TSB - Santa Fe 2007 Front Hub Clearances

I bought an early model 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe V6 3.3 liter that has
the excessive front wheel hub-to-driveshaft clearance problem, TSB
06-50-011, INSERTION OF WASHER BETWEEN FRONT HUB AND DRIVESHAFT. A
number of other early Hyundai models had/have the same problem.

The excessive clearance causes a sometimes loud "clack" noise when
shifting from D to R, or from R to D, brake on and car not moving of
course. The clearance allows the drive shafts to slide and hit the
hubs. The remedy according to the TSB is to insert plastic washers
(Hyundai parts) between the hubs and the CV joints.

The repair requires rather complete disassembly of the lower front
end, and I am concerned about the quality of my current dealer's work.
Would any damage result from just leaving the front end as is and
living with the clacking?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

H-Rod

 

Go to a different dealer.

 

Thanks for the reply, Ed. I considered that, but I am a long way from
another dealer, and using a distant dealer would involve another person
with transportation to follow me there and bring me home. Then there
would be the return trip to pick up the car. Then if there should be a
follow-up problem, more of the same.

We don't drive very much, maybe 5,000 miles per year, so that's another
factor. I could do it myself, and I might resort to that if the
annoyance doesn't get too great, but that might void some warranty.
Further, I'm getting old, and I don't like the idea of wrestling those
heavy components

Rod

 

Why are you concerned? That's a rather trivial disassembly and re-assembly.

 

Can't blame you for not wanting to mess with it - I'm rolling my cars over
far sooner than I ever did, just because I'm getting tired of wrenching on
cars. That said, what reason do you have not questions the dealer's ability
to do the job the right way?

 

Mike Marlow wrote:
Snip

Hi Mike! Many thanks for the response.

I agree that the procedure is straight forward, and the TSB has
excellent instructions with torque specs and numerous illustrations that
anyone could follow.

I don't want to say too much about the dealership, except that when I
bought the car the they had an outstanding certified Hyundai mechanic.
That was reassuring. Not long after, he was gone, and so was the Sales
Manager.

I took the car in for an oil change. To do that, the decorative plastic
engine cover, held on by two bolts and four nuts, must be removed. When
I got the car home, I found that one of the nuts was missing, and the
other nuts and bolts were greatly over-torqued. One was so over
tightened that the stud treads were ruined so that a new nut can not be
installed. Would that same "mechanic" do the front end work?? Does he
even know what a torque wrench is??

I have other concerns that I don't want to go into, but basically, I
have lost confidence in this dealer. If the hub clearance problem would
result in serious damage, I'll just have to go to the distant dealer.
If it's not serious but just noisy, I'll probably live with it.

Changing subjects, but I recall another dealer experience I had. A Four
Star Dodge dealer I once used changed xmiss fluid for me. The xmiss pan
is sealed with a goop, not a gasket. I went home, and about an hour
later I had about two quarts of xmiss fluid on the concrete carport
floor. Took it back, and the service manager wrote up another service
order and put it in the out-box without so much as a single word. No
apology, nothing! Also, I did not get the usual quality survey from
Chrysler on that job.

I have always done my own auto work including overhauling small car
engines, and I have a hard time trusting auto work to people I don't know.

Many thanks Mike for your interest and comment.

Rod

 

Very valid concerns. Be it the dealer or independent shop, if you find a
good one, stick with him. It is getting more difficult to find people that
want to work in the trades and get their hands dirty, but you can make a
decent living at it. Too many schools have eliminated shop programs as they
think we will all be computer techs in the future.

 

FWIW - generally the guy that does the oil changes is a flunky that doesn't
do any real work on cars. May be different at any given dealership, but
most don't put their real talent on basic oil changes unless they are part
of other work. Not that this shouldn't keep you from being wary, based on
your experience.

Too bad it's a warranty job - otherwise you could just take it to a trusted
independent mechanic. It might even be worth doing so anyway, considering
all the other factors associated with taking it to a different dealer.

I know what you mean about that. I'm exactly the same way.

 

There won't be any problems other than the annoying noise

 

Many, many thanks, Hyundaitech. I appreciate your response very much!
Thanks to you I will sleep better tonight

You professional contributions to this group make it an outstanding
resource, and we highly value your input.

Best Regards,

Rod