2004 Sonata with excess vibration in steering wheel

I have a 2004 Hyundai Sonata base model with 2.4L engine and the 4
speed Shiftronic transmission. When stopped with the transmission in
drive and foot on the brake, there is an abnormal amount of vibration
that is felt on the steering wheel. When the tranmission is placed
into neutral, the vibration is cut in half. It started out as a small
vibration at approximately 27K miles and has progressively gotten
worse at 42K miles. The dealer has checked the car out and says this
vibration is normal for this mileage. I have a 2001Hyundai Elantra
with 83K miles and this car has very little vibration compared to the
Sonata. I am frustrated and ready to call Hyundai Consumer Affairs.
Has anyone experienced this vibration before and if so, what was done
to fix it?

Hyundaitech, do you have any insight on this problem?

 

My first thought is a loose or leaking vacuum hose, but surely if the
dealers tech has checked it out they would have found that.

 

Sonatas with the 2.4 engine have quite a lot of vibration when the car is
in gear. This is, unfortunately, inherent in their design and will never
go away.

Since you say the vibration has gotten worse since about 27,000 miles,
it's possible that you have an issue with the motor mounts. If that's the
case, replacing them will reduce (but not eliminate) the vibration.

You could call Hyundai customer assistance, but I'm thinking that won't
get you very far unless you meet with the factory rep and are absolutely
adamant that the vibration is significantly worse than before.

If you're game, call the service manager and offer that you won't bring
the issue up again if they replace both upper mounts (one engine mount
onthe right side of the vehicle, and one transmission mount on the left).
Of course, this means that if nothing changes, you'll need to keep your
word that you won't bring it up again. But in that case, I'm suspecting
that the vibration is indeed normal, as they say.

 

I was told today by the dealership service manager that in was
inherent with the 2.4L engine and that there was nothing more they
could do. I have called the Consumer Affairs to complain about it.
They are to call the dealership and get back to me next week. I will
ask about the motor mounts.
Thanks.

 

Is there a torque spec on the motor mounts? I wonder if that is my brand new
vibration problem.
(I just had the motor mount out to work on the timing belt. - 01 sonata
2.4l)

 

Every bolt in an automobile has a torque spec. You should be able to find
it at www.hmaservice.com Get a free account and get the picture viewer
under "Site Requirements".