QuestionQUESTION: My 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe (2.4L V4) is sluggish for the last few months. It has about 82000 miles and I never replaced the spark plugs or the fuel pump or fuel filter.
When I am accelerating, sometimes I can feel that the car died and started instantaneously and I feel a small jerk.
Yesterday, It died on stop light and then when I tried, it started right way.
Can you please help me, what might be wrong with the car.
Thanks in advance
ANSWER: There are many things that could be wrong with the car. I'm not terribly concerned about the fuel pump or filter, but the spark plugs should have been replaced around 60,000 miles. Even so, it's unlikely that a worn or defective spark plug would make the engine stop running.
I have more concern that the teeth may be coming off the timing belt. The interval for replacing the timing belt on this engine is 4 years or 60,000 miles whichever comes first. And I've seen numerous vehicles with this engine where the timing belt had failed close to this interval. If the teeth come off the belt, they can collide with and disturb the crankshaft position sensor, which is critical to the engine control module (ECM) being able to know when to fire the spark plugs and injectors.
If your check engine lamp has come on, there should be a diagnostic trouble code in the ECM, most likely relating to the difficulty you're having. In this case, you should read the diagnostic trouble codes from the ECM. You may be able to do this by taking the car to AutoZone or similar place that will read your trouble codes for free. If any are stored, follow-up and report the code number. I'll then be able to better advise you on the potential problem(s).
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QUESTION: I got the timing belt replaced around 60000 miles from a local shop. The check engine light is off and there are no codes stored.
It is getting more frequent now. When the car is in motion, suddenly the RPM will go to zero. Since the car is moving, it seems to roll start itself. If this happens, when the car is not moving, the engine will die and I can start it again by turning the key.
Thanks
AnswerI'd still be leaning toward a crankshaft position sensor, even if the part were defective on its own rather than being damaged by the timing belt.
It's unlikely the fuel pump is the issue, as the engine would likely be hard to restart if it were.
Ultimately, unless you're ready to take a fairly expensive guess, you're probably going to have to wait until the system can be tested while the problem is occurring.
