Piston Slap: Leaking Like A…Santa Fe?
I have an ’09 Hyundai Santa Fe, 3.3L, with 117,000 km (73,000 miles). It’s losing oil from a leaking timing chain cover gasket at a rate of one litre per 1,400 km or so. The repair is estimated to be around $1,500. We have this vehicle because we have three young children (ages 4, 2, and 6 months) and the Santa Fe is one of the few that fit three car seats across one row safely and easily, and was within our budget.
I’ve only owned the vehicle for a year. What do you think I should do? Pay for the repair, just keep adding oil, or look for a different vehicle?
Sajeev answers:
I was gonna suggest addressing the timing cover oil leak during a timing belt change, but that applies to the 2.7L Delta, not the (timing chain equipped) 3.3L Lambda. So much for two birds, one stone!
The $1,500 quote sounds a bit looney, until you see the work involved. Dropping the front subframe makes sense, considering the engine’s location in relation to those narrow frame rails.
Maybe someone will do it for less … but not much less!
I checked a few online valuation tools: your Santa Fe (good condition) is worth CAD $8,000-9,000 on a place like Craigslist Kijiji. Using Google’s currency calculator (more approximations) and even if you get a deeper discount, the repair’s gonna account for 15%-ish of market value. That’s a rather big piece of the pie! And I’m not feelin’ it, son.
It’s not like you’ve had this rig since new, so what else is around the corner? New tires or brakes? EGR issues?
I’d add oil until you find a medium brown metallic Crown Vic suitable replacement. Sure, I pontificate on Panther Love far too often, but they’ll fit your budget — and (probably) all three car seats.
[Image: Hyundai, Sajeev Mehta]
Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry…but be realistic, and use your make/model specific forums instead of TTAC for more timely advice.
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I should say: a lot depends on how much you like the car. If you love it, you'll keep it even when you shouldn't. If you hate it, you'll trade it even when you shouldn't. And on how much you trust its future: e.g. in my experience German cars are durable but not reliable (they'll look and work like new as long as you keep spending dough replacing things), Japanese cars are reliable but not durable (they'll keep running fine but normal parking lot use will dimple the car like an asteroid belt and the exhaust system will rust to dust every couple of years), and Korean and American cars are neither (best if you like to lease or trade often). But I realize those are pretty gross generalizations, especially these days.
Trade it for whatever 4Runner you can afford