Humming / Pulsating Noise

[reemoe]

Hello,

I'm the original owner of an '07 Santa Fe GLS (2.7 L).

Shortly after purchasing, I noticed a humming / pulsating sound that seemed to be coming from the engine compartment. This occurs when traveling in the 50 to 60 MPH range. Lately, it seems to be getting louder.

Has anyone encountered something similar with their Santa Fe? Ideas as to what may be causing it?

Thanks in advance!
Ryan

[byronguidry3732]

reemoe!

Their are several possible causes:

a. the Santa Fe is notorious for the front end alighnment going out. [I have to get mine realigned every 4 months.] When the tires are out of alignment, you may experience cupping which will cause a droning noise. Inspect your front tires, or have them inspected.
b. The pulsating may be the front rotors showing paralellism, and they may need to be turned on a brake lathe to make them square again. Is the pulsating more noticeable during light braking?
c. The Santa Fe has a oilproof felt on the plastic engine fascia, and on the brush guard. This is actually there to absorb some of the engine compartment noise. If you took off the engine plastic piece, your noise level will go up.
d. You should not be having problems with you CV joints, but you have two inboard and two outboard CV joints. Any of these just a little out of balance could be making a pulsating noise.

Byron

[dpdurst]

I noticed mine louder after rotating tires, the Bridgestones on the front now are way worse than the Goodyears that were on there.

[reemoe]

Thanks for the things to consider!

byronguidry3732, regarding the alignment going out and front rotors needing to be turned, do you know if this would be covered under the Hyundai warranty? Or would it be more of a maintenance thing?

dpdurst, I had my tires rotated and balanced a year ago (original Bridgestone Duelers), but the noise began prior to having that done.

[reemoe]

As a follow up, there is no vibration; simply the noise.

[reemoe]

Over the weekend, I took our Santa Fe to NTB to have the tires rotated/balanced. I also had them check for cupping, but they didn't notice any. They did a free alignment check, as well. The items that were out of spec for me:

Front Left: Toe -0.15 (Specified range is -0.08 to 0.08)
Front Right: Toe -0.17
Total Toe: -0.32 (Specified range is -0.16 to 0.16)

Rear Left: Camber -1.9 (Spec range is -1.5 to -0.5)
Rear Right: Camber -1.7

Are any of these considered seriously out of alignment? Could it be the reason for my humming noise?

Also, since my Santa Fe is still under warranty (~27,000 miles), should I take it to the dealer and have them check it out? There wouldn't be any cost to do so, would there?

[Don67]

QUOTE (reemoe @ Jun 10 2009, 01:33 PM)

Over the weekend, I took our Santa Fe to NTB to have the tires rotated/balanced. I also had them check for cupping, but they didn't notice any. They did a free alignment check, as well. The items that were out of spec for me:

Front Left: Toe -0.15 (Specified range is -0.08 to 0.08)
Front Right: Toe -0.17
Total Toe: -0.32 (Specified range is -0.16 to 0.16)

Rear Left: Camber -1.9 (Spec range is -1.5 to -0.5)
Rear Right: Camber -1.7

Are any of these considered seriously out of alignment? Could it be the reason for my humming noise?

Also, since my Santa Fe is still under warranty (~27,000 miles), should I take it to the dealer and have them check it out? There wouldn't be any cost to do so, would there?

Given those results I would definitely get your wheels aligned and see where that takes you. Unfortunately wheel alignment is only a freebie for the first year, like all adjustments.

[reemoe]

A follow-up: I had an alignment done back in July; I'm still getting the excess noise, but hopefully the condition will not get any worse.

I happened to get down on my hands and knees to inspect the tires last weekend, and noticed the inner 1/5 or so was severely worn (the fronts worse than the backs). Some squeaking occurs when making tight turns, due to this wear I'm sure.

I now have 31,000 miles (on the original Bridgestone Duelers) on the car. Have been rotating tires every year, but now will every 6 months. I plan on getting new tires sometime next spring.

Hopefully better tires will end up with a quieter ride with even tread wear!

Ryan

[Don67]

Definitely get rid of the Bridgestones. They are not a great tire when new, let alone with 31,000 miles and a "severely worn" edge.

When you get your new tires, rotate them regularly through all four corners of the vehicle as per the owner's manual. That should suffice until the last few months of your warranty, at which point you can pay for another alignment to identify any parts that need replacement. The Santa Fe is not immune to front-end wear (I just had a noisy stabilizer link replaced at 35,000 km, and the dealer actually had the part in stock which tells you something), but the warranty is very generous so you might as well take advantage.

[diamondjoker5]

QUOTE (Don67 @ Aug 28 2009, 10:09 AM)

Definitely get rid of the Bridgestones. They are not a great tire when new, let alone with 31,000 miles and a "severely worn" edge.

When you get your new tires, rotate them regularly through all four corners of the vehicle as per the owner's manual. That should suffice until the last few months of your warranty, at which point you can pay for another alignment to identify any parts that need replacement. The Santa Fe is not immune to front-end wear (I just had a noisy stabilizer link replaced at 35,000 km, and the dealer actually had the part in stock which tells you something), but the warranty is very generous so you might as well take advantage.

I recently had my front driver side tire slashes in two places, defintely not any nails since it was a slash mark and basically i replced the entire tire with the same bridgestone model for around $130. Anyway I have heard almost everyone say that the bridgestone tires are not the best tires for this vehicle. After they have run their course and get work out which brand or type would you recommend getting for the 18inch wheel size for my 2008 santa fe se. Thx