2006 Hyundai Sonata passenger buckle light

Does anyone else out there who owns an 06 Sonata have an issue with the
passenger seat belt buckle light on the dash board flashing when noone
is sitting in it? I recently moved and placed a heavy box of glassware
and dishes on the front passenger seat (probably not the safest thing
to do.....) and the light never flashed; yet when i simply put my lunch
box on the front seat, it flashes like it's going out of style.
and if i pick up a friend, the "passenger airbag off" light doesn't
turn off when someone sits in the seat either. if the car is off, and
a passenger sits in it, no problem, but if the car starts, moves above
the predetermined factory 6 MPH, then someone sits in it, you can
forget it

also, my sonata does make a sloshy sound from the fuel tank, but only
when its full, after about 50-75 or so miles it goes away.

if anyone has info regarding the passenger buckle light and airbag
light, i'd appreciate some feedback so i can get this safety feature
fixed

misterh78

 

"...but if the car starts, moves above the predetermined factory 6 MPH,
then someone sits in it, you can forget it"

People get into your car while it's moving?? I could see where this would
confuse the system.

Actually, I presume the above is something of a misunderstanding. I've
seen one car with a passenger seat belt lamp that would flash with
unoccupied passenger seat if the car was left in the sun all day.
Pressing on the seat and letting up made it stop. The solution was to
replace the passenger seat bottom.

 

Well you know, some people are a little more daring than
others.....what I meant was as if I were picking up a friend, the air
bag light would remain illuminated, even after my friend would sit in
the seat, pretty scary to think that in the event of an accident, the
air bag would not go off even though there is a passenger in the seat.

One would think that every Sonata would experience this, because I can
only imagine, every Sonata sits in the sun all day due to the every day
common working man/woman. I have pressed on the seat and it has
stopped, but on a 2006 vehicle, I shouldn't have to do this. It's
going into the dealership today to have the ambient temperature sensor
replaced, I will mention the above. Thanks.

Also....anyone know if there are any special tools required to change
the oil in the V6 Sonatas? I think the dealership is trying to talk me
into paying over $40 for an oil change based on special tooling and the
difficulty of removing the filter without this special tool.
Hyundaitech.com doesn't specify any special tooling, nor does any other
"googling."

-misterh78

 

I've had this experience before as well and have through experimentation
decided that it has a lot to do with body placement on the seat itself. My
wife weighs ~115 and likes the seatback straight up and she usually sits
very erect (center of mass at the very back of the seat) Quite often the air
bag light is illuminated if she gets in *after* the engine is started, but
as long as she is in place *before* the key goes in, the air bag remains on.
Just my observances.

No special tooling required at all. You just need standard metric sockets to
remove the drain plug and the bolts that hold down the plastic engine cover
in order to access the filter housing. From first hand experience, it is
handy to have an oil filter wrench around say if someone happened to
*overtighten* the canister top on the previous oil change, but that's about
as special as it gets.

KW

 

KW

Thank you for confirming my dealership is just trying to get $40 for an
oil change, and $80 for the 7500 mile service. I feel a little more
confident that I can do this myself. Even the owners manual states
nothing about special tooling.

I have seen elsewhere that 06 Sonata owners have had the passenger
seats replaced, however, a) cost (if any) and b) it was the ultimate
solution was not shared. My opinion is that this is a safety feature
that should work out of the factory, and repairs should be at no cost
to the owner.

We also own an '05 Tucson and maintenance on that is pretty simple; so
I don't see why Hyundai would go as far as creating special tooling for
a simple oil change - doesn't seem cost effective. Second guessing
myself - '06 is the first year of the 17" alloys for Hyundai, causing
many Hyundai dealerships to purchase newer equipment to accommodate the
new larger wheel size.

Ok so here is another one, anyone know about any other reprogramming
for the remote keyless entry? I am aware of the speed sensitive door
locking, any others?
And I can't check the time with out turning the key to "ACC?" What's
up with that? Am I missing something?

misterh78

 

I don't know what normal oil changes cost at your dealer, but the 2006 V6
Sonata does require 6 quarts of oil. So it's not unreasonable for them to
charge you for an extra quart of oil. But Keith is exactly right. There's
nothing really special about this oil change. If you want the ultimate in
filter wrenches, you can probably purchase through the dealer the special
tool cap wrench that fits the top of the oil filter housing. It looks
pretty standard, but I've not been able to find one that size anywhere
else, yet.

