Hi everyone,

I have a 1996 UK Hyundai Lantra automatic.

It worked fine when I bought it second hand, however over the past few weeks it is having problems! Please bear with me, and excuse my laymen terms because I am not technically minded but the garage I took it to said they could not find a problem with it.

When you start it first thing in the morning it shudders and when I pull away there is virtually no pwer for a few seconds, and then the car shakes and drives ok. You can also smell petrol when this happens. My husband has changed the spark plugs but that has not helped and we dont know what to try next.

It shudders as though it is misfiring alot as well but the garage have told me they cant find anything wrong.

I am at my wits end because I need the car!!! (I am disabled and it is the only way I can get out of the house!) so am desperate for suggestions as to what the problem might be.

if this only happens when the engine is cold then it's possible it could be the temp. sensor. (if the sensor is not telling the engine management computor that the engine is cold then the computor will not adjust the mixture and air supply to the engine to compensate for the cold starting) there could be other issues that can cause this but check this out first. (lpresume from what you say that the engine runs fine once it's warm)

Hello,

You mentioned petrol smell: if the sparks are already replaced (I hope they are original NGK BKR5ES-11 set to 1.05mm/0.04137inch gap), then try with replacing the spark plug wires (original). When was the timing belt changed? It could have slipped. IMO previous owner probably 'got rid' of the car due to some replacements that now you have to deal with. My 96' Lantra (2nd hand) was also cheap - after two years I know why (I've thrown around 1000 € on all sorts of parts). Anyway, I hope you have a Hyundai garage near you-it would be the best way because at some 'garages' they don't know anything about korean cars.


cheers,
mark

Thanks for the advice, Ihave ordered some mew ignition leads for my hubby to replace!!! and will find the nearest hyundai garage and see if they can check it out for me once he has done this.

Quick question, I have been reading about codes and computers does my car have one? could it need updating? (sorry if I am talking silly I have no idea about cars!)

Hi,

Yep, it has a comp. There's nothing u can do with comp - except on the Hyundai service they are able to get error codes from it (if there are any).


cheers

Montego you were spot on the money!!

Managed to find a garage wililng to look at it properly and it was the temperature sensor!! it has been replaced adn the car works fine!

thank you everyone so much for your help I really appreciate it.

Hello,

My lantra tends (once a month) to run roughly/shaking when cold when left alone for 4 days or more, and I also noticed petrol smell, but the engine was revving/responding ok to gas pedal (wasn't driving it, just idling), and after idling for 1-2 minutes it stopped shaking.

Something else annoys me(happens randomly): after the engine has been completely warmed up and then left off for an hour or two, it starts roughly, idles from 300-700 rpm(jumping up and down) and after touching gas pedal it revs up to steady 900rpm and shaking for a minute and after that everything is normal.

Could this also be an IAT sensor? I'm asking because I know at the dealer's they'll take a scan (not cheap) and tell me all is ok...

Just remembered that I once(7 months ago) measured iat resistance and it responded to temperature changes quickly. I'm suspecting a bad sensor connection. It could be this simple. I'll go check it out first thing in the morning.

Anyone had this sort of problems too?


cheers,
mark

I've cleaned IAT connectors and added some grease on them. While I was there I also cleaned TPS sensor connector+grease. Starts and runs ok (for now). If this won't solve the problem, I'll let you guys know.


cheers!