project Free car - Hyundai Santa Fe 2.7 V6 rescued - now in hibernation

[Blake's Den]

3 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Cambelt interval appears to be 60k / 6 years.

I normally say to go by mileage as that's the work done by the belt. Although age does of course come into it as with any rubber component. 

A tricky one but I'd suggest at 5 years overdue it might be worth considering a change not in the immediate future but at the same time don't wait until it reaches the 60k! 

Yes, I do want to do it. It actually doesn't seem to be too bad of a job to do at home. Just need to find the time and the willing!

[Blake's Den]

I'm still using this regularly. Now onto 35000 miles! However winter driving has highlighted the fact that the headlights are quite crap. I'm guessing that they were average when new, even with upgraded bulbs, mainbeam on and the front driving lights on it still isn't great. Anyway, upon inspection, I noticed that my headlights and clouded up again, the passenger side being the worst. I quikcly attacked them with some T-Cut and they are much clearer now.

See for yourself here!

I drove it in the dark yesterday and the brightness has improved a bit. It still isn't as good as these modern LED projector lights but at least I can see a bit better now.

[Blake's Den]

The Santa Fe was in for its MoT test today. Good news, a pass with only one advisory which was the same as last year (play in a ball joint).

I have had a problem with squeaky suspension. There must be a dry suspension bush somewhere on the front end. I've sprayed all that I can access easily with GT85 and it has made it quieter but I know that it is not a long term fix.

[RoverFolkUs]

Suspension squeaks can be caused by ball joints, makes sense if you've got one worn out that's been advised

Jack up each corner and then very slowly lower the jack, you'll often get ball joints to creak when doing that, if they're going to do it

Other possibility would be anti roll bar D-bushes

[Blake's Den]

The Santa Fe is still doing its job of being my daily driver. I'm really surprised my air con 'fix' is still working! Which is pretty cool (pun intended!) I'm this weather.

One thing that I have spotted is that the air con is colder on fan speed 2 rather than 4. It's almost like the condenser can't  keep up with the increased air flow. Also, on idle it's is a little asthmatic but above 2000 rpm and it's fine. 

There is a whine with the AC on but that is fixed by turning the volume knob on the radio.....

 

I'm other news I have decided that I'm going to replace the Hyundai with something else, just not sure what yet. Ideally I could do with something that provides more than 23mpg on my commute. But actually, I don't think that 23mpg is too bad considering its a 2.7 V6 petrol, it has a four speed slush box, is awd and has the aerodynamics of a snail.

[Blake's Den]

So this happened today, 40000 miles. Possibly the lowest mileage Mark 1 Santa Fe in the UK?

 

[Blake's Den]

Thought of the day....we know that speedometers have a -0/+10 % tolerance on them so does that also mean that the odometer does too? So 40000 miles could actually be 36360 miles? 

[somewhatfoolish]

No, the odometer is more accurate, it's only the tyre diameter that mucks that up if you fit non-standard sizes.

[Blake's Den]

A busy week for the Santa Fe.

Since getting it back on the road I have always had a whiff of fuel near the fuel cap.  I replaced the fuel filler pipe as it had been chewed by a rodent and I remembered that the vent pipe also looked a bit iffy. Well after two years I decided to fix the vent pipe to make the smell go away! Sure enough, the vent pipe was also chewed so I splice it with a pipe connector and the smell is gone.

I'm doing this I needed to remove the nearside  real wheel. In doing so I noticed that my tyre was worn out 😕. I was running some Event ML mud and snow tyres which were great in mud and snow but absolutely rubbish in anything else. I replaced them with the finest ditch finders, I chose the tyre type that you don't know what you are getting until the day of fitting. I've ended up with Delinte SUV tyres which actually feel really good, the ride is much smoother.

I treated the new tyres to a 200 mile motorway trip and averaged 27.4 mpg on the return which I don't think is too shabby for a 2.7 V6 and a body which is as aerodynamic as my house.

[Blake's Den]

Despite many threats to get rid of it, the Santa Fe is still here and has clocked up another 5000 miles. It just keeps doing what it does!

Back in 2023, I had an MoT advisory for slight play in the balljoint on the drivers side. Shortly after this the suspension got really squeaky which I solved by turning up the radio. For the 2024 MoT I had the same advisory as I had made not attempt to fix it. Not long after the MoT I started to get a clunk from the right hand side whislt going over bumps. Then is started clunking under braking. The pulling away. Then going around any corner.

