Vanishing Transmission Fluid in 2002 santa fe

We have a 2002 Santa Fe GLS 2WD with about 14300 miles on it.

No problems untill April 22 this year. The transmission refused to
shift out of 1st gear no matter what speed it was travelling. Turns
out there was problem with transmission control switch (P0715 and some
others). The warranty took care of it. That was inconvenient (having
no car) but not a pain.

Fast forward to yesterday. Suddenly the car refuses to change gears
again. In the "manual" mode, I managed to drive it home but on the way
over it would not go up to 4th. We called the hyundai warranty again
and they sent a tow truck home. The first thing tow truck guy
suggested was to check the transmission fluid level. There was
absolultely none. Saw may be a drop or two on the dip stick the 4-5
times I looked.

Any thoughts on these:
* We did not notice any leaks on the floors. Does leaking
transmission fluid evaporate right away ?
* If it did not leak, shouldnt the hyundai dealer have caught it ?.
We had jiffy lube change oil on the car 10 days ago. Their 20+ point
inspection did not caught it right ?
* How often do we have to check transmission fluid levels ?
* Finally should I pour in some ATF SP3 or would the warranty cover
it ?

TIA,

 

No, transmission fluid does not evaporate quickly.

Depending on what type of servicing you were having done, they may or may
not have caught the low fluid. Where I work, checking the fluids and
adjusting the tire pressures is done with every oil change. If I worked
on your vehicle, I would have checked the transmission fluid. I make it a
point to quickly check any vehicle which has not been in the dealership
for a month or more. One would think the ## point Jiffy Lube inspection
should have caught this.

Technically, the standard for checking fluids is once a week or every
fueling, but no one does this. Once a month probably suffices for most
people.

I'd just call the dealer. I'd have roadside assistance tow it if I had
any concerns about damaging anything. Actually, it sounds like your
transmission may be in fail-safe. The fluid level doesn't have to be very
low to be off the stick, so the low fluid may not be the cause of your
problem. I notice you mention code P0715. Did the dealer previously
replace the input speed sensor? If not, I suspect you need one. I'm
figuring if you send it to the dealer in the condition it's in, it just
makes it easier for them to figure out exactly what's going on. But be
sure to mention to them that in addition to the transmission symptoms,
that the fluid seems to be low.

 

**Ouchie, I wouldn't have driven the car esp. with the previous
problem.

**No, it doesn't. My ex-Santa Fe had a problem with a recall fix and
it leaked tranny fluid everywhere and it was all over the shield under
the car. I'm not sure if your SF had the same recall but it pertained
to tranny fluid cooling lines (?). They were originally rubber and
were subject to falling apart (thus leaking). So they replaced them
with metal tubes.

**If your SF leaked most of its tranny fluid out, somebody would've
noticed something. It was a mess underneath my car and the underside
of the engine. I don't know how you could lose all that fluid with no
signs at all.

**If anyone was underneath it, I'm sure they would've noticed. Why are
you having Jiffy Lube touch your baby?

**You shouldn't really have to do so but it's good to keep a handle on
what your engine's doing.

**If you bought it new, you're covered for a very long time Make
them fix it and fix it right.

kaboomie

 

Where do you work?

 

I work at a Hyundai dealer in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. I'm
reluctant to say exactly where since the opinions I express here are
solely my own and not necessarily those of the dealer.

 

Well I'm in Arizona Your a bit far for service But I have a very good dealer
here and am very happy with them.