2002 Elantra

Wife has a 2002 Elantra with 46000 miles. Is the 4 cylinder engine an
interference engine and what is the recommended mileage to replace the
timing belt?

From the factory, does anyone know what type of spark plugs were used -
platinum, iridium, copper? and also the recommended mileage to replace the
plugs.

Thanks

 

Four years or 60,000 miles

 

Probably platinum, but any type of plugs will work. The NGK V-Power
copper plugs are popular, as they provide better performance than
platinum or iridium plugs at a bargain basement price (<$2 each). The
downside is that you have to change them more often (~every 30K).

Your original plugs should be good for ~60K miles if they're platinum.

 

Answers to both should be in the owners manual.

Matt

 

Actually -

a) Information about an engine being an interference engine would never be
in the owner's manual. Service manual (the one that costs a good bit of
money and does not come with the car), yes, maybe even possibly the
maintenance guide that does come with your car, though usually that only
lists the change interval;

b) The '02 Elantra 2.0L 4-cylinder IS an interference engine. And while
one should not dismissively ignore maintenance intervals, the Elantra has
had a reputation of being able to do a little better than the 4-year, 60,000
miles. I bought mine at 77,000, had it replaced immediately, and was
surprised how good the old one looked. Mechanic said the same thing.

Tom Wenndt

 

You don't have to pay a dime for the service manual. Simply go to
www.hmaservce.com, sign up for a free account and you can access the
manuals for any Hyundai vehicle free of charge. Two caveats are that the
site only works with IE and you need to download a viewer from Adobe
using the link provided on the site.

 

I would not try that. My sister had a Hyundai Elantra which she bought
new and the belt failed at 62,000 miles and destroyed the engine..
She was not aware that the belt has to replaced at the recommended
intervals to prevent such events from happening.
Why gamble for 6 months more driving and risk an expensive engine
failure??