2008 HYUNDAI SONATA Complaints

B1448 ISSUE SHOWING OCS MAT DEFECT. RED DASH LIGHT SAYING "AIR BAG" CAME ON @104000 MILES AND REMAINS ON. LIGHT CAME ON WHILE DRIVING WITH NO OCCUPANT IN PASSENGER SEAT. NO ACCIDENTS OR AIRBAG DEPLOYMENTS. DEALER INDICATES NO ACTIVE RECALL HOWEVER NHTSA SHOWS "HYUNDAI RECALL NO. 083. SYSTEM WHICH FEATURES AN OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (OCS) IN THE RIGHT FRONT SEAT. THE PURPOSE OF THE OCS IS TO DISABLE THE RIGHT PASSENGER SEAT FRONT AIR BAG WHEN IT DETECTS THE PRESENCE OF A CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEM OR SMALL CHILD IN THE RIGHT FRONT SEAT. THE RIGHT FRONT AIR BAG IS DISABLED TO PREVENT INJURIES TO A CHILD THAT MAY RESULT FROM A RIGHT FRONT AIR BAG INFLATION DURING A CRASH. I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT TODAY BUT SINCE DEALER WILL CHECK VIN FOR ACTIVE RECALLS, EXPECT THEM TO DENY RECALL SERVICE AND TRY TO MAKE ME PAY FOR REPAIR. HAD A NOTICE BACK IN 2019 SAYING TO TAKE VEHICLE TO DEALER TO CHECK WHICH I DID AND WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF A SCAN, THEY HAD SOMEONE SIT IN THE SEAT TO VERIFY LIGHT EXTINGUISHED BUT DID NO REPAIR. MY 13 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER (WEIGHING 85 POUNDS)WOULD SIT IN SEAT AND "AIRBAG OFF LIGHT" WOULD REMAIN ON WHEN IT SHOULD HAVE EXTINGUISHED AND PROVIDED AIR BAG PROTECTION. THEY TOLD ME THE THRESHOLD WAS ABOVE MY DAUGHTER'S WEIGHT BUT WOULD NOT TELL ME WHAT THE WEIGHT IS SUPPOSED TO BE. I DISAGREED WITH THEIR ASSESSMENT AND LET THEM KNOW. HOWEVER, THE DASH AIRBAG LIGHT MOI WAS NOT LIGHTING AT THAT TIME BUT NOW IS ON. I BELIEVE THE SENSOR IS DEFECTIVE AND COMPUTER IS TRYING TO DETERMINE WHETHER ANYONE IS IN THE SEAT OR NOT.

PASSENGER SIDE SUN VISOR WONT STAY UP.I HEARD , THERE MAY HAVE BEEN A RECALL ON SOME MODELS. THOUGHT I WOULD CHECK. THANKS.

ON JULY 19, 2016 AT OR ABOUT 1500 HOURS, I WAS DRIVING TO THE STORE TO GET SOME FOOD, ON THE WAY OUT MY APARTMENT COMPLEX, I BELIEVE MY HYUNDAI SONATA 2008 ALLOWED ME TO GO ABOUT TWO BLOCKS DOWN FROM WHERE I LIVE TO SHUT OFF IN THE STREET RIGHT BEFORE I APPROACHED THE STOP SIGN. I ALSO REMEMBER HEARING TWO WEEKS PRIOR TO MY VEHICLE SHUT OFF, WHILE DRIVING I HEARD THIS KNOCKING SOUND IN MY ENGINE, I THOUGHT IT WAS THE NEW STARTER THAT WAS REPLACED BUT THEN A DAY OR TWO LATER IT STOP MAKING THAT KNOCKING NOISE. I CALLED AROUND TO FIND ANSWERS NO ONE HAD A CLUE TO WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH THIS VEHICLE. EVERYTHING WAS WORKING JUST FINE UNTIL JULY 16, 2016. I HAD THIS VEHICLE SINCE APRIL 17, 2009 AND I CAN'T NOT BELIEVE THIS VEHICLE HAS A MAJOR ISSUE LIKE THIS AT POINT AND TIME. I COULD DEAL WITH REGULAR MAINTENANCE SERVICES BUT ON THIS FLIP SIDED COIN; NOT HAVING A VEHICLE TO CRANK OR ONE THAT JUST SHUTS OFF WITH OUT ANY ENGINE LIGHTS OR WARNING IS A COMPLETE MYSTERY FOR ME, BUT I THINK IT IS TIME HYUNDAI GIVE ME SOME ANSWERS TO THIS PROBLEM... LETS ALSO BE CLEAR THERE WAS OIL AND GAS IN THE VEHICLE AT THIS TIME OF VEHICLE IN MOTION SHUT OFF.

SUN VISORS DO NOT STAY UP. THIS HAPPENS WHILE DRIVING, PARKED, ALL THE TIME. VERY UN

THE AIRBAG INDICATOR LIGHT REMAINS ILLUMINATED AT ALL TIMES. THE PROBLEM RESOLVED BRIEFLY AFTER THE PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAG SEAT SENSOR WAS REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY BUT AFTER A FEW WEEKS THE PROBLEM RETURNED.

