[moralfibre]

Was almost wrapping up my day when a friend frantically called seeking advice on his i20. He started his car for his routine gym drive and heard something fall off in the engine bay. He opened up the engine bay to find the crank pulley on the floor along with a sheared off bolt and an intact belt!



I couldn't believe my eyes. The car has only been driven in the city all its life barring an occassional run or two to Mahabi, Goa and Mumbai. Has been routinely serviced at the authorised workshop and has a safe parking in the city areas of Pune.

Our fear is that the entire engine will have to be dismantled to remove the remains of the bolt from the crank. My friend was planning his first outstation trip post COVID and this disaster struck.

Any idea if there is a smarter way to fix this?

Other pics shared by him:

[moralfibre]

Thread moved to the technical stuff section.

[vishy76]

I don't think the engine will have to be removed in order to retrieve the broken crank bolt, but yes I think the oil seal seated there has been damaged and will have to be changed along with the bolt as it has leaked oil out. It's not something that will take time or cost a lot, but yes it's an irritant.

The same thing happened on Moderator Crazydriver's Xcent as well IIRC and his was not the only case on the forum. So much for Hyundai's famed reliability. An alternator or compressor pulley going bad or whining is still acceptable, but a crank pulley bolt shearing off, give me a break!

[saket77]

Not the first incident. Have read a few here on TBHP only:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...undai-i20.html (Pulley falls out of my Hyundai i20!)

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post4817864 (Hyundai India - The occasional serious quality lapse and apathetic manufacturer response!)

These point to some serious quality control issues in basic components.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

...Our fear is that the entire engine will have to be dismantled to remove the remains of the bolt from the crank...

That is the only way to take out the remnants of this bolt. If he is lucky, a local mech can use a Taparia Center Punch and gently hammer out the remaining half without shearing the threads. This should be easy because there is no torque'd load on the remaining (effectively a) stud rod, barring the factory applied anti-freeze over the bolt.

Possibility of this happening is next to none because the belt is supposed to take the shear load over any of the mechanical components it is connected to.

You can take the bolt to a spectra lab (in mumbai right?) and test its hardness and toughness. I am assuming it to be M12 or a M14 bolt by the picture. You can check the shear strength of the broken bolt and raise a stink if it doesnt match the prescribed standards of that sized bolt.

One example found off the net...
https://www.element.com/locations/as...gical-services

On a similar topic... this is a repeat of this thread.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...dai-i20-2.html (Pulley falls out of my Hyundai i20!)

[moralfibre]

Thank you Vishy, Saket and SVSantosh. I was thinking it must be a one off but it looks more like "Welcome aboard the Hyundai i20, if you notice a fallen pulley, dial 1, for all other requests dial 2"

Damn! This is such a nosedive on quality. The new i20 retails for 1.5million rupees. I am guessing it might not have changed much underneath. Looks like the Hyundai - Kia siblings are on a bad wicket.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by vishy76

The same thing happened on Moderator Crazydriver's Xcent

Yes, sadly looks like another victim of the same issue. Mine had done 25k kms. Hyundai-Kia and it's QC!

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Our fear is that the entire engine will have to be dismantled to remove the remains of the bolt from the crank. My friend was planning his first outstation trip post COVID and this disaster struck.

Any idea if there is a smarter way to fix this?

Costed me 18.3k and 10 days! The second half of the bolt was stuck on the casing and had to be removed at the lathe. All this trouble due to a part which costs all of 300 rupees!

[padmrajravi]

This pulley and belt issue is becoming serious now. My Xcent just crossed 30k and is being used daily by my sister for 60kms. Is there any way I can prevent this issue from happening? Can I inspect the car and see if it is about to break? My sister returns late in the evening daily and if something like this happens in the car, it is going to be a very stressful couple of hours.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by padmrajravi

Is there any way I can prevent this issue from happening?

It is material failure and I doubt it would leave any warning signs. Also only the head is really visible for you to inspect from outside.

Here is a closer look at the sheared off bolt in my case -

[padmrajravi]

So 2014/15 Xcent/grand i10/i20 owners are at the mercy of this bolt and can get stranded on road anytime. The number of incidents that we have in the forum itself because of this bolt is quite concerning. Most of the incidents seems to happen immediately after starting the car. So may be we won't get stuck in the middle of the road and the part will fail at the source location itself.

I think all of us have to go to service centre and ask them to change this bolt proactively on our cost. It is a 300 Rs part.May be if Hyundai see lot of people getting concerned, they may issue a recall. We should share this and related to threads in all Xcent/Grandi10/i20 whatsapp/telegram groups and ask people to flock service center for replacement of this bolt.

[Jaggu]

How old is the car and how many kms done?

The bolt should not be a big issue to fish out, there are tools available and most of the guys who work in lathe will know how to pull it out without dismantling the engine. Access also seems to be decent to reach.

That oil leak is more concerning. Otherwise the engine is turning fine?

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

How old is the car and how many kms done?

6 years and 22k kms

The bolt should not be a big issue to fish out, there are tools available and most of the guys who work in lathe will know how to pull it out without dismantling the engine. Access also seems to be decent to reach.

Hope that happens

That oil leak is more concerning. Otherwise the engine is turning fine?

Yes, nothing wrong with the engine. Guess the small spray was when the pulley shot off the crank bolt.

[moralfibre]

The car was fixed and returned yesterday. Looks like a record turn around time compared to other cars with the same problem. The service advisor acknowledged that there are frequent reports of this but issuing a recall is not in their hands. Total repair cost was Rs. 2426/-

[mac187]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Total repair cost was Rs. 2426/-

They charged the customer for what is essentially a defect in the car? Why didn't you friend ask for this to be covered under warranty?

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by mac187

They charged the customer for what is essentially a defect in the car? Why didn't you friend ask for this to be covered under warranty?

Not worth the time he would have spent dealing with them back and forth. Hyundai should have done it proactively to ensure CSAT. Such cases take potential repeat customers away from the brand. He recalled how reliable his Swift was and his replacement will be a Maruti Suzuki 4 years from now.