Tips & Advice

The air filter stops airborne contaminants from getting sucked into your car’s engine. It’s a paper filter that stops debris as dust, leaves and wayward pelicans before they get inside the engine and do damage.

Should I do this service when it’s recommended?
Yes. Hyundai recommend to replace air filter <40,000 km or 2 year depending on the air filter and driving conditions.

Why do I have to do this?
Because, eventually your air filter will get plugged up.

What happened if I don’t do this?
If your air filter gets too dirty or clogged, your engine won’t be able to suck air into the combustion chambers. The engine will then run rich (i.e., much gas and not enough air). When this happens, your car will lose power and run roughly. Your “Check Engine” light also may come on.

If you really neglect the air filter for a long time, your car may stop running altogether. While permanent damage is unlikely, it is possible. If an air filter were sufficiently dirty and damaged, it could allow harmful, abrasive contaminants into the combustion chamber.

Is there any maintenance required between intervals?
If you operate your car under severe duty, such as frequent driving on dirt roads or a lot of stop and go driving around town, then you should halve the recommended service intervals for the inspection and replacement of the air filter.

Transmission fluid is a slippery liquid that acts as a lubricant for all of the moving parts inside your transmission. In an automatic transmission, this fluid also serves as a coolant and a viscous fluid that transmit power from the engine to the transmission.

Changing automatic transmission fluid is best left to a mechanic equipped with a transmission flusher, which replaces the fluid more thoroughly than you could achieve with gravity alone. Varieties of fluid are used for different transmissions. Automatic transmission use something called – shockingly – automatic transmission fluid. Manual transmission use a variety of oils: regular motor oil, heavyweight hypoid gear oil or even automatic transmission fluid in some cases.

Should I do this service when it’s recommended?
Yes, definitely, regardless of whether you have a manual or an automatic transmission.

Manual: Hyundai recommend that manual transmission fluid to be changed every 20,000 km or 1 year whichever occurred first. Under heavy duty use, some manufactures suggest changing transmission fluid <20,000 km or 1 year.

Automatic: Service interval for an automatic transmission varies from every 20,000 km to never. Hyundai typical service interval is 20,000 km to 100,000 km depending on the driving condition. Changing it more often does no harm. Some Hyundai models (e.g. Matrix & Getz) are required to replace auto oil filter before changing / flushing the automatic transmission fluid.

Why do I have to do this?
Manual: In a manual transmission, the problem is not so much the fluid degradation, but rather fluid contamination. This contamination occurs over time as the synchronizers, bearings and gears in the transmission wear out. The resulting metal particles then float around in the lubricant. And we all know that oil with microscopic particles of metal in it does not lubricate as well as clean oil. So if these contaminants are not drained out, they will shorten the life of your transmission.

Automatic: Because more heat is generated in an automatic transmission, automatic transmission fluid actually degrades and breaks down with use. In additional, like in a manual transmission, automatic transmission fluid will also become contaminated with worn bits of the transmission. If these contaminants are not drained out, they will shorten the life of your transmission.

What happened if I don’t do this?
If you don’t change the transmission fluid on schedule, you’ll be lubricating your transmission with metal shavings and other contaminants. This will shorten the transmission’s life. The result could be a hefty boat payment to your mechanic. In other words, changing your transmission fluid at the correct interval is a good investment.

Is there any maintenance required between intervals?
Yes. It’s important to regularly check the transmission fluid level between service intervals. Letting your car run low on transmission fluid can cause the transmission to shift improperly – or not at all. It also can harm the internal parts of your transmission, which will not be properly lubricated. Unfortunately, you may not hear any noises or have other clues that your transmission is low on fluid, until it’s too late. So it’s important to get it checked.

Here’s how you can check your transmission fluid:

Manual: Checking the transmission fluid in a manual transmission can be difficult. If you own a car with a manual transmission, we suggest that you ask your mechanic to check the fluid level when your car is up on the lift during an oil change. It takes just a minute.

