2005 Elantra GT

[jefboyardee]

After looking at year-old used cars for months, I decided I might as well get a brand new GT for about the same price. For the money, it’s wonderful. But there are two things I’d like to tweak:

1. The horn is a joke and wants to be replaced with a louder two-tone job.

2. The 5-speed shift lever has a too long of a throw and wants to be shortened.

I found solutions for both of these at egt.gwebworks.com/garage.shtml, but would rather have the dealer do it, to avoid jeopardizing my warranty. Do you know if they usually do modifications like these?

Thanks in advance...

[twospirits]

Congratulations on getting the Elantra GT, a very fine car.

There have been a few Hyundai owners that have their dealerships perform modifications or more to the point added aftermarket items on their vehicle. I guess it depends on the dealership and the demand. But throughout all its been reported that the labor was a bit more than usual by having them install it for you. If you want to say somw money and are handy doing things yourself, then do just that, do it yourself.

As for voiding your warranty, if they wanted too they can say its voided but the burden of proof lies on them to prove that the installation of the aftermarket item caused the problem of malfunction. From what I gather, the two items you are to replace above does nothing that would hamper the engine, transmission or any critical part that might lead to failure. Adding aftermarket items like better sounding horns, replacing the shifter adding side markers, fog lights, led/interior lights, multimedia equipment, lighted gauges etc, etc can not void your warranty since they would not cause your vehicle to fail if done properly and the instruction were followed correctly. The Magnuson=Moss Warranty Act says the burden of proof lies on the manufacturer and aids the owner when a dealership says our warranty is denied due to adding aftermarket items etc. Cutting a wire would not void your warranty providing you properly seal and safeguard the connections from shortin out and youfollowed instructions.

So if you want to save some money, do it yourself if you still feel like they should install the items, then do that instead.

That link you provided has a few good modifications, I like the one that you can add air horns along side the stock horns.

Good luck and have fun with the car.

TS out

[jefboyardee]

Thanks TS, a very informative answer. And upon reading the instructions provided on that site, neither project appears very daunting... coming to a weekend near me!

One thing that is different from 2004 is the stereo. It‘s not branded as a Kenwood, although it might still be one with a Hyundai logo instead. Upon seeing that it only had Volume and Bass/Treble knobs, I was initially concerned that it might be schlock. But after a few short road trips and Soundgarden CDs, I am quite impressed.. the best stock stereo I’ve ever had, for sure.

Other than that, the sales guy and I couldn’t find much difference between the ‘04 and ‘05.

[twospirits]

My answer was actually longer, but for some stupid reason at work, the pc froze and when it came back I lost the post and I was on my way out so I re-did it when I got home.

I am planning on making a list of modifications for all the Hyundai vehicles and post them up in their specified sections.

TS out

[jefboyardee]

Had to take it up the couple-three thousand foot climb through Black Canyon, north of Phoenix. That tiny motor did very well; I was able to maintain 80mph or better. That it’s geared somewhat low helps the available torque, revving about 3500 at 80; 4000 at 90. Wish it had a sixth gear to cruise level roads 90mph at lower revs, but that shortcoming is shared with a lot of cars -- they’re designed to operate within the speed limits (maybe I’m better off that way). Gets just under 30mpg; about 400 miles per tank, even driving the way I was... pretty impressive little toy!

[nippjas]

Whoo Hoo....

[jefboyardee]

Originally Posted by jefboyardee

The horn is a joke and wants to be replaced with a louder two-tone job.

Done. It’s now got a European tone, with higher notes than, say, a
Buick would have. Most importantly, it’s a _lot_ louder than the stock
horn. Only had to do some rewiring in front of the radiator; its post
already had a tapped hole for the second horn.

For the curious, the parts are here:

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/P.../p-226/c-10101

The instructions are here (scroll down to “Replacing factory horn”):

http://egt.gwebworks.com/garage.shtml

[RedScorp]

Originally Posted by jefboyardee

For the curious, the parts are here:

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/P.../p-226/c-10101

The instructions are here (scroll down to “Replacing factory horn”):

http://egt.gwebworks.com/garage.shtml

Cool thanks I wondered about the same thing in my '02 GLS. The website with the instructions seems to be down or invalid at the moment.

[jefboyardee]

That’s odd. I tried it before posting and again just now; works fine from
here. Does it work for anyone else?

[twospirits]

The link works on my end.

TS out

[RedScorp]

It works now. Maybe the site was just down for maintenance or something.

[jefboyardee]

Originally Posted by jefboyardee

Only had to do some rewiring in front of the radiator; its post
already had a tapped hole for the second horn.

Dad gummit. I just noticed that you can see the things peeking through
the radiator panel. The old horn was flat black; these are unpainted
shiny metal. Never even thought of that. Now I’ll have to take it all
apart and paint the suckers... or learn to ignore them.

[nippjas]

Factory horn sucks anyways...My horn died after 4 months...and I hardly use it...I replaced it with a bosch unit from the BMW parts bin. The factory Elantra horn isn't very loud anyhow...Cheap to replace.