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Dangerous, Horrible DCT

832K views 2K replies 296 participants last post by  willie141 
#1 ·
Hello,

I am hoping that someone in the community can help me.

Background:
I purchased a 2016 Hyundai Tuscon Sport 1.6 AWD about 2 months ago. It has given me endless problems with the DCT. First, it would rev a little too high in low gears, as if the clutch was slipping. I chalked this up to crappy software in the transmission control. Then, an alarm would sound now and then, and the ominous "Transmission temp. too high! Pull over safely." message would appear on the instrument panel. I took it in for service, and they were "unable to replicate the issue". After I got my vehicle back (after about 4 days in the shop), I was able to replicate this behavior in less than 10 minutes. Any amount of normal stop-and-go will cause this. (No, I am not "creeping", or holding on a hill with the accelerator, or driving with the other foot on the brake, or any of the other questions that have been posed to me).

Now, they instructed me that this was "normal", and photocopied some pages from the manual about "creeping" on hills, etc., but that is not what I was doing. I was just driving normally.

Fast forward to last Friday, and a NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE:
The vehicle was parked for 2 hours (nice and cool - no hot transmission). I started it and drove 1/4 of a mile to a convenience store. I turned the vehicle off and went inside the store. I was in there for 10 minutes. When I came back out, I started the car, in Park, made a 3 minute phone call, then attempted to drive out of the parking lot. As soon as I pulled into traffic, I pressed the accelerator, and the vehicle WOULD NOT MOVE! The RPMs were going up into the 6,000 range, and it would not send ANY power to the wheels. NONE. ZERO. NADA. It behaved as if it had the clutch 99% depressed, almost as if it was in neutral. I had to put my hazard lights on as full-speed traffic was bearing down upon me. Suddenly, this had gone from nuisance to life-threatening. I tried to switch it into manual mode, but it ignored my choice. I then moved it into Park, and back to Drive, to no avail. Still, it would not transmit power to the wheels. After about 60 seconds of being hung out to dry, with traffic going around me, and being fearful of someone rear-ending me at full speed, it decided to apply a VERY SMALL amount of power (like maybe 10%), at very high RPMs (5-6K). Even with gentle acceleration, it very sluggishly moved along, first at 10 MPH, then 15 MPH, etc., slipping the clutch the entire way. After about 1/2 mile of this, the transmission temperature alert came on again, and I was forced to pull over.

This time, it has been in the shop for 6 days, and they "emailed Hyundai engineering". I just received the lame response - "These transmissions are not like ordinary transmissions." They are not doing anything to help me.

SERIOUSLY? It just refuses to send torque to the wheels for 60 seconds in high-speed traffic? RANDOMLY?

This is going to get me killed.

I hate this vehicle. I have owned about 20 different vehicles: manuals, automatics, sedans, SUVs, pickups, vans, what have you, and NONE of them have ever done anything like this. I recently owned 4 Toyotas in a row (Avalon, Corolla, Camry, and Highlander), to the tune of around 300,000 miles, and NONE OF THEM WERE EVER IN THE SHOP FOR A SINGLE DAY for a mechanical problem. This thing is 2 months old and has already been in the shop for 10 days. I really regret this purchase.

Has this happened to any of you? I didn't spend $30,000 USD just to have my vehicle do dangerous, stupid things like this, or to ride around in a loaner sedan from the dealership while I make my payments.

I feel like I cannot possibly be the only person experiencing this. This is downright dangerous and unacceptable.

Any help is appreciated.

Thank you.
 
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#2 ·
I'd suggest having someone with you in the vehicle and take a video. Then post it to YouTube and hit up every social media account you have with a link to it. Once it gets out there it will go viral and I'd bet Hyundai responds rather quickly.

Sent from my LG-H810 using Tapatalk
 
#3 ·
OMG - what????????????????? Hyundai corp needs to know this. Take it to another dealer and call the local TV consumer complaint dept (our local stations all have this). And Definitely video - and document everything. If you get any more push back contact a lemon law lawyer.
 
#4 ·
These are great ideas. The first time I took it in, they treated me poorly and acted like I was crazy. When I got the vehicle back, and replicated the transmission temperature issue, and I got that on video. I showed the service manager the video, and he said something like "Well, I'll be darned. I've never seen any error messages on the dash like that! I didn't think that was even possible."