Automatic: If you own a car with an automatic transmission, your car will have a dipstick for this purpose. Be careful not to make the common mistake of confusing the transmission dipstick with the crankcase dipstick. For most cars, checking the automatic transmission fluid consists of pulling the transmission dipstick out while the engine is warmed up and running and with the transmission in park. We suggest that you check your owner’s manual, however some manufactures may have a different procedure.

Of course, always check your fluid level if you notice a leak of any kind.

Hyundai Tip: Unlike engine oil, transmission oil doesn’t burn up. So if you’re low on transmission fluid, you almost certainly have a leak.

The brake system uses a glycol-based hydraulic fluid. The fluid is "hygroscopic," which means it tends to absorb moisture over time (never leave a can of brake fluid open for this reason). Moisture lowers the boiling point of the fluid and causes internal corrosion in the brake system. That’s why the fluid should be replaced when is necessary.

There are several different types, based on the boiling temperature and other characteristics of the fluid. DOT 3 or DOT 4 is used in most passenger cars and light trucks. Use only the type of fluid specified by the vehicle manufacturer.

Should I do this service when it’s recommended?
Absolutely. Hyundai recommended service your brake system and replace brake fluid every 20,000 km or 1 year whichever occurred first under normal driving condition.

Why do I have to do this?
Brake fluid attracts moisture, and this moisture can rust the insides of the brakes system. This moisture was not that big of deal 10 years ago, but on brake system of today (either ABS or not), the rust and other debris that accumulates in the fluid can do lots of internal damage, and can be very costly. Brake fluid can also break down over time from excess heat that is created from within the brake system. In short, you do this service so you don’t crash into a cabbage truck.

What happened if I don’t do this?
If you neglect your brake fluid for a long time, your might encounter brake fluid leakage due to corrosion, brakes system spongy and ineffective and your brake system will ultimately failed.

Is there any maintenance required between intervals?
Check the brake fluid when you check the other fluids in your car (once a month) or if the brake light on the dashboard goes on. Low brake fluid level may indicate a leak in your brake's hydraulic system --a situation that requires immediate attention.

Brakes pads, linings and rotors are parts of your car’s brake system and are housed next to each of the wheels. They push against one another to create friction, which stops the car.

There are two kinds of brakes system: disc brakes and drum brakes. Disc brakes are the most common system in use today, and they’re very much like the hand brakes on a bicycle. When you step on your car’s brake pedal, the brake pads squeeze a spinning disc rotor that’s attached to the wheel. The resulting friction, when applied to each of the wheels, slows the car.

The second type, drum brakes, involves brake shoes that push out against a spinning brake drum, which is attached to the wheel. This friction slows the car.

Both systems work by creating friction, so brake parts are expected to wear out. The questions then are, how worn out are they? And are they worn out enough that they need to be replaced?

That’s what this service is all about – checking these components for wear and other potential problems.

Should I do this service when it’s recommended?
Absolutely. Hyundai recommended service your brake system and replace brake fluid every 20,000 km or 1 year whichever occurred first under normal driving condition.

Why do I have to do this?
In short, you do this service so you don’t crash into a cabbage truck.

What happened if I don’t do this?
If you neglect your brake system, your brakes will ultimately fail. Even before that happens, however, you can cause damage to other, more expensive brake parts, such as rotors, drums and calibers. In other words: a stitch in time... saves you from helping your mechanic with a boat payment later.

Is there any maintenance required between intervals?
If your vehicle’s mileage or age reached manufacture’s service recommendation according Schedule Maintenance or you notice any of the following signs and symptoms when you brake:

…… your brakes may require servicing. Make an appointment with your nearest Hyundai workshop or appointed service dealers.

Coolant is the fluid that absorbs heat from the engine and then dissipates it through the radiator. Servicing the coolant involves draining and / or flushing your car’s cooling system and then replacing the old coolant with fresh coolant

Should I do this service when it’s recommended?
Yes. Draining out the coolant and refilling the system removes dirt and rust particles that can clog up the cooling system and cause overheating. Hyundai recommend to replace coolant <20,000 km or 1 year depending on the coolant condition.

