Well long story short, since day one of owning this car, it's been constant cels' and things breaking. Not cheap things, either.
I'm the second owner, the previous owner has a 100k 10year factory mile warranty, the a pile of receipts of repairs a mile thick. For one, this car has sludge at 88k miles. It actually just turned like 102k miles.
Well anyways I've had a constant cel on for... 5 months? More? But hte car drove great. One day, magically the cel went away. And the car drove even better, and got even better gas mileage. About 24 mpg in constant stop and go, and about 32mpg @ 75mph.

Well one day, upon already driving it 4-5 times that day, I parked it in a parkinglot. I went back 15minutes later to leave, and when i started it there was a GOD-AWEFUL loud lifter ticking noise. It was bad. And since this *lovely* piece of korean engineered **** has sludge and burns OIL w/ only 102k miles on it, I figured it needed a touch up of oil. So I put some in. No difference. So, the next day I put in Lucas Oil.. figured it being thicker would help w/ the noise. No difference. Now remember, there is no CEL on at this time. And also since the ticking came there has been a HUGE loss in power.
Well I'm just out right now cruising with the family, and the car all of a sudden popped on a cel. Then, seconds later the car started ticking louder. And started clanking around So I pulled off to the side. As soon as I came to a stop, before even putting in Park, the motor shut off. So I check oil. There was plenty. Coolant. There was plenty. Now, the engine DID feels super hot.. but since there was fluids I know its not because of that. Funny thing is, the temp gauge says normal. And there are not other ligts on except the CEL and airbag light.

So I started teh car, and it's clanking around but still running. AFter a few seconds, dies. So I started again to make it the mile home, and it made it. But it was clanking and ticking and crazy ****.

Any ideas? I'm FURIOUS that a car w/ such little mileage and that was taken care of so meticulously can have more problems than my 4 240k mile GM cars i've owned
HELP!!!

Matt

Yeah I have an idea... you need a new short block, maybe even a long block. The previous owner may have had a stack of repair receipts a mile thick, but apparently the oil was not changed regularly. That's the major cause of sludge buildup bad enough to cause oil starvation, which is what has happened to your engine. Sludge builds up in the oil passages and doesn't allow oil to flow to critical parts to lubricate them, and eventually friction builds and the engine will seize. The "clanking" you are hearing is metal on metal. The engine is trashed.

Speaking of trashing... if the car had been maintained properly, it well could have lasted to 200k miles or more. So many people want to talk about Korean "junk", but don't want to mention they don't change the oil or do any kind of maintenance, rather only working on it when it makes noise or stops running. You may have taken care of it meticulously, but the previous owner obviously did not. The internal condition of the engine is the telling tale, and does not lie.

Dude dont even tell me this...

Your POSITIVE that the motors blown???

What you said makes sense.. this is certainly bad news.

Will the factory warranty cover this? It had the 100k/10year, and I recently upgraded to the 140k mile warranty...

You sound like you take care of the car. But the owner before you did not.. The oil sounds like it was changed like 5 times total. Any engine will sludge, but these engine are not know for it. I dont think the dealer will cover it, because it was lack of maintenance..... I dont think the engine is toast, but sounds like you need a rebuild..

Sorry to hear this, but you are going to pay for the previous owner lack of maintenance. You may not need a new short/long block, but you do need a total clean up. Talk to a mechanic you trust and start from there.
Good Luck

This post has been edited by Pelikan: Aug 2 2008, 02:17 PM

getovait2005- I deffinently take care of the car; it's a GREAT car when it RUNS. But the previous owner is loaded, so I'm super surprised that the oil was maintained as it should have been. How much is a rebuild as opposed to putting a new motor in? (or ebaying a new motor and dropping it in)

pelikan- what do you mean I might need a "clean up"? You dont think the motor is toast? This sucks man. Everytime I start doing good in life something stupid has to **** everything up.

Is it ok to drive the car like it is?
Would the dealership or my personal mechanic be better to take the car to?

I have a question for you. Why buy a car with " a pile of receipts for repairs a mile thick"?

That was the first year for the XG and I have seen 2 with major problems as well.