My reply was "What? Did you think I was full of ****?" I think they thought I was making it up or something. This is very upsetting. I will definitely get more video, and I think YouTube is a great idea, as is the local media angle. My first thought was to call my attorney. I have heard that lemon law cases can drag on for years.

Thank you.
 
#129 ·
Same exact thing happened to me the other day. I was at a red light waiting to turn left thru a busy intersection, once the light turned green my 2016 tucson went absolutely nowhere!!! People were honking at me, i could not move! You could hear the engine rev and rev as i tried to give it gas, nothing. Finally it slowly drove forward and i luckily managed to get thru the intersection and turned into the 1st turning lane i could find that led to an apt complex. Hyundai has had my tucson for a few days now and cannot figure out the problem, nor have they"ever heard of such a problem before" i am so upset, i could have been killed!!!!!!! And i had my 9 year old son in the vehicle with me who was scared since neither of us knew what was happening, a brand new vehicle!!! They have a huuuuuuuuuuge lawsuit on their hands if someone dies due to this horrible glitch. Hyundai needs to fix this problem at no charge for all who have experienced what we have, just awful!
You are not alone. I have the same issues and it seems like the service people dont give a rats arse about this. Fine then! Its on the 2nd trip and 4 days and counting to 15 where I will demand a refund. And if I get in an accident if they don't fix it, they will be liable. Simple as that! Can't replicate the issue mean squat to me. I am not even bugging them, I am just counting the clock to 15 days then lemon law comes into play.
Any resolution yet?
 
#5 ·
first thing is get video recorded everything. You anyways will need it. Sound is terrible!!!!
 
#6 ·
I just got it back from the dealer. I told them that now I will be trying to take videos and post them on social media. They said that Hyundai is not aware of any Hyundai Tuscon DCT problem. They suggested that I call Hyundai Customer service. I can't believe this.

I expressed my opinion that I cannot be the only person in the country having DCT problems with a Hyundai Tuscon !
 
#8 ·
I understand that you expressed your opinion and you are in your right to do whatever you want to resolve your issue, but I wouldn't try to make them say that you are not "the only person in the country having DCT problems with a Hyundai Tuscon". You could be, whether it be a lemon, or something else. These forums do have a lot of views and people who have a similar issue would probably search online and end up around these forums, or corporate would maybe have a little clue.
 
#9 ·
Sounds like a dealership that's not interested in caring for your needs. FWIW, I'm a new owner as of Feb 2nd. I've been through the posts here and this is the only time I've read about this issue. In no way do I discount your claim, but it may not be a universal issue. My suggestion would be that you catch more flies with honey. Initially, if anyone would approach me with an attitude of care for my complaint or I'll blast this all over social media, I'd dig in in my heals and force them to deal with a higher power. Just a suggestion.
 
#1,089 ·
Good advice for Warrenty problems.



That is the right advice and I should have followed that path years ago. Example: Before retiring I worked for two major corporations and when asked by the big shots for my opinion I gave it with the bark still on the wood. Not smart and actually rather impolite. :crying2:
 
#10 ·
If you are able to replicate the problem by your driving, take a mechanic from the dealership out with you & get the car to do it. When I had issues with one of my old Chevy's, the dealership hooked up some sort of black box to the port under the dash. It recorded issues I was having. If it acted up, I would hit a button & it would record like 5 or so seconds before I pressed it & whatever amount of time after I pressed it. Maybe Hyundai has something like this as well. What your experiencing is definitely NOT safe & they should give you another vehicle to drive until this issue is corrected.
 
#13 · (Edited)
The DCT is essentially a M/T with 2 input shafts ("Dual Clutch")... the gear box is beyond dumber than a box of rocks.. servo shifted manual trans..

1st thing to do is scan for DTC.. see if module pick up on bum input/output in the control circuits..

Head straight to Software Management window and perform a DCT learn.. test drive after performing the learn process..
 
#12 · (Edited)
guys, the first thing he must do is record a video with this issue. Clear and good one. Get camera inside your car 7/24.....

After you will have evidence, you will approach your dealership to resolve this issue. If after repair you will face it again, then you do the second approach. Only if the 2 will fail you can bring it to public attention as well as to Hyundai.

