2013 Hyundai Santa Fe 3.3 V6 Blown up engine 109k

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2013 Hyundai Santa Fe FWD with the 3.3 liter V6. (Wife's daily driver, and family vehicle for road trips) Religious oil/filter changes every 5,000 miles.

I am now 100% convinced that Hyundai has neglected to include the 3.3 V6 engines in their engine recall program that also included the 2.0 and 2.4 4-cylinder engines.

How does an engine inexplicably self-destruct under normal driving conditions with exceptional maintenance record using high lubricants (strictly Mobil 1) and good oil filters...?

Driving on the highway to work noticed engine was more noisy than normal, just before arriving at work engine clatter became excessively loud. Had towed to garage and they said engine is blown. 109,000 miles ?!?!?! This is unacceptable. Had the vehicle moved to an engine rebuild shop and they won't even rebuild that engine. They said $5200 ish to swap for a junkyard engine that has 56,000 miles; you have got to be kidding me!

A Hyundai customer for years; finally making the switch to Toyota or Honda after this fiasco.


Any thoughts/ideas?
 
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Maybe you have a case with just 9K miles over the drivetrain warranty and hopefully you have all of your OCI records????????

I feel for you indeed! And I certainly hope there is some solution in your instance.
 
Sorry to hear it- that really stinks. Unfortunately, I think you just got unlucky. The 3.3L V6 is a pretty stout engine for Hyundai, historically speaking. In some instances, the engine was sometimes susceptible to stuck rings leading to increased oil consumption. Did you notice any discernible drop in oil level before it blew?
 
Originally Posted by 1911CHAMPION
I've been down that Ford / Chevy road. Never again...



I have never been down the Ford road but have been down the Chevy. Never again...

Check into the Honda AT's. Not knocking Hondas. Just do your due diligence. Mr. Wizard on YouTube has a good Honda video to check out.

I'm Toyota all the way.
 
Originally Posted by 1911CHAMPION
How does an engine inexplicably self-destruct under normal driving conditions with exceptional maintenance record using high lubricants (strictly Mobil 1) and good oil filters...?

Any thoughts/ideas?


I am not surprised,,,,, AT ALL.

I've posted on this before. It's an error to believe that the quality of each individual component (say, an exhaust valve) is identical between brands. It's also incorrect to assume that all makers test for durability. Ford did so with the Ecoboost 3.5L, made a number of alterations to ensure durability, and the result was a very reliable engine right from the start, one that they continue to improve.

Decades ago, I visited South Korea on a regular basis. It was clear back then that the Mitsubishi "copies" that Hyundai was producing used the cheapest raw materials possible. The exhaust valve example is a good one. Mitsu used a quality alloy known to perform well and be trouble free. Hyundai made something that looked like a valve, from the cheapest of steels. Both worked well initially. Only one held up to typical use.

In other words, Hyundai produced a engine that looked and ran just like a "low end Japanese" product. Right up until the recycled steel exhaust valve broke off.

Of interest, Honda 4 cylinder engines are now being used with great success in light aircraft. They run at full throttle for hours on end without any failures. Quality components and a durable design really do matter. https://www.vikingaircraftengines.com/photoes.html

NOTE: I have 3 modern F150's BECAUSE THEY ARE KNOWN TO BE GOOD. Not one of them has given me any trouble. There is a reason I purchase them. My last older one went 355K miles when the transmission finally let go and we gave it away.
 
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My wife have driven KIA/Hyundai vehicles for years without issue.

Did you have the valves adjusted around 60 thousand miles?

Sorry to hear what happened!
 
The description passed along by garage? gave you blown. However without a tear down or analysis of actual failure we can't surmise much out of the failure. Eg is the noise the timing chain or tensioner failed? Is it valve train or something internal?
 
Originally Posted by Char Baby
Maybe you have a case with just 9K miles over the drivetrain warranty and hopefully you have all of your OCI records????????

I feel for you indeed! And I certainly hope there is some solution in your instance.



Not ALL records unfortunately. Some DIY at home in garage and others at quickie lube places before I realized how much money was being wasted on Full Synthetic oil changes.
 
Originally Posted by SrDriver
My wife have driven KIA/Hyundai vehicles for years without issue.

Did you have the valves adjusted around 60 thousand miles?

Sorry to hear what happened!



Wasn't aware valves needed adjusting. Failure was in the bottom end...
 
Originally Posted by madRiver
The description passed along by garage? gave you blown. However without a tear down or analysis of actual failure we can't surmise much out of the failure. Eg is the noise the timing chain or tensioner failed? Is it valve train or something internal?



This is really the key to the story. Without an internal examination, it could be a multitude of things.
Unfortunately with a fairly new (2013) but highly depreciated vehicle it's a tough economic call to scrap or repair unless you can do the work yourself.
 
Sorry for your misfortune. Agree, 109K miles with 5k mi ocis, shouldn't happen. Having lost a relatively low miles Altima 2.5L engine through no fault of mine, and no 3.3L engine life profile, I'm not going to say unlucky. Don't blame you for not wanting bone yard engine replacement at that price, a fool me once...... type deal. I'd be interested in the bottom end failure mechanism. Here's wishing you a much better experience with your next vehicle purchase.
 
I write this as a previous Hyundai owner with a 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT 1.8 liter owner that had the piston/bearing issue at 14,000 running Mobil1 and 3,000 mile oil changes because of short tripping. I also believe it or not am a new Hyundai owner, 2018 Hyundai Kona AWD lowered 2 inches, because the 1.6T is their best engine with the least issues and I wanted a new small AWD car for sport driving, and it fit every check box. So I rolled the dice.

https://www.hyundaikonaforum.com/showcase/2018-kona-awd-1-6t-lowered.1162/

The classic Hyundai large rod bearing and or piston issue that has plagued almost every Hyundai motor design for the last 12-15 years with almost every engine they make. It is said, 14% to 18% of any Hyundai motor will not make it to 100,000 miles. Many do make it, but I think the % are higher then the 14 to18 thrown around. With NO END IN SIGHT!!!!!!!!! Well. There is a micro 2% hope and I purposely used the word hope instead of chance because chance would be too wishful of thinking of Hyundai to finally fixing their bearing/piston issue, with the newly designed Theta 3 engine coming out in 2020-21. Really there is only a 2% hope Hyundai will fix this problem, even after spending a billion dollars on repairing their crap designs, you would think they would get someone in house to design a robust engine to stop the bleeding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d_ud6d0omU

.
 
Originally Posted by madRiver
The description passed along by garage? gave you blown. However without a tear down or analysis of actual failure we can't surmise much out of the failure. Eg is the noise the timing chain or tensioner failed? Is it valve train or something internal?



Ditto. "Blown" doesn't tell us enough. For all we know, it'll be under a grand to fix--expensive, but not really in the scheme of things, and not unexpected after 6 years and 100k to just have random failures.
 
That's a tough spot to be in, body and interior should still be decent at only 7 years and 110,000 miles. I would probably start making payments on a new Toyota or Mazda, rather than take the risk on a second engine.
 
Sad to hear this, the 3.3 was supposed to be their most reliable motor.

I too drive a ticking time bomb, but I don't worry about it. If it goes, it goes. I use Xw30 only, also, not going to be sucked into running 5w20 on a motor with questionable rod bearings and direct injection (read: fuel dilution). Once I use up all my Xw30 on hand, I'll probably go to Xw40.
 
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