2001 Sonata AC/Heat/blower? driving me crazy

Hi all, I have a 2001 hyundai Sonata. I have been having an
AC/Heat/Blower related problem. After driving anywhere from 45 mins
to one hour, the heat or AC will not blow. The blower will make noise
as if it is trying, but nothing but a dribble will come out. Then
miraculously it sometimes starts to work again anywhere from 20 mins
to 45 mins later. SOmetimes it doesn't come back at all until I use
the car the next day. I have brought this to my dealer 6 times and
they keep changing relays, resistors etc. I am going crazy. anyone
have any ideas?

 

<snip>After driving anywhere from 45 mins to one hour, the heat or AC will
not blow.

There is a technical service bulletin out for this concern. Take it to the
dealer and tell them to look up TSB # 03-97-001 and tell them to install the
update thermistor in its correct location.
if its a full automatic temp control vehicle - use part # 97614-3D200
if its a manually controlled vehicle - use part # 97614-3D000



--
Gerald Lawson
ASE Certified Master Auto Technician
ASE Certified Undercar Specialist
Hyundai Senior Master Technician
Mitsubishi Master Technician

 

Thanks so much for writing back. I brought it to a new dealer and
they said thats not it and they cant find anything wrong after looking
at it for 4 hours.

I am at wits end. do I have any recourse with anyone? I have a car
whose heat, vent, and AC stop working every long trip I take. what
can I do?

 

I finally got the dealer to order the part and they are gonna do it
next week. I hope this works.

Gerald Thanks so much for your help. Is there anyone at hyundai I can
write to letting them know what a great job you do? I can't believe
the dealers here are so technically inept. They go out of their way
to be nice and that is appreciated and great, but ultimately don't
have the wherewithal to fix the problem.

 

That's more the rule than the exception, unfortunately.

Be grateful you don't have my GM dealer. They'll do anything expensive,
doesn't matter if it doesn't fix the problem. After $2.5k a year in
'repairs' I dropped GM cars for good.

 

Could be worse. You could be driving a Ford.

 

Try a Focus. I'm on my 5th recall. The temp gauge works sometimes. Same with
the fuel gauge. The door locks work most of the time except one which
doesn't work any of the time. The brakes are shot at 30K miles and so on.
Nice car to drive but you have to enjoy going to the dealer with some
frequency.
jor

 

What *is* it with people top-posting? Message rearranged to comply with
Usenet conventions.

The Ford Tempo was pretty terrible in terms of repair and maintenance.
My parents owned one; it was constantly in the shop for something or
other. OTOH, I didn't have *too* many problems with my Mercury Sable
(Ford Taurus by another name.) The Focus seems to be more like the
Tempo than the Taurus in terms of its repair/maintenance. YMMV,
obviously.

Always. Part of the problem was that Hyundai initially didn't design
their cars for long lifetimes, since apparently, folks in Korea buy a
new car every 3-4 years and wouldn't be caught dead in a 5-year-old
anything. Their experiences/customer feedback in the US market made
them change things around a bit.

 

My '86 Mercury Lynx ruined me for American cars too, my '86 Mazda RX-7 made
me an Asian car convert for life. My AX was more reliable at 15 years old
than when my Lynx was brand new!

RX-7 0-15 years:
regular maintenance, clutch, brake caliper, and new exhaust.

Lynx 0-6 years
regular maintenance, new exhaust TWICE, alternator, starter TWICE, struts,
tie rods THREE TIMES!, dashboard lights, head gasket, transmission, belts,
valve cover gasket THREE TIMES, fuel pump, carburetor TWICE.

 

Yeah I agree , Hyundais are great cars tied to lousy US dealer support
..,had my Elantra in 3 times for a simple problem . Fortunately I was
able to fix it for a total cost of 10 cents . Right now I have 3
Elantras 2 - 92s and a new 01 . Fortunately I can easily repair them
myself . Here in western Washington I would suggest you BUY from
Titus-Will in Oly and have them worked on at Larson in Tacoma .