Why do I have to do this?
Because it is operating in a hot, hostile environment, coolant will break down over time. Most importantly, the coolant’s rust inhibitors get used up, leaving the small cooling passages in your engine and radiator vulnerable to corrosion. Even with these rust inhibitors, some corrosion will inevitably take place, contaminating the coolant with debris.

What happened if I don’t do this?
If the rust inhibitors stop working, the cooling system will rust from the inside out. The biggest source of rust in a car’s cooling is the engine block.

In time, these bits of rust will also clog the tiny passages within the radiator and heater, causing your engine to overheat. When an engine overheats, the result is a bonus yacht payment to your mechanic that someone else should be making.

Is there any maintenance required between intervals?
Check your coolant level periodically. Your owner’s manual will have a recommended interval in which to check the coolant level.

If you check your coolant level when the engine is cold, the coolant should be at or above the “minimum” of “fill” line on the transparent refill container. If you check your coolant level when the engine is hot, the coolant should be at or just below “max” line.

Disappearance of coolant could be caused by either an external or internal leak, the latter being more expensive. Either one should be addressed quickly, since running low or out of coolant can lead to catastrophic engine failure and many boat payments to your mechanic.

This is the inspection or replacement of the belt(s) in your engine compartment. Every car has a water pump, a power steering pump and various accessories – all of which are powered by rubber drive belts.

Should I do this service when it’s recommended?
Definitely. Normal drive belt’s life span is 30,000 – 55,000 km depending on driving conditions.

Why do I have to do this?
Belts in your car don’t last forever. They wear out from use and eventually crack and decay from ozone that’s in the air.

What happened if I don’t do this?
If your car has individual belts and one of them breaks, then you’ll lose the function of whatever part that belt was powering, such as the alternator, power steering pump or water pump. If the serpentine belt breaks, all of these parts will stop functioning. Engine damage may result from overheating.

Is there any maintenance required between intervals?
Between service intervals, inspect your car’s belts for cracks. If you hear a screeching noise coming from under the hood – especially when you start your car on a cold morning or when making a sharp turn – you may have a loose belt.

An oil and filter change involves draining out the old motor oil and replacing it with fresh, new motor oil. The oil filter also gets to replace at the same time.

Should I do this service when it’s recommended?
In general, yes. Changing your vehicle’s oil is one of the most important things you can do to avoid bringing large bags of money to your mechanic later on.

However, there’s a lot of controversy about exactly when engine oil gets old and how often it should be replaced with new oil. Because there are many factors at work – how you drive, the condition and age of the engine, the external environment you drive in, and stop and go versus highway driving – it’s an inexact science.

Hyundai recommend that you change your oil and filter every 5,000 km or 3 months whichever occurred first. That’s our best estimate. It may be too soon for many people and too late for a few, but for the vast majority, 5,000 km or 3 months oil changes will help your engine last to a ripe, old age.

Why do I have to do this?
Oil undergoes thermal breakdown due to high operating temperature. When this occurs, the oil becomes less effective as a lubricant. And without a good lubricant, parts of the engine rub together and wear each other out. Oil also contains additives that have the ability to neutralize acids. Over time, these additives get used up and stop being effective.

Finally, oil can absorb water, dust and combustion byproducts and also hold them in suspension. Eventually, the oil gets saturated with this stuff and can’t absorb any more. Then that stuff remains in the engine and can corrosion.

What happened if I don’t do this?
Your engine won’t last as it could. Oil serves many crucial functions, and clean oil performs those functions better than dirty oil. Oil is relatively cheap, and changing your oil every 5,000 km or 3 months is a very cheap insurance policy against major repair down the road.