Unless these people with the seat cushion issues on their 2006 Sonatas
already have more than 60,000 miles on their cars, the problems should be
handled free of charge and in a hassle-free manner under the factor
warranty. The reason they don't all do it is that most of the seat
cushion sensors work properly. I haven't heard back yet from our customer
who had the problem with the passenger seat cushion. Knowing this customer
reasonably well by now, it's a pretty safe assumption that it's fixed--
we'd know if it wasn't.

17" wheels are nothing new. They may be new to Hyundai, but there really
shouldn't be an issue with doing tire changes and balancing on the
equipment the dealer already had in place. If there is, the dealer isn't
up to date.

I believe there are a couple of keyless/alarm features that can be
programmed, but I don't recall what they are and don't have a car handy to
plug the scanner into to see what they are. I think it's mostly
answer-back and similar stuff.

The reason you cannot see the time without turning the key to at least the
accessory position is that the clock display uses enough energy that it
would drain the battery if left on. So once the key is turned off, the
display turns off.

 

Hyundaitech: if you know of any reprogramming that can be done
(without a visit to the dealership for hook up to the computer), would
you mind sending them along?

Yes I am aware of the slight cost increase because of the extra quart
of oil and the cartridge style filter. It appears that currently the
cartridge is only available through the dealership.

My Sonata is currently at the dealership for the ambient temperature
sensor, the manager told me something that (at the time) made
sense....the passenger buckle light has nothing to do with the seat
itself, only the buckle assembly. I thought about this, now if it IS
the buckle assembly, then it must be coincedence that when I remove my
lunch box (or similar object(s) from the seat -OR- press on the seat in
random places, it stops flashing. I feel he may be incorrect.

The clock makes sense, I can deal with that.

I find it funny how Hyundai would put a really nice AM/FM/MP3/6CD
stereo in, but not have the capabilities in the device to name tracks
on original CDs. I suppose this is a naiive comment since I know
nothing about the track naming technology in said device.

Do all 06 Sonata's brakes squeal when the car is first moved (even in
dry weather)? I even notice a slight creak out of the right rear side
of the car, but again only occurs when the car moves for the first
time.

-misterh78

 

Go to the Kia dealer...... $6.00 for the REAL filter. If you want after
market, the Purolator aftermarket filter can now be gotten at Advance
automotive for $14.50. (yeah, I know the real filters are cheaper at the
Hyundai dealer)

There are no track names on a "normal" pressed CD. There's also no
directory. Just raw digital audio data with track numbers and data
positions.
The lookup services (CDDB, etc.) that make the track names show up on your
computer depend on track lengths and audio data signatures to "guess" at
what cd is in the computer based on prior entries by users.

 

That's too bad....it would be nice to be able to name the tracks and
albums on your normal pressed CDs. Oh well, we have means of bypassing
that through the wonders of technology.

 

I replaced the factory head unit with an aftermarket unit equipped with
a Secure Digital (SD) card slot (a thumb-sized card). A 1-Gb card at
Wal-Mart holds 255 MP3's or WMA's and the display reads off the title
and artist as the song plays. None of the songs has ID3 tags, just the
name of the song and the artist to identify the track, and the head
unit picks up that info and displays it.

The head unit I bought is a Virtual Reality Sound Labs VRCD400-SDU head
unit from Wal-Mart, $79.87 plus tax. In addition to the SD card slot,
the unit has a front-panel USB port (for keyring memory thingies) and
an AUX input for i-Pods or other devices. On the back are RCA outputs
1000-mV and subwoofer outputs (amp req'd for subwoofer).

And, yeah, I know, it only plays one CD at a time, but with an SD card
filled with up to 285 tracks, who needs the CD player anyway, not to
mention the SD card doesn't "skip"!