UPON STARTING THE CAR, I HEARD A HIGH-PITCHED WHINE FROM THE ENGINE THAT INCREASED IN VOLUME AND INTENSITY AS I ACCELERATED (IN TOWN), AND THEN I OBSERVED TWO PUFFS OF SMOKE OR STEAM ARISE FROM UNDER THE FRONT OF THE HOOD. I IMMEDIATELY STOPPED AT A NEARBY MECHANIC, WHO OBSERVED THAT THE FRONT CYLINDER BANK VALVE COVER WAS LEAKING OIL. THE WHINE, WHICH GRADUALLY WENT AWAY, MAY HAVE BEEN OIL GETTING ONTO THE ALTERNATOR BELT. FORTUNATELY, WE SEEM TO HAVE CAUGHT THIS IN TIME, AS THE ALTERNATOR DID NOT APPEAR TO BE DAMAGED, BUT IT EASILY COULD HAVE BEEN, AS THE EDGE OF THE VALVE COVER HANGS DIRECTLY OVER THE ALTERNATOR IN THE 3.3L V6 ENGINE. THE LEAK MAY HAVE BEEN MORE OF A "SWEAT" FOR AN UNDETERMINED AMOUNT OF TIME; ONLY THE WHINE ALERTED ME TO ANYTHING BEING WRONG, AND MAY HAVE BEEN A SIGN THE LEAK WAS GETTING WORSE OVER TIME. THE MECHANIC REPLACED THE VALVE COVER GASKET. WHAT IS FRUSTRATING IS THAT HYUNDAI HAS ISSUED A RECALL FOR THIS SAME PROBLEM, ON THE VERY SAME ENGINE I BELIEVE, FOR THEIR VERA CRUZ MODELS, BUT NOT THEIR SONATAS FOR THE SAME YEARS. THEY SHOULD RECALL THE SONATAS WITH THIS ENGINE AS WELL, AS THE ALTERNATOR CAN BE DESTROYED IF THIS ISN'T CAUGHT AND FIXED.

ONE OF THE REAR BRAKE LIGHTS ARE NOT TURNING ON WHILE APPLYING THE BRAKES. ON INVESTIGATION I FOUND THAT IT MIGHT BE DUE TO THE BRAKE LAMP SWITCH ISSUE MENTIONED ON HYUNDAI'S WEBSITE AND THEY RECALLED A LOT OF VEHICLES IN LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. WHEN I CHECKED ABOUT THE CAR'S ELIGIBILITY ON HYUNDAI'S WEBSITE, I FOUND MY CAR AS ELIGIBLE FOR REPAIR FREE OF COST. AFTER TALKING TO THE DEALER FOR FIXING OF THE ISSUE, THEY SAID THAT MY VEHICLE IS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THE REPAIR. THEN I SENT AN EMAIL TO THE HELPDESK WITH THE DETAILS. ALSO, I CONTACTED THEM ON THE HELPLINE NUMBER. AS PER THEM, MY VEHICLE WAS ALREADY RECALLED A COUPLE OF YEARS BACK AND THE SWITCH WAS REPLACED WITH A HIGH QUALITY PART WHICH SHOULD NOT CREATE ANY MORE PROBLEMS AND I'LL HAVE TO BEAR THE INSPECTION AND REPLACEMENT COST. I WOULD LIKE THE COMPANY/DEALER TO GET THIS FIXED ASAP SINCE THE PART HAS AGAIN STARTED CREATING PROBLEMS IN JUST 2 YEARS AND I AM WORRIED WITH THE FURTHER PROBLEM IT MAY CAUSE TO MY AND MY FAMILY'S SAFETY. I CAME TO KNOW ABOUT THIS ISSUE TODAY MORNING WHILE COMMUTING TO OFFICE.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 HYUNDAI SONATA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE AIR BAG WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER HOWEVER IT DID NOT GET DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS NOT PROVIDED.

WHILE DRIVING THE SEAT BELT LIGHT CAME ON. ABOUT A MINUTE LATER THE RADIO SHUT OFF. NEXT MOST OF THE DASH LIGHTS CAME ON , THE ENGINE WOULD NOT MAKE POWER/ACCELERATE, AND THE BRAKING SEEMED WEAK/JERKY. PULLED INTO A PARKING LOT AS SOON AS I COULD. NOW ALL DASH LIGHTS WERE ON/BLINKING AND THE RADIO, SUNROOF, WINDOWS ETC WOULD NOT WORK. THINKING IT WAS AN ELECTRICAL ISSUE I LEFT IT RUNNING TO INVESTIGATE. NEXT THING I KNOW THE CAR IS OVERHEATING EVEN THOUGH THE GAUGE ISN'T SHOWING IT. STEAM EVERYWHERE AND THE OVERFLOW POPPED THE CAP OFF. SHUT THE CAR OFF. ONCE THE CAR COOLED I WAS ABLE TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED. OIL HAS BEEN DRIPPING ON TO THE ALTERNATOR FROM A LEAK IN THE VALVE COVER GASKET. THIS KILLED THE ALTERNATOR WHICH IN TURN CAUSED THE CONTROL/BRAKING/ACCELERATION ISSUES ONE IT WAS ON BATTERY ONLY. I'M ASSUMING THE FAN WAS NOT COOLING EITHER WHICH RESULTED IN THE OVERHEATING.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 HYUNDAI SONATA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CROSS MEMBER OF THE VEHICLE WAS SEVERELY CORRODED. THE CONTACT MENTIONED THAT THE FAILURE OCCURRED AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS REMEDIED UNDER NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 13V354000 (SUSPENSION). INSTEAD OF REPLACING THE CROSS MEMBER ON THE VEHICLE, THE TECHNICIAN APPLIED A WAX COATING TO PREVENT CORROSION. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN BACK TO THE DEALER TO BE DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 46,000.