A quick inspection revealled that the ball joint was indeed fubar. These ball joints are a push into the lower control arm, since my arm is the orignal and the car is 19 years old I concluded that it wasn't going to come out without a fight! I ended up ordering a new lower wishbone, it was only £50 for the arm and balljoint, the balljoint alone was £20. Fitting was fairly straightforward but it was a pain to get the ball joint apart.

All back together and it is back to being smooth and knock free again. I did spot that I'll need new brake pads soon so unless I find a replacement car in the next month then this is next on the to do list.

 

[lisbon_road]

On 04/12/2022 at 16:16, RoverFolkUs said:

Cambelt interval appears to be 60k / 6 years.

I normally say to go by mileage as that's the work done by the belt. Although age does of course come into it as with any rubber component. 

A tricky one but I'd suggest at 5 years overdue it might be worth considering a change not in the immediate future but at the same time don't wait until it reaches the 60k! 

What do you think of inspecting them? I recently did a Rover 25 after inspecting it and seeing a lot of cracks (yes, same car as the other post). Next I've got a Peugeot 207 to do where inspecting it showed it all worn on one side. But I've always wondered how good inspection is if they look ok.

[RoverFolkUs]

9 minutes ago, lisbon_road said:

What do you think of inspecting them? I recently did a Rover 25 after inspecting it and seeing a lot of cracks (yes, same car as the other post). Next I've got a Peugeot 207 to do where inspecting it showed it all worn on one side. But I've always wondered how good inspection is if they look ok.

Yeah pretty much as you say, inspect and if it shows signs of wear or deterioration then replace it, but it's not possible to say it's ok just by looking at it, even if it looks ok, if you see what I mean?

In other words, inspect it, if it looks ok then replace it based on the interval, if no record then replace anyway, if you know it's not due yet then carry on with roulette

Inspecting is worthwhile to catch any signs of cracking/fraying/coolant seepage (where applicable) etc if you know it's not quite due yet 

[Blake's Den]

10 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Yeah pretty much as you say, inspect and if it shows signs of wear or deterioration then replace it, but it's not possible to say it's ok just by looking at it, even if it looks ok, if you see what I mean?

In other words, inspect it, if it looks ok then replace it based on the interval, if no record then replace anyway, if you know it's not due yet then carry on with roulette

Inspecting is worthwhile to catch any signs of cracking/fraying/coolant seepage (where applicable) etc if you know it's not quite due yet 

I have pulled the timing belt cover back for peek and the belt looked absolutley fine. I believe that it has been replaced at some point in its life. But for now I'm happy playing the cambelt roulete game!

[Blake's Den]

I have decided to give the Santa Fe some love whilst I wait for its replacement to arrive. First up was to change the front brake pads. I noticed that they were quite thin when I changed the front wishbone. Let's say that I've got my money's worth out of them!

The pads were an easy fit, no issues whatsoever. Despite its age the car is in very good condition underneath.

I've made the decision that when the replacement arrives I'm going to put the Santa Fe into 'preservation'. It sat around for seven years before I started using it so being laid up for a few more years won't do it any harm. Its at the age where it is not worth much at all, it is pretty much a throw away car. I've got the space to store it so I might as well park it up and wait until early 2000's cars are sought after (if that ever happens!).

[Blake's Den]

Another quick job on the Santa Fe before it goes into 'preservation'. I have been meaning to change the oil for sometime but kept forgetting to do it. Thats the problem when you have so many projects. The oil change was straightforward but there was some shiny bits in the oil so it was worth doing.

The car rewarded me a few days later by only running on four cylinder and throwing up an the check engine light. I suspected that the coil pack was on thee way out, it is 3 seperate coils doing two cylinders each. I ordered a new one on ebay and went back out to the car and it fired up and ran on six with no problems! I did suspect that there may have been moisture on the coil but despite soaking it in water it kept running on six. One of lifes mysteries!

[Blake's Den]

The Santa Fe has been replaced. As I mentioned in the posts above I have decided to put it into hibernation. I don't have the best storage conditions but I've made an effort to try and prolong its life a bit further. When it was last parked up there was zero preperation so I'm hoping that this time the resurrection should be easier.

Why have I done this? Good question! The car isn't worth much and it doesn't owe me any money. I've got the space and the car has some sentimental value.

Also, whilst watching video's of the Festival of the Unexceptional I noticed that there were a lot of later 1990's hatchbacks there and a handful of later 1990's SUV's. Since most manufacturers replaced hatchbacks with SUV's then surely in a few years time the FOTU will have more 'rare' SUV's in it that before? If I can save this one then you never know but I might just be at the FOTU in it in 10 years time. It has to be the lowest mileage Santa Fe in the country with just 46,000 miles on it. Its never going to be as vaulable as a 250 GTO but I think that it would make a good 'future classic'.