Hyundai criteria for long/short block

I'm wondering if I got a lemon, or just bad luck, or maybe it was built on a Friday when the workers were already thinking about the weekend.

First it was paint issues from the protective plastic leaving marks.

Followed by discovering the alignment being out from the factory.

Then the transmission was replaced at <70k miles.

Now it looks like my Elantra is going to get a warranty replacement of the engine at almost 90k miles

The 1.8l Nu in it has a pretty loud knock when cold or under a load, and is still present at idle.

The dealer says they won't know until they get the car in and drop the pan. Once that's done they will contact Hyundai and then find out what they will be getting ( long or short block).

I'm wondering if anyone knows what criteria Hyundai uses to determine if they go with a short block or a long block?

depends on the damage and failure. Hell, at least you get a short block. Honda is only replacing pistons and rings on cars using 4+qts of oil in a thousand miles.

Depends on your technicians pen.

Ranger50 wrote: Depends on your technicians pen.

You might want to bring him lunch before he works on our car! lol

So I should leave a 6 pack (or two) of nice craft beer on the seat when I drop it off as an offering to the warranty gods?

Bobzilla wrote: depends on the damage and failure. Hell, at least you get a short block. Honda is only replacing pistons and rings on cars using 4+qts of oil in a thousand miles.

absolutely not true. My 2012 Civic Si had the short block replaced at 22k miles (under warranty) when I brought it in to them every week to add oil ("under warranty") because "when i hit the brakes hard the oil light comes on, and i was just here last week"...

I believe at the time it was using ~1.2Q of oil every thousand miles from their "scientific oil consumption test"

Be persistent. Act Dumb. Get everything in writing and save all your reciepts (even the $0.00 total ones).

I ended up trading the car to another one of their dealerships (subaru) for a 2014 WRX and got more than i owed on it.

Acting dumb is key. NEVER let dealerships/car repair places know you know about cars. Its like this inversley proportional relationship. If you act dumb and complain a TON, they'll help. If you act like you know something, game over.

Autolex wrote:

Bobzilla wrote: depends on the damage and failure. Hell, at least you get a short block. Honda is only replacing pistons and rings on cars using 4+qts of oil in a thousand miles.

absolutely not true. My 2012 Civic Si had the short block replaced at 22k miles (under warranty) when I brought it in to them every week to add oil ("under warranty") because "when i hit the brakes hard the oil light comes on, and i was just here last week"... I believe at the time it was using ~1.2Q of oil every thousand miles from their "scientific oil consumption test" Be persistent. Act Dumb. Get everything in writing and save all your reciepts (even the $0.00 total ones). I ended up trading the car to another one of their dealerships (subaru) for a 2014 WRX and got more than i owed on it.

In your specific case? OK. But I ordered dozens of rings/pistons for TSX 2.4's because Honda refused to put in a shortblock until this had been done and failed a second time. Great for your CSI scores, let me tell you. Your case was the exception, not the rule.

HiTempguy wrote: Acting dumb is key. NEVER let dealerships/car repair places know you know about cars. Its like this inversley proportional relationship. If you act dumb and complain a TON, they'll help. If you act like you know something, game over.

Too late to do that, but so far I seem to have a reasonable understanding with the service writer.

I've been flexible with them on scheduling and they have been good about not making it difficult to have warranty items covered.

At this point I'm waiting to see if the engine suffers a catastrophic failure or if they get me a loaner before that happens.

If it doesn't self destruct before it goes in to the shop then there will be a more technical discussion once they investigate further and know if it will be a short or long block.

I was just curious if there were any general guidelines that Hyundai used, since it seems like many of the decisions are made outside the dealership.

From what I hear most techs don't want to do the short block and would much rather do the long block if they can. Just have to see if your tech can satisfy the warranty peeps.

Id feel reasonably confident that you will get a longblock if a rod goes searching for daylight. Keep driving it. It's under warranty. What's the worst thing that could happen? You eat a motor? Already has.

And just think, you'll essentially have a brand new drivetrain at -100k. Should last you to 400k. More play money.

drive the pee out of it … help that end of life decision for your engine … can you get to an autocross before it's supposed to show up at the dealership ?

Thank you for the info on the TSB, but since I'm in central Mass the Canadian TSB doesn't apply (no easy button). At least don't have to worry about any GDI issues since its a 2011 GLS PZEV.

Based on the failures the car definitely seems cursed, even though its had a relatively easy life. What are the odds of having both the transmission and engine replaced before 100K?

I actually work at a Hyundai dealer in the parts department. we currently have six (6) elantra engines waiting for install, 4 short blocks 2 long blocks some 2.0 some 1.8 and let me tell you, if there is metal shavings, you get a long block. if it knocks, consumes oil, smokes or just about anything else its a short block

jstand wrote: Thank you for the info on the TSB, but since I'm in central Mass the Canadian TSB doesn't apply (no easy button). At least don't have to worry about any GDI issues since its a 2011 GLS PZEV. Based on the failures the car definitely seems cursed, even though its had a relatively easy life. What are the odds of having both the transmission and engine replaced before 100K?

fancy that, I am in a central MA and the odds are quit staggering, it happens a lot here. message me, i can tell you some things and stuff

tjbell wrote: I actually work at a Hyundai dealer in the parts department. we currently have six (6) elantra engines waiting for install, 4 short blocks 2 long blocks some 2.0 some 1.8 and let me tell you, if there is metal shavings, you get a long block. if it knocks, consumes oil, smokes or just about anything else its a short block

That's what I was afraid of...

Hopefully the knock will cause some spectacular failure that removes any questions about how it will be handled. It is definitely getting louder so it may be headed that way.

If it gets a long block then I'll feel more comfortable keeping the car for several more years.

If it gets a short block then I will give some serious thought to replacing the car once the warranty is up. Unless there is some reliable evidence that the source of the knock didn't damage or accelerate wear in other components that were reused.

jstand wrote:

tjbell wrote: I actually work at a Hyundai dealer in the parts department. we currently have six (6) elantra engines waiting for install, 4 short blocks 2 long blocks some 2.0 some 1.8 and let me tell you, if there is metal shavings, you get a long block. if it knocks, consumes oil, smokes or just about anything else its a short block

That's what I was afraid of... Hopefully the knock will cause some spectacular failure that removes any questions about how it will be handled. It is definitely getting louder so it may be headed that way. If it gets a long block then I'll feel more comfortable keeping the car for several more years. If it gets a short block then I will give some serious thought to replacing the car once the warranty is up. Unless there is some reliable evidence that the source of the knock didn't damage or accelerate wear in other components that were reused.

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