Hi, I'm new to these forums and I'm also a new owner of a 2003 Hyundai Elantra. I received the car a few weeks ago and it has a little over 11,000 miles on it! I was very excited when I bought this car since my first car was a 1994 Pink Geo Tracker. As much as I loved that car, there were problems with it; check engine light, uncontrollable clicking, rattling, and some more.

I test drove the car with my dad (owner of a 2007 Hyundai Elantra) and I heard a weird sound coming from the back. It sounds like a creaking to me when I brake. My dad told me it wasn't anything major so I wasn't worried about it. When I got the car and had to get it inspected, I mentioned the problem and they said they would look into it. They said it was probably the brakes. They cleaned the brakes...and no more sound! This lasted for less than a day and the sound was back, so I brought it back and this time they cut the drums/rotors. Within a few hours of bringing it back, the sound was back again! Due to the cold weather, my dad hasn't been able to get under it adn look at it. Anybody else have this problem or any suggestions?

Next, after getting my car back from them cutting the drums/rotors, my fright front brakes are now squealing when braking. This sounds like metal against metal. My dad thinks that the mechanc either got the break lines dirty or they messed something up. It truly is a squealing noise that is constant until the car stops when braking. This lasts for a while and then goes away, but always starts again in the morning or after work. Any help?

Problem #3. I had my car inspected when I first got it and they said that it needed a new battery. I thought it was no problem so they replaced it with an energizer. Not more than 1.5 weeks after getting a new battery, I tried starting my car in front of the house and it wouldn't crank or anything. Only the cd player came on. It took 3 times to get the car finally started. After that, it ran fine. Now, today (about 1.5 weeks since the first incident), I was leaving school (I'm a teacher) and couldn't get my car to start. There was no sound whatsoever when I turned the key. My lights hadn't been turned on so they couldn't have drained the battery and when I tried turning on the headlights at that point, they wouldn't even turn on. The only thing that worked was the little red light on the dash showing the door was open. As soon as I opened the door (no key in the ignition), that light would turn on but within 5 seconds, it would disappear, even with the door still open. I got a jump and the car immediately started. Keep in mind, this is a brand new battery. What could the problem be???

Final Problem. Often time in the morning, I start driving my car and hear a rattling from inside the dash. The speed at which it rattles has nothing to do with the speed at which I'm traveling. It's just an annoying sound and eventually goes away after about 5 minutes of driving. Any ideas??

Thanks for reading through this post and any suggestions you can offer!! I'm very excited to have this car, but would like it to be problem free

 

the rear brake problem there is a fix for it where the dealer replaces the entire assembly including backing plate to fix the squeaking problem. the front brakes depending on the amount of life left on the pad can cause noise, also when dust gets between the pads will cause it to squeak. with the batt concern i would suggest taking back and have them test the batt. it's possible that the batt is not holding charge. i was thinking that you might have a batt drain problem but if that's the case you would have a hard time starting the car every morning.

 

We have the same problem. Good thing that you open up this problem.

 

Thank you to all of those that have offered suggestions. The brake problem has seemed to disappear, or I just can't hear it anymore. Also, the battery problem wound up being a loose connection (a loose nut). I realized this after driving it for a while and checking the connection on one of the terminals and finding that the nut had loosened again! So I just bought a new nut and placed it on. No problem with that since!! How cheap!

Now I have a check engine light issue...post is above, please help!

Thanks!

 

I have the same problem, my check engine light just lit up on the 24th. I'll let you know how things go.

 

check engine light could be anything. I feel like I've never driven a full month without my check engine light on since I bought my car. Just get the code read at Autozone it's free and takes 5 minutes. Probably the O2 sensor, which would be a good thing to replace before you kill your gas mileage. Not like that matters as much as it did a couple months ago.


As for the dash shaking when you start the car... I don't know I think that's just Hyundai's thing. I own an Elantra and have frequently driven a Tiburon both early 00's and they both shook.

 

I wish it was an O2 sensor, at least then I know it would cost about $200 to fix.

I took it to Autozone and the diagnostic said that I have a "Large Leak in the evaporative Emission Control System". I don't know what that means hopefully it is $200 or less to fix.

 

That's usually a leak in one of the vapor lines on the charcoal canister.