Hyundai Problems

These modern active cruise control system rely on lots and lots of information from around the car to function properly. And unless all those camera, steering, braking and throttle position (and more) sensors are playing as a team, the car’s computer - acting as the onboard relationship manager - has no option but to disable some functions, as they become potentially flawed without the correct inputs.

That’s why the connection between the power steering and the cameras on your car is so critical, and also why the systems have shut down. The actual failure could be with either the steering or camera system, but it will need a deep dive at the dealership to figure out what element has caused the shutdown of the other.

In any case, this is pretty clearly a warranty job (unless the camera has been damaged by hitting something) but you need to be fair about it and give Hyundai every chance to make it right.

The good thing about modern stereo systems is that they’re (mostly) a universal size so that you can literally take your pick of the unit you decide to fit. So it will come down to your budget and your requirements.

A good upgrade is a unit with Bluetooth connectivity so you can wirelessly connect your phone to access navigation, music and other apps. But don’t forget that the head unit is just part of the stereo system, and you may need to upgrade the car’s speakers to take full advantage of the new stereo.

There are three ways of charging the Hyundai Ioniq 6 – two at home methods, and one in public. It is recommended that owners of the Hyundai Ioniq 6 purchase a three-phase 11kW at-home wall charger box. These retail for anywhere from $800 to $2000, depending on the manufacturer and the power supply, with additional charges of 21 to 36 centw per kW, depending on your energy provider. Additional costs can be zero if you’re hooked up to a renewable source such as solar. All up, it will deliver a charge time of five hours for the Standard Range variant and seven hours for the Long Range. The other at-home method is through a conventional 240V powerpoint, which takes about 25 hours on the Standard Range variant and 37 hours on the Long Range variant. A public charging station of 50kW will deliver a zero to 80 per cent charge in one hour for the Standard range, rising to 1.6 hours on the Long Range, while a 350kW charger will see the time it takes drop to 18 minutes on both variants. Cost is dependent on location, whether it is a peak period or not, and what the charger’s capacity is, though as a general rule you should never pay more than $40 for a full charge.

You’re in luck here, Tony, because both the petrol and diesel engines fitted to this generation of the i30 used timing chains rather than rubber toothed timing belts. As such, the chain should be good for the life of the engine, rather than requiring scheduled replacement like a timing belt.

For the record, most manufacturers say a rubber timing-belt should be changed (roughly) at 100,000km or 10-year intervals. That said, some carmakers recommend much shorter intervals, so it’s worth knowing this stuff. A failed timing belt will often destroy the rest of the engine, but so can a timing chain if it fails. It’s just that a chain is much less likely to fail in service.

When a bunch of electrical functions all go out at once (or within a short space of time of each other) suspicions are always drawn to the car’s body computer. This computer controls all the functions you mentioned as well as dozens of others from the heating and cooling, central locking, lights, wipers, dashboard and much, much more. When the computer starts to die (as most computers eventually do) these functions will start dropping one by one and sometimes in simultaneous batches of failures. Eventually, pretty much nothing will work and the car will not even respond to the key’s inputs.

An auto electrician is the best place to take the car, and as well as the computer, they will also check the car’s battery and charging system and the quality (or otherwise) of the car’s earthing points. Bad earths can cause similar problems to this, but the body computer remains a likely culprit.

The ABS warning is for a problem with the anti-lock braking system (that's what it stands for) and the image of a serving car is to warn you that there’s also potentially a problem with the car’s stability control. So, no, it’s not the transmission at fault here.

Both the ABS and stability control are crucial safety systems and the car really shouldn’t be driven until these problems have been checked out and rectified. The first thing to do is take the car to a workshop and have it electronically scanned. The onboard computer will have logged the faults as they were detected and will be able to identify the problem areas to give the mechanic a head-start on working out what’s wrong.

Hyundai actually issued a recall for some Konas with the dual-clutch transmission on precisely this basis. At the time, the reason given was that electrical gremlins within the computer-control of the driveline could cause the transmission to lose drive. Obviously, if you’re merging into fast moving traffic or crossing an uncontrolled intersection at the time, a sudden loss of drive could be very dangerous.

To find out if a particular car was affected and whether or not it’s been fixed, you can quote the VIN to a Hyundai dealer who should be able to give you the good or bad news.

The fuel tank on your car has a capacity of 75 litres. With an official combined fuel economy number of 10.3 litres per 100km, that should give you a range of around 700km before you need to start looking for a service station.

The Santa Fe may well have a fuel filter below the rear seat, but it’s almost certainly located on the outside of the car (as in, under the floor) rather than inside under the seat cushion. I’d be very surprised if any of the car’s fuel system or lines ran inside the passenger compartment.

Which means it’s still possible that some fuel was spilled under the car during the filter change or that there’s even a fuel leak as a result of the change. Either could lead to a smell inside the car, but it shouldn’t persist. If it does, there’s a problem. Take it back to the dealership and ask for the problem to be fixed. If the dealership somehow spilled petrol on the seat trim or allowed fuel to enter the cabin in some other way, they are responsible for fixing it. Driving around in a car with petrol fumes inside is an obvious health and safety issue.