Is there any maintenance required between intervals?
Yes, you need to check the oil level every few hundred kilometers. With your car parked on a level surface, remove oil dipstick, clean it and then reinsert it. Remove it again, and check the oil level.

Ideally, it should be right at the full mark. If it’s at or below the add / low mark, that means you’re a quart low and should add a quart of oil to the crankcase. If it’s in between the two marks, you can add part of a quart to bring it up to the full mark (the distance between add / low and full represents a quart, so use that to estimate how much of a quart you need). Be aware, however, that since oil flows slowly when it is cool, the dipstick may not immediately reflect any oil you just add. So estimate the amount of oil you need based on your first dipstick reading and then check it again later that day or the next day to be sure you’re near to the full mark.

If you are low on oil, we advise you to use the grade oil recommended in your owner’s manual. If you regularly run low on oil, be sure to report it to your mechanic. You may have a leak or may be burning oil – signs that you might be gearing up for a major boat to your mechanic.

At some point, every engine starts to burn oil. Get in the habit of checking the oil from time to time, and you just might avoid having your engine melt down one day.

Simply but, power steering fluid is the hydraulic fluid that transmits the power in power steering. Servicing it involves draining or flushing out your car’s old power steering fluid and then adding fresh steering fluid.

Should I do this service when it’s recommended?
Absolutely. Hyundai recommended replacing power steering fluid every 40,000 km or 2 year whichever occurred first. The fluid is the cheapest component of your power steering system. Changing it can help to prolong the life of other, more expensive power steering components such as the power steering pump and the stratospherically expensive power steering rack.

Why do I have to do this?
Over time, the seals, o rings and internal power steering components will wear out. When they break apart, they contaminate the power steering fluid, which forces the power steering pump to work harder (having to pump little chunks instead of just fluid) and eventually break down.

What happened if I don’t do this?
You’ll eventually chew up your power steering pump. It’ll have to be replaced at a cost of several hundred dollars, or you’ll have no power steering – and you can’t easily drive a car that’s equipped with power steering when the power steering system fails. You also may damage the rack, which will require you to take out a small home equity loan to replace.

Is there any maintenance required between intervals?
If you hear a whining or moaning noise when you turn the steering wheel, you should have your power steering system checked. Your power steering pump may be about to fail.

Also, if you notice a leak of any kind, you should definitely check your power steering fluid level and make sure you keep it topped up. Running out of fluid will cook the pump, too.

We know that all tires rotate. But we’re talking about another kind of rotation – rotating tires to different corners of the car and maybe even reversing the direction in which they run. If you are not sure which kind of tires you have, check with your mechanic.

Should I do this service when it’s recommended?
Yes. The financial benefit if rotating tires is that you’ll increase the useful life of the tire. Hyundai recommend rotating your tires every 10,000 – 15,000 km and if possible inspecting the alignment too.

Why do I have to do this?
You don’t have to rotate your tires. But by rotating them, you will increase your tires’ life because they’ll wear more evenly.

What happened if I don’t do this?
Nothing bad will happen, but you will get fewer kilometers out of your tires.

Is there any maintenance required between intervals?
No.

Spark plugs are little devices inside the cylinder that take in high voltage electricity at one end and create a spark at the other end. There, the spark ignites the gas and air mixture, and the resulting combustion is what ultimately powers the car. This service involves removing the old spark plugs and replacing with new ones.

Should I do this service when it’s recommended?
Yes.

Why do I have to do this?
A special gauge / tool is to used to measure the spark plug gap and, if necessary, to bend the electrode to achieve the correct specification.

Sparking end of the spark plug is a built-in gap between two or more little pieces of metal, called electrodes. When the plug fires, one or more sparks jump that gap and a tiny bit of the metal is burned off. This happens hundreds of times every minute. Over time, the gap between the metal tips gets too big. Also, your spark plugs can get fouled, but that would indicate that you have a problem.

What happened if I don’t do this?
Your engine will start to misfire and run poorly, performance will suffer, efficiency will decrease and emissions will dramatically increase. Your car may also be difficult to start.

