Ping HyundaiTech : Drive Belt

My 2002 (2.7 ltr) SantaFe Manual says to replace the Drive Belt at
75,000 miles ; when would you suggest having this replaced based on
mostly city driving ? I cant see pushing it and risking breakage.
Thanks, Dave.

 

Older ones tend to start cracking significantly around 3 years or 30k.
Newer ones seem to be made of a different material and still seem to be
just fine when I change the timing belt at 60k. I don't recommend doing
this as regular maintenance, but rather as indicated by the condition of
the belt. Have a look where the belt goes over the tensioner pulley. The
belt is bent backward there, and it'll be easy to see the cracks in the
ribs. If it's getting ugly, replace it.

 

Drive belt? Don't you have a transmission?

 

Question...I see if you live in Calif, you don't have to replace the timing
belt on elantra the same time you do in other states??? I live here and W
H Y???

 

Dave, the easiest answer to the question is to have them changed when you
change your timing belt. You have to remove them anyway to get to the
timing belt. Between that and inspection of the water pump and tensioner
pulley, the job can get expensive, but better doing all of it at once rather
than a piece at a time.

 

I've never seen an official reason, but I suspect there's a legal issue in
California that prevents them from denying warranty coverage under the 10
year/100,000 mile warranty if your timing belt breaks after 4 years/60,000
miles (and it wasn't replaced).