Hyundai Repair: 2001 Hyundai Accent P1123 Fault Codes, air flow sensor, hyundai accent

Question
Hi

I own a 2001 1.5L accent with an auto-trans gear box.

At 60000 miles, the fault code P1123 'Fuel idle too rich' comes on. I have replaced my charcoal cannister and the valve purge sensor but to no avail. Once I clear the code, it usually comes back on after driving it for 50 miles.

Will appreciate any advice.

Additionally, is it true that the 2001 accents with automatic transmission will need a tranmission change at around 70000 miles?

Thanks
Paul  

Answer
The purge control valve is the only thing that comes to mind as a frequent cause of this code.  Since you've replaced that, you're left with things that don't occur very often to cause this code.  We can rule out anything else in the evaporative system since a properly operating purge control valve will keep vapors from that system from entering the engine when unintended.

The remaining possibilities are things like a faulty oxygen sensor, a faulty air flow sensor, restricted air flow into the engine, fuel injectors not properly sealing, and excessive fuel pressure.  At this point, it's going to be nearly impossible to diagnose without a scan tool, and most likely difficult even with a scan tool.  

If you are going to repair the issue, I'd recommend a professional diagnosis rather than spending additional monies on things that don't have a high percentage chance of fixing the problem.

There's no set period when transmissions will fail.  In my opinion, the transmission design in the Accent is less reliable than the one used in the other vehicles.  If you do a significant amount of congested city driving, the chances of failure are greater.  If you do mostly highway or easy driving, then the chances of failure are less.  I'm in a major metropolitan area, and I've seen a number of failures around that mileage, but not enough to lead me to believe that most of the cars will have a problem.  In addition, most of the Accents I've seen with serious transmission problems are in very poor condition, implying that the part of the reason for failure may be that the transmission fluid was in poor condition but never serviced.