Is there any maintenance required between intervals?
Hyundai recommend removing the old spark plugs and reinstalling new ones within 10,000 – 20,000 km depending on the driving condition except for certain high range model.

Many manufactures have long life, 60,000 or 100,000 km spark plugs. If you don’t remove these spark plugs until they’re due to be changed, you might find it extremely difficult or even impossible to remove them when the time comes. You’ll also want to examine the plugs if your car is running poorly. A blackened plug, for example, can tell you that the engine is running too rich.

This is the car’s most important belts – the notched rubber belt known as the timing belt, which is sometimes called a Gilmer belt. This belt allows the crankshaft to drive the camshaft, which in turn opens and closes the valves. Without this belt, the engine can’t run.

During the inspection, the inspection, your mechanic will look for signs of wear, such as cracks, shredding or excessive slack. He’ll also look for signs of oil leaks from the adjacent seals, which can damage the belt and considerably shorten its life.

Should I replace it when it’s recommended?
Yes.

Why do I have to do this?
In other word, it can save your huge repair cost and maintain your engine running in optimum condition.

What happened if I don’t do this?
If you don’t periodically inspect your timing belt and replaced as necessary. It might break at an inopportune moment.

If a timing belt breaks or jumps a notch in an engine, the valves may open at the wrong time and then be struck by the pistons. The result will be many hundreds of dollars in damage to your engine.

Is there any maintenance required between intervals?
Hyundai recommends that you replace the timing belt and relative parts at 60,000 km or 3 years whichever occurred first. Don’t forget that this also means replacements at 120,000 km (6 years), 180,000 km (9 years) and so on.

If you hear a slapping sound coming from your engine, it could be the result of a loose timing belt, which is hitting the plastic timing belt cover. To determine if your timing is loose, ask your mechanic to check its tension.

Tire pressure is a measure of the amount of air in a vehicle’s tires, in pounds per square inch. The required service involves checking the tires’ pressure with a pressure gauge, at least monthly, if not more frequently.

Should I do this service when it’s recommended?
Yes. Absolutely.

Why do I have to do this?
Having the proper tire pressure is a crucial safety issue. Next to the brakes, the tires are the most important safety devices on your car. Incorrect tire pressure will compromise cornering, braking and stability. And in the worst case scenario, improper tire pressure can lead to tire failure – and a serious accident. Incorrect tire pressure also will affect your comfort, fuel economy and tire life.

What happened if I don’t do this?
If tire pressure is too high, then less of the tire touches the ground. As a consequence, your car will bounce around on the road. And when your tires are bouncing instead of firmly planted on the road, traction suffers and so do your stopping distances. You’ll also feel a decrease in ride comfort.

If tire pressure is too low, them too much of the tire’s surface area touches the ground, which increases friction between the road and tire. As a result, not only will your tire wear prematurely, but they also could overheat. Overheating can lead to tread separation – and a nasty accident. One sign of low tire pressure is if your tires squeal when cornering.

Check your tire pressure even if your tires aren’t leaking. Why? Because tire pressure also changes with the temperature outside. Tire pressure decreases by about 1 pound per square inch for every 10-degree drop in outside air temperature.

How do you determine the correct tire pressure for your car’s tires?
A lot of people check the pressure listed on the tires themselves, but that’s actually the wrong place to look. The number on the tire is the maximum allowable air pressure – not the recommended pressure for that tire when used on your vehicle.

The recommended tire pressure is almost always lower than the maximum tire pressure. Check your owner’s manual to find out where to look on your vehicle to find the recommended measurement. Once you know the manufacture’s recommended tire pressure, then you need an accurate tire gauge to check the tire pressure. Analog, dial-type gauges or digital gauge tend to be fairly accurate.

And when should you check the tire pressure?
You should check it when the tire is cold. That doesn’t mean you need to move to International Falls, Minn., to check your tire pressