Somewhat-Reticent
Translates into fast die engine.
I know a guy who bought his wife one because it was all they could afford 3 years of payments on, I joking told him Hyundai translates into wife-die.
A few months after the vehicle was paid off it began falling apart having all sorts of mechanical problems, first a cultch under warranty, then a second clutch, then a third clutch, finally it was determined the clutch slave cylinder was sticking burning out the clutch’s plus I don’t think his wife who never drove a stick shift didn’t know how to use a clutch, plus his wife not being the brightest bulb in the box never related engine flares ups when she pressed the throttle to far open which is a sure sigh of clutch slippage.
After that I think it was the rack and pinion or maybe it had a steering gear which started leaking power steering fluid her hubby tried using stop leak to no avail so it went in for another repair and all of this work was done by the dealership where the vehicle was purchased from, so I am sure they paid through the nose for each repair.
Then came the last straw, the engine developed a misfire, the dealership advised them a new engine was needed, so the vehicle was brought to my warehouse where we worked on vehicles at nighttime.
I determined by the sound of the intake and a compression test a intake valve either cracked or stuck, I was asked to dig deeper and the vehicle was left at the warehouse.
With the head off it was determined a valve had failed letting loose a pie shaped chunk which was pounded into the piston, based on the damage to top of the piston and the underside of the head the chunk had been bouncing around quite a bit before getting nailed just so and pounded into the piston.
After placing a flat polished steel bar across the cylinders then using a micrometer I determined there was no apparent connecting rod damage with the piston at TDC, using a feeler gauge against the upper compression ring I determined there was no other parts of the valve stuck between the piston and the wall of the cylinder, nor where the walls scored.
I took the head to a local engine shop and the guy there said it could be resurfaced cleaned up and put back in service, then I showed him the chunk of the valve and using my thumbnail indicated how far it was into the head of the piston it was, the guy had shelves of books got one down and in it was the specs for the engine that was in my shop and going by my thumbnail measurement decided if the connecting rod is not bent the lower should be ok, I just needed to remove any sharp edges caused by the damage to prevent preignition.
I left the head there with a hold on it until I received a approval to make the repairs.
Back at the warehouse with everything added up on a legal pad I called the owner and gave him my estimate, I was advised I’m trying to rip him off my estimate was about a fourth of what the dealership told him what a new engine would cost, I asked if that included labor, he couldn’t answer that and said he would call me back.
Two days later I get a call back the price he had did not include labor, he then asked if they could make payments as they really didn’t have any money to spare, nope didn’t you see the sign on the wall of my shop the one that says “In G*d We Trust All Others Pay Cash.”
A weekend goes past and another call do the work they borrowed the money from his parents, ok will do.
Three days later it was ready to pickup the repaired which was better than when it left the factory, it was March and the guy n the engine shop told me the head I brought in was the 9th one that year and all of them had cracked intake valves, he let me know he had no idea of what kind crap steel Hyundai was using for their intake valves, but the aftermarket ones he was using never came back failed, the only difference was even though the valve guides where not worn out he still had to ream them to fit the larger stems of the aftermarket valves, the head also had 3 cracked seats 2 exhaust and 1 intake in a different cylinder then the failed valve was in.
Just based on what I saw and learned from the shop the heads of the engines they where using at the time where complete crap.
