Howdy,

My friend owns a 2001 Santa Fe 2.7L. I helped him change the alternator the other day. When the car was started, the engine immediately hit 5000 rpm, then started cycling between 5000 and 1500 rpms. Strange. Maybe some of the wiring isn't hooked up correctly? We took the alternator off to get a good look at the plug connector and the fat wire.

After everything was connected again, the engine started operating differently. Now it just went up to 5000 and stayed there. It sounds exactly like the Sante Fe in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGkeK90SqCs
Thankfully the rev limiter was there to protect the engine.

There was no previous incident where the engine revved like this before the change of alternator. I looked at the 2 cables that go to the throttle body and they aren't moving at all. I'm baffled and would like your input as to what may have happened here.

Thanks for your time!

 

Did you remove the mount from right frame mount to engine, and jack up and lower the engine to get at alternator ??

If yes, you pulled outer jacket for cruise cable out of the metal end, so the throttle is held open pretty good/// use finger and feel the bare cable off the throttle arm, bet it is nice and tight...

Remove air inlet boot and look at throttle plate, it is likely hung open..

 

Hi, thanks for the response.

No, I didn't jack up the engine, I jacked up the car by the frame so I could remove the front passenger tire and the plastic wheel well thing to better access the alternator bolts.

I've taken off the hose going to the throttle body, and the butterfly is closed. By 'closed' I mean the air flow is as restricted as possible. If the car is started without this hose being attached, the engine sputters at low rpm, then dies. When the hose is reattached, the high rpm conditions returns. Like I said, neither cable moves (that I can detect).

After the high revving started, I did notice that the cruise cable was not in it's keeper, which seemed strange. Maybe the dealer did this at some point during its previous servicing as a precaution. The cable is taut, but not to the point where it has moved the butterfly off its default closed position.

Can the engine get to 5000 rpm without additional air coming into the engine (i.e. if the butterfly stays closed)?
Is that secondary cable only for cruise control?