Hyundai Santro Xing - Crankshaft & engine repair/ failure-only 26000 Kms & 2 1/2years

[Murugan]

Originally Posted by Murugan

My Hyundai Santro was delivered after repairs by KUN Hyundai, Chennai on 12th May 2007 as reported earlier.

My mileage now is 8+ Km/L, a significant drop from the previous 12-13 Km/L.

Overall I am not happy with the fact that the crankshaft etc., of the engine of my modern 21st century car failed prematurely around 26,000 Kms and around 2 1/2 years.


My Thanks to everybody (including team-bhp members) for their support.

The mileage is now back in the 12-13Km/L range in Chennai city traffic with the Air Conditioner kept on all the time.

[PVS]

Originally Posted by Murugan

I request my fellow BHPians to advice on what further action I can take to ensure early delivery of my car.

In case Hyundai India does not respond in spite of your repeated complaints, you may escalate this matter to the grievances section of one (or more) of Indian Auto Magazines like AutoCar India, BS Motoring or Overdrive. They publish a picture of you & your vehicle, along with a brief of your problem, and also take it up with the management, in case of a serious problem.

[msvilkhoo]

Now I too have a similar problem of crank shaft failure of my santro purchased in November 2004.
My Santro Xing XG suddenly started rattling noise from the engine. Upon showing the problem into the hyundai workstation , technician told that the crankshft has defect. I am shocked that just in 3 year from the date of purchase the cranshaft has defect. I purchased Santro Xing in Nov 2004. It has only 31000 km running till date. I have using regular service done and also good petrol used. The repairs cost me 24 K. I request others having similar complaint about a Santro model 2004 to get a reasonable compensation from Hyundai.I have been following up the Hyundai people so long in vain.
I too am of the opnion that Hyundai spares specially crank shaft, made of very very poor quality.
If anyone have this issue resolved then please assist me.
My mail id is msvilkhoo@sielchemical.com
Mobile:09876111289

[jassi]

woah the number of crankshaft failures on santros is shocking and i think all of them are from the 2004 batch

hopefully the later batches are better. I am going to take it easy on my ride from now on, well mostly, i hope i can

[Murugan]

One more premature Hyundai Santro engine failure

Dear Sir,
This is CKM RAJU. My son a software engineer purchased SANTRO XING in AUG 2004. After a year use in Bangalore city he left the car in Anantapur (Andhra Pradesh) with me and left abroad as he was deputed to on work permit. Since then the car is used very sparingly by me and driven by me only. But periodical visits to the company authorized service stations even caused me unnecessary expenditure though the car is hardly driven on the road.Recently I drove the car to chennai with my family (me, my wife and daughter) as my daughter had an Interview with L & T. On 11 th FEB 2008, at around 1 pm I was driving the car on busy road Pallavaram Guindy to Porur. Roads was so busy with all kinds of vehicular traffic and this XING suddenly engine stopped accelerating on the middle of the road causing a worry and anxiety to my self and disturbance to other motorists. Other motorists started blowing horns some of them abusing me too. As it was rolling slowly on its momentum I was able to take it to roadside by using the hand brake. The situation was so awful that I was unable to contact any one in the Chennai city, as I am new to. After a few minutes spending over the dire situation a young gentleman appeared on the scene and offered help by telephoning to his friends and locating the workshop. He was with me until the car towed to the Hyundai own service center in Ekkattuthangal in Chennai. I am very much grateful to this gentle man. The situation would have been worst if any speeding vehicle following hit my car and in the process I would have hit a vehicle in front of me. Our lives were at stake at that time the car has stopped accelerating.

How ever after all this, the car has been towed to workshop (Hyundai Original service center). At the service center the in charge gave me a sledgehammer shock by diagnosing the vehicle, saying that the CRANK Shaft has broken. I said no. He said yes. Being my self a machine shop technician worked for largest fertilizer plants (abroad too), owned a Japanese car (new) for almost 15 years, dealt with servicing turbines, pumps, valves used in chemical industries knowing materials strength while I was with fertilizer plants, I just shocked when he said the crankshaft broken just at the clock of 30000km, before even the original brake pads and tires worn out. There was a long 4 to 5 hour argument regarding the matter. Now I have decided not to compromise for their discounts on the service and replacement charges except for a new engine replacement at their cost. Definitely they have delivered a brand new car fitted with defective engine.

I have told to my son about the incident. He guided me to see this web site. On seeing it I found lot more people are affected by this 2004 model car where these people can fight for a new car or total engine replacement. The Hyundai Company is exploiting the situation by dealing with individuals and extorting money from the owners for their fault and supplying a defective car.

