part. I think they said it was the mass airflow sensor (if that makes sense to anyone). Done about 1000 miles since with no further problems.

Great news

[succulant]

That's great that its sorted
It reminds me of a Saab 9-3 Turbo I had a few years back which suffered a failure of the mass airflow sensor and just cut out at 60mph - Very scary!  It took our local garage 3 weeks to find a replacement as you can imagine the price quoted from Saab for a new one. No sooner did we get the car back than the oil warning light started flickering and back to the garage it went suffering from low oil pressure. Suffice to say it got patched up and sold on pronto before I had to re-mortgage the house to pay for it. So much for quality marques