2013 Hyundai Elantra GT 1.8L Piston slap?

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Good morning,

I own outright a 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT, 1.8LNu port injected 4 cyclinder w/ 78k miles. The oil has always been changed every 3500-3700 miles either by a hyundai dealer, private shop, or myself. I'm unable to provide proof of every change but if anyone were to pull the valve cover or oil pan, it would be clean and sludge free. I have a 10 yr/100k factory warranty.

I cannot tell you exactly how long ago I noticed this loud noise, which is more pronounced when the engine is cold. This engine has always been "chatty", which I contributed to valve train noise and the thin oil it's spec'd for. There is a distinct knock noise that I believe started around 60k miles. Car runs great and has been problem free. I consider myself a spirited driver, and frequently take advantage of all 6 speeds.

Dealer told me over the phone that piston slap isn't common and they will diagnosis it for $125. A quick google search infomed me that a TSB was issued for Canadian cars within my model year, and same engine, and short blocks were to be replaced on Hyundai's dime. The Elantra GT was all built in the same factory. This TSB wasn't issued in the US, and it appears that people have fought/class action lawsuit to address this very same issue.

Below is a video of my car, running when cold. I hear two distinct sounds- a knock (louder, more solid sounding), and valve chatter (higher pitched chatter).

Thoughts??? Advice?
 
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Video is set to private, so I can't view it. However, I'd try a different dealer and see if they will charge you a diag fee. Google Hyundai dealers in your area and look at/read reviews about their service department. Your warranty would cover the diag fee should any warranty work be done, but without proof of oil changes every 7,500 miles, you're fighting an uphill battle.
 
Originally Posted by JustN89
Video is set to private, so I can't view it. However, I'd try a different dealer and see if they will charge you a diag fee. Google Hyundai dealers in your area and look at/read reviews about their service department. Your warranty would cover the diag fee should any warranty work be done, but without proof of oil changes every 7,500 miles, you're fighting an uphill battle.


I hope I fixed the link.
 
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Honestly, that sounds fairly normal to me, but I'm guessing that is warmed up.
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I'd monitor oil levels for a while, as one of the signs of the Hyundai engines failing is increased consumption. If you see an increase in consumption, I'd try going the dealership route and looks for any sort of proof of a 7,500 OCI. If you don't see any noticeable increase in oil consumption, and you don't want to pay the diag fee, I'd say just ride it out. Hyundai engines have never really sounded all that refined to me anyways, and I own one.
 
charging a diagnostic fee seems more and more common. I suppose I don't blame dealers - they need to pay everyone. I just paid a diagnostic fee for potential warranty work, which was waived. Regardless, as far as proof of oil changes - in my own experience I have not experienced a need to supply proof of oil changes: I had a short block replaced at 44k under warranty. they never asked for oil change proof. actually, they complimented me on how clean the engine was inside. I also know that if you have sludge inside your engine, they couldn't care less about proof of oil changes, unless that actual dealer did the work; even then it's subjective.

pay the fee/don't pay the fee. I certainly hear a knock in your engine.
 
Originally Posted by dja4260
Good morning,

I own outright a 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT, 1.8LNu port injected 4 cyclinder w/ 78k miles. The oil has always been changed every 3500-3700 miles either by a hyundai dealer, private shop, or myself. I'm unable to provide proof of every change but if anyone were to pull the valve cover or oil pan, it would be clean and sludge free. I have a 10 yr/100k factory warranty.

I cannot tell you exactly how long ago I noticed this loud noise, which is more pronounced when the engine is cold. This engine has always been "chatty", which I contributed to valve train noise and the thin oil it's spec'd for. There is a distinct knock noise that I believe started around 60k miles. Car runs great and has been problem free. I consider myself a spirited driver, and frequently take advantage of all 6 speeds.

Dealer told me over the phone that piston slap isn't common and they will diagnosis it for $125. A quick google search infomed me that a TSB was issued for Canadian cars within my model year, and same engine, and short blocks were to be replaced on Hyundai's dime. The Elantra GT was all built in the same factory. This TSB wasn't issued in the US, and it appears that people have fought/class action lawsuit to address this very same issue.

Below is a video of my car, running when cold. I hear two distinct sounds- a knock (louder, more solid sounding), and valve chatter (higher pitched chatter).

Thoughts??? Advice?








In order for the dealer to diagnose it and conclude that a warranty problem exists, it's going to cost you $125 to find out.
That's how the process works.

The reason for having oil change receipts ready for the dealer, goes beyond dirty and clean engines. It shows the dealer that the correct oils and grades were used.

If your engine is as clean as you say, you likely won't need those receipts. But if a real pro-tech analyzes it and sees where wrong oils and wrong grades were used to create excess wear, you may be up Schitts Creek.

One can have a real clean engine and have excess wear too. If that's the case, then your hopeful, free engine repair hinges on having faulty parts.
 
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I have heard this on multiple Hyundai 1.8's and one of them was a 2013 Elantra. The person who owned that particular car was out of warranty (2nd owner), but the car still ran fine up until he sold it at around 120K.
 
Holy cow that thing is louder than both of my cars without aftermarket cams and valve springs.
I wouldn't worry about the piston slap.

The other noise. Is that injectors? Valvetrain?

Why are you worried about piston slap? Does it go away when warm?
 
Originally Posted by ls1mike
Holy cow that thing is louder than both of my cars without aftermarket cams and valve springs.
I wouldn't worry about the piston slap.

The other noise. Is that injectors? Valvetrain?

Why are you worried about piston slap? Does it go away when warm?



The noise is not the injectors as it's not DI. The noise does almost go away when warm but the valve chatter remains.

I'm going to bring the car to the local Hyundai dealer on Monday.
 
Originally Posted by dja4260
Originally Posted by ls1mike
Holy cow that thing is louder than both of my cars without aftermarket cams and valve springs.
I wouldn't worry about the piston slap.

The other noise. Is that injectors? Valvetrain?

Why are you worried about piston slap? Does it go away when warm?



The noise is not the injectors as it's not DI. The noise does almost go away when warm but the valve chatter remains.

I'm going to bring the car to the local Hyundai dealer on Monday.

If your slap goes way when warm I wouldn't even think about it.

The valve chatter would concern me.

I know it is not DI, but I had some 3800 injectors get loud when they got old and they sounded horrible on video.
 
Millions of cars suffer from piston slap. Some cars are louder than others, but that is some sketchy valve train noise.
 
It sounds normal to me. What you should do is make a video of a completely cold start. That way it will be easier to hear any cold engine piston slap.

On a totally cold engine set your phone inside the engine bay and then start the car while it is recording.
 
Originally Posted by dja4260
Originally Posted by spasm3
81k on my Elantra, no piston slap. Mine has been run most of its life on 5w30.



Does yours sound anything like mine?


Not like yours. Mine does have some valve train noise that it's always had. I'm not sure that it's not noisy injectors. I had a Cutlass ciera that had injectors that were loud enough to be mistaken for valve ticking.

You'd has valve train noise, but with an extra bit of clap, I'm not sure what that is. I would check for any loose accessory or loose heat shield etc.
 
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