Battery - known problem?

[itbedave]

I have a 2001 4WD Santa Fe with 51k miles on it. In the past month, I noticed it struggles a little to get cranked over in the morning. It's progressively gotten worse since then. Not to the point where it won't start at all yet - but when I come to a stop sign, I notice things like the radio cutting out and the dash lights dimming or going off altogether.

I had the battery tested at an autozone and they confirmed that a couple of the cylinders are only registering about 8v, and the others just over 11v. But I'm getting good current from the alternator apparently.

I read on another forum that another 2001 owner had a very similar issue at about 26k miles, had it towed to the dealership, and ended up having the battery and the alternator replaced under the 6/60k warranty because it was a "known issue" on early 2001 models.

I am the second owner of this Santa Fe, and have registered it for the remainder of the available warranty. But I didn't know if:

1.) This is indeed a known issue.
2.) If the transferrable part of the warranty would still cover this if so?

Any help would be appreciated before I call a dealer.

BTW - Why can you not buy a replacement battery for ANY Santa Fe at your local auto parts store??? How are they so different from the standard batteries already on the market? Is there a suitable substitute IF this ends up not being a warranty repair? If not, what is the dealer cost for a replacement battery? Thanks!

[twospirits]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

There is an technical service bulletin on Hyundai Webtech that deals with the less than great alternator (or as Hyundai calls it, generator). I believe it was rated at 95 amps which the new ones are now rated at 110amps. Its this little bit of difference that cause alot of owners to have problems. Its very noticable when one starts to have everything on like the lights, heater, seat warmers, and rear defroster on at the same time. On some it just died on them.

These are the TSBs you may need to look at and possibly have the tech guys look at if they don't know it already. (They should).
TSB 02-36-021 New 2002 Santa Fe 2.7L Generator and
TSB 03-36-020 2.7L V6 Engine Generator Change

some others that might interest you..

TSB 02-36-015 2001-2002 Santa Fe 2.7L Battery Drain and appendem 1

so to answer your questions, yes, it is a known issue on the 2001 santys as well as early in the year 2002 (June).
As for it being covered on the transferable part of the warranty. I wouldn't know. Maybe member lowsonoma whos a Hyundai tech can answer that. You may want to also look at the actual Hyundai warranty manuals that are on my website (in profile) in the download section.

As for the battery, I see why not. There have been numerous owners that have bought other brands some of which are great, like Optima brand. But I've had my battery since I bought the vehicle and didn't have a problem with it, but it was replaced at my last checkup when I told them about the new battery being given out to some owners. Theres is a tsb about it as well somewhere on Webtech.

Hope I was helpful.

TS out

[itbedave]

Thank you so much for the links! I ended up getting the specs off my Solite battery, then going to Wal-Mart and finding a matching EverStart battery that was the same size, offered the same CCA's, and had the positive post on the left. The battery number (in case anyone is interested since WM doesn't list a compatible battery in their system) was a 24F-3N.

Those TSB's are also very useful, as I was experiencing the problem with the sharp noise with the A/C on startup this summer and couldn't figure out what it was. I'm at 51,000k now and will definitely be calling to see if this repair is covered under the terms of my transferred warranty - as well as the "generator" issue. Thanks again!