This is how things work.

At this time, dealer didn't get attention to this issue as they run full scan and didn't find anything. You must bring evidence what you complain for...protocoled, otherwise it won't go further. Look at the welcome light issue, when almost everyone complained, Hyundai Korea got a notice that if they won't fix it fast it will cost them more $$$ later on. At this point you are the 3rd person who complained about DCT issues....as I know. After your post was recorded, people with similar issues will easy find our forum and join "the club"...Mostly for exact same issues I keep front and rear cameras on 7/24....new things tend to have some issues easily.
 
#16 ·
Same issue here

Cardplayer, you are not the ONLY Tucson driver with this issue, I had the exact same thing occur. 2016 Limited 1.6T. Fortunately, I wasn't in as dangerous of a situation, and I'm glad you were ok. About a week ago, I was 5-10 minutes in my car after a full day at work, then after 2 minutes at a red light, the car would not accelerate at all. zero power. After flooring it for 10ish seconds I was able to move enough to get going, but that entire drive was terrible.

That has only happened once, but I've had other times where the car seemed extremely lacking power, but not dangerous, just not correct. Also, I've never seen the warning you got on your screen.

I took it to a dealer the other day and they couldn't replicate it. Do you know your process to replicate it... I'm worried about it happening again in a dangerous situation...

-----------------------------

Check out this post too.. may have been the same issue with someone else also. Apparently his issue was a "transmission clutch switch/module"

http://www.hyundai-forums.com/2016-...o-power-stuck-middle-gear-no-manual-mode.html
 
#18 ·
I've read somewhere else, I was thinking on here, if someone else having this issue. I think they finally got it to be replicated by the dealer. I'm thinking it was a module issue or something like that. I've been trying to find a link. Then again, it might be from the Ford Escape forum that I saw it.

I don't know why every manufacturer wants to recreate the dct when they switch to it. They always have the same issues when they do. They could save a lot of headache by studying what has been done before and applying it to their system.
 
#20 ·
Wasn't there a recent software update for this?
 
#21 ·
Yes. When it did the no-power thing, it ignored my attempt to shift into manual mode. The display said "D", but it would not go. I even tried going to "P", which it obliged, then back to "D". It still would not switch to manual. There is another post where the details indicate that the transmission seemed to stay in an inappropriately high gear after a stop. That would make sense based on my years of driving vehicles with manual transmissions. If you try to pull out from a stop, in 3rd or 4th gear, you can do it, but it requires really high rpms, and a ton of fine clutch work/slippage.

I cannot recreate the no-power issue. The transmission temp warning may be easily recreated by performing about 6 or 8 sporty starts and dead stops. This is something you might do if going through a series of stop signs, for example. The vehicle will suggest that you "pull over safely". Excuse me?

Also, cold weather does seem to make this vehicle act up much more often. I thought they had cold winters in Korea. My backup camera and radio fail intermittently when the ambient temperature is below 20. Also, the clutch slippage behavior in low gears is more pronounced in those conditions.
 
#24 ·
It happened again. This time, I captured a video! I will post it to YouTube. I may also create a community, so that we may all upload video proof of these problems. It is not always possible to drive to a dealer to get a code. In fact, in the case of the high temperature warning, there actually is no code. I found that out first-hand. This is because they consider the condition "normal"!

Anyway, I got a video of the failure to accelerate from a stop. Stay tuned.
 
#25 ·
Ok,, similar situation with Veloster.. wouldnt accept attempt to calibrate clutch engagements,, had to replace an actuator,, no big deal.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Tell them to do the clutch calibrate as a "courtesy"..... see if the calibrate operation allows them to proceed, or fail to complete.. then they should have something to go by..

While they have GDS plugged in, verify all ECU UPGRADES is current.........
 
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#28 ·
Tell them to do the clutch calibrate as a "courtesy"..... see if the calibrate operation allows them to proceed, or fail to complete.. then they should have something to go by..

While they have GDS plugged in, verify all ECU UPGRADES is current.........
WOW. Conclusion for me is NO to DCT. Screw ECO models.

You know, life was much easier when Yugo was on the road. So simple, no electronics, N.Koreans nukes would not stop it, and GPS was just plain paper map and beautiful wife...
 
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