I have also seen lot people are happy with their Hyundai cars. Why should we be deprived of this? I am seeking effected people come together and discuss the matter privately to deal this situation.

I am residing in Andhra Pradesh My phone numbers are 08554 245788, and mobile 09441918923. Email Id challagali_atp@yahoo.co.in.

Please do reply. You can also pass on this information if you know any dissatisfied owner of xing.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by Murugan

One more premature Hyundai Santro engine failure

Dear Sir,
This is CKM RAJU. My son a software engineer purchased SANTRO XING in AUG 2004....Please do reply. You can also pass on this information if you know any dissatisfied owner of xing.

How shocking! I thought the xing was a better model than the original Santro.

[hellstar]

oh my god the counter seems to be ticking fast and this is definitely not good. Wish all you guys the bets of luck for a speedy and smooth resolution of your issues

[LLL]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

How shocking! I thought the xing was a better model than the original Santro.

It definitely is...i have been using it for 5 years and clocked 49k with just 1 breakdown which was due to engine overheating. No defects till date. amen.

However, i think there is a bad batch of 2004 which seems to suffer from this problem. It would be only appropriate & ethical for Hyundai to recall all these cars and do a replacement of the crankshafts or engines.

[rks]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

How shocking! I thought the xing was a better model than the original Santro.

The Xing's engine is supposed to be more refined than that of old Santro with better fuel economy. But my old Santro's 1-lit engine is really going strong at 73000 kms. I think the main difference in performance between old Santro and Xing is that the Xing does its top speed at a higher engine rpm (~4200) as compared to my old Santro's 2800 rpm. So as far as high speed driving is concerned, I believe that old Santro's engine will be less strained, and could possibly have a longer life. But I could be mistaken.

And I don't believe that the stock Xing is any quicker than my "modded" old Santro (Speed 97, 5J alloys and stock-size Turanza tyres at 36 psi). Believe me, my car has taken to these "mods" lke a duck takes to water. Today I hit ~150 kmph even on level road at some smooth stretches of the Expressway, with something to spare on the throttle. It is a different car now.

[zuch]

It's disturbing to see so many problems in santros. My family has owned two santros and we've never had any problems. We first had a 99 model which had done 110K Kms and was still going strong when we sold it off. Our current santro xing is a 2004 Sept model which has done 51000 Kms and the engine still feels like new. I've always looked at it as a very reliable car.

[LLL]

Originally Posted by rks

Today I hit ~150 kmph even on level road at some smooth stretches of the Expressway, with something to spare on the throttle. It is a different car now.

true...cannot be called a santro anymore.

I have taken mine upto 120 and dont have confidence in the car to take it higher anymore.

[diffsoft]

Friends:

Just a few days ago I was singing praises of my "yet-to-trouble" 4 year old (Aug 2005) 60,000 Santro AT and soon enough I landed with a problem, which Trident Hyundai tells me is likely to lead to replacement of the crankshaft.

I need your help to diagnose the problem from its symptoms and go about solving it.

A few days ago my wife couldn't accelerate the car at a stop after the signal turned green even when she pushed the pedal to the metal. After a while though the car started moving ahead. However power dropped dramatically when the AC was switched on. It took her and my driver a couple of drives to notice this and conclude that a problem did exist.

Suspecting this to be a minor issue we took the car to the Trident workshop at S'puram - we are very comfortable and trusting of Trident and the mechanics there. They took the whole weekend trying to identify the problem and finally said that via a process of elimination they have come to believe that the crankshaft has undergone wear and tear and is the reason for the lack of transmission of power to the wheels. Thus the crankshaft needs to be replaced!

I haven't yet confirmed replacement but I find it really surprising that the crankshaft should wear-out do soon. Rummaging some similar problems in Team BHP I came across prior discussions and thought I will put it across fellow BHPians for thoughts.

Many thanks in advance for your thoughts and suggestions,

[sureshkishore]

My cousin also had complained of sudden drop in power in her 3 year old santro but the service guys couldn't diagnose the problem, now from this history of crankshaft failure I strongly suspect the crankshaft is about to go kaput! Better warn her!

[NetfreakBombay]

Thanks to team-bhp, we know that this is not an isolated incident. Hundai should treat it as known issue and proactively inform buyers that got cars from these batches.

[sdp1975]

I'm just wondering whether the problem faced by diffsoft has to do with the fact that his is an AT rather than crankshaft wear.

diffsoft, have you considered diagnosis at another service station ? How confident are the mechanics that it's to do with the crankshaft ?

Do you still have extended warranty coverage ?