..
abuse:
http://www.autoforumz.com/eform.php?p=519634
Here's an update for the group about how my situation is
working out.
Took the Elantra in to the local dealer so they could hear the
problem.
Ends up that ALL '05 Elantras with the H290 (CD) radio on
their lot
experience this problem. They replaced the radio to try to fix
the
problem; and it did get a little better, but certainly not
anywhere
close to all the other Hyundai models and every other
Make/Model I've
driven over the past couple of years (20+ different models due
to
frequent rental).
Ends up that the District Parts and Service Manager for
Rochester was
at the dealer today, so I went back for him to listen to and
talk about
the situation. He offered to pay up to $100 to have someone
else
address it (as long as I did all the work like selecting the
service
provider, paying for it, investing my time, etc.). I refused
this offer
for the reasons you'll see below. I asked specifically if the
Hyundai
factory was aware of this condition and he indicated that they
must be
since ALL the similar Elantras are that way. I then asked if
Hyundai
intended to address this in any way and he said no. I put in a
call to
Hyundai Consumer Affairs and learned that a District Manager
is as far
as you can go with Hyundai and that if he said something is
Hyundai's
position then that's what Hyundai the company stands behind. I
asked
specifically if that was what I should feel free to pass on to
any that
ask, and the customer affairs person said "It's a free
country, do what
you want".
This next part will be technical stuff about EMC/EMI, so skip
this if
you want...
Having worked as an EMC professional, I can say that Hyundai's
apparent
lack of interest in this is common to those that really DON'T
understand EMC issues. I can only guess that the folks
responsible for
EMC at Hyundai either are unaware of what's going on in this
model, or
have had their decisions overridden by other authorities
within
Hyundai. I don't honestly believe that another EMC
professional would
experience this issue and decide to do NOTHING.
The nature of ALL EMC problems is that there are 3 component
parts; a
generator of energy, a coupling mechanism for the energy, and
a
receptor that is sensitive to the energy. In this case, the
generator
is what the local service guy called the "power controller."
This is
the thing I described earlier as running for approximately 15
seconds
after the key is moved from On to Acc.
We don't know what the coupling mechanism is in this case, and
THAT is
what troubles me and should trouble Hyundai. There are two
principal
coupling modes for EMI; radiation and conduction. If the
source of the
EMI is a "power controller" and the coupling mode is
conduction, then
it is totally possible that ALL the modules on the car are
receiving
EMI polluted power. Given that, how do I know that any of the
safety
critical systems won't sustain an EMI induced failure at a
critical (to
my life) time. Technically, the same thing can apply to
coupling via
radiation, it's just that the sensitivities (or
susceptibilities if you
please) are usually a lot higher for radiated EMI.
So why not take the money offered for a radio fix? Because
that's just
what it would be, a radio fix. I'm concerned, and I think
Hyundai
should be concerned, about fixing the EMI problem and ALL of
the real
and possible effects.
At this point, if I understand Hyundai Consumer Affairs
properly, there
are no other avenues of addressing this problem, so the hopes
of
getting the EMI problem addressed are fading. My hope is that
readers
of my experiences with this issue will include this
information in
their car-buying decision. I can't tell you what impact this
should
have on your decisions. I can only say that my opinion of
Hyundai
quality and customer care aren't what they used to be. And
while I'm
hearing that EMI in my radio, I'll always be thinking "I
wonder what
that's doing to the rest of the car."
Regards to all.