Because I figured since most everything on the car has been replaced what could POSSIBLY go wrong with it? Aside from being relatively new and with low mileage (and my stereotyped "hyundai= good on gas") The car ran and drove great (aside from being slow and getting bad gas mileage). It wasn't until my 850mile road trip the next day that the cel came on and the car started breaking down from under me. Whats funny though, is up until this problem happened, the car was running better than EVER. GREAT gas mileage, and it was VERY responsive and quick. Then out of nowhwere, the motor decided to cease living on Planet Earth.

Maybe it sat under water during hurricane Katrina. Who knows...

lolz!! Maybe!! Either way I dont even know what to do at this point. And I certainly dont have the cash to drop for a motor rebuild. This sucks man. At least my German car will always start and run.

I don't think that the motor can be "cleaned up". In my experience seeing sludged engines that come into the shop, it would be a miracle for the engine to be cleaned thoroughly, and the damage that has been done could be beyond a rebuild. Not only that, but one of your comments makes me think that the car over heated, which could have lead to warpage of the heads. I may be wrong and you may be able to rebuild it, but I just don't think so.

It is NOT safe to drive it like this, unless you want to risk totally locking it up, then you will CERTAINLY need a new a new short block and head rebuild at the least.

This will absolutely NOT be covered under warranty because of lack of maintenance. At this point you can take it to any shop you want, but I'd just make sure that they know what they are doing. I'd also recommend putting a used engine in it at this point, because the car already has over 100k miles on it, and a new XG short block is hella expensive.

Like I said the motor felt hot as ****, and the plastic shield was burning up.. but the gauge read absolutely normal, and no warning lights came on whatsoever.

You think it would be cheaper to just find a used 3liter and drop it in? How much can they be found for? And where is a good place to find one?

Thanks for all the input guys.

And to top my lovely day off, Olive Garden brought all my food (appetizer, salad, and main entree) all at once!!!

Sometimes if the sludge is not too much they may be able to poor a cleaner into the engine that allows the sludge to exit when you change the oil. I'd check with your mechanic.

Is there any chance you could sell it and get something else? Regarding you other post, Hyundai's earlier V6's DO NOT get good gas mileage. I have had a 05 Santa Fe 4WD with the 2.7 and I was getting 14 combined and my 06 FWD was getting 19 combined. My mom has an 03 Sonata with 36,000 miles and she gets 200 miles to a tank if she is lucky, all of her driving is city.

pelikan- so even though there is that metallic clank noise or whatever it is, you think the motor could still be redeemable w/ a good cleaning and fresh oil??

HyundaiLvr87- ITs funny you say that. I was actually gonna sell this in a few days and buy a nice Lincoln Continental.. then THIS happened. But I get about 24mpg in the city with my XG, and on the highway @ 75mph I get 32mpg. At 80mph w/ ac on, I get 28mpg. Not bad i'd say?

Oh and BTW..

the car now kinda sounds like it's going up the hill on a roller coaster.. when the chain is pulling it up and it makes that clank-clank-clank noise? Kinda sorta like that my wife says. I think it sounds like a diesel Jetta.
Any input?

Well I went outside to look at the car today. On the dipstick, there were some really REALLY tiny sparkly things. I am not sure if it was metal shavings or not, because when I put them on my finger they weren't really there.. I couldn't actually touch or see them on my finger. BUT. I started the car, and it doesn't sound like doom like it did yesterday.. it just sounds like a really loud lifter tap. I reved the car, it reved fine, and the lifter tap got louder. Shut it off, checked crankcase. No metal or anything silly like that on the dipstick. Started it back up, ran fine with lifter tick. I took it out for a spin, and it didn't seem there was any metal grinding or friction or any cylinders dead. Hmm. I gave it a little gas, and it took off like normal. I can tell not ALL the power and responsiveness is there, but it was driving fine. The lifter tick got louder as rpm's climbed, but there was no scary loud clanging or banging or deathly-noises.

Weird? I'm thinking about buying BG MOA or Seafoam or some other stuff (cant remember name) from autozone that comes in a big silver container (basically kerosene) that cleans out the CC, and having a synthetic oil change. Does this sound good?

Also, I took a kind of crappy audio recording.. if somebody here will let me text it to them or knows of somehwere i can host it, please let me know.. I'd like for somebody to hear it.

This post has been edited by 85_305: Aug 3 2008, 11:57 AM

That's impossible to say. Only a mechanic can tell you that after he has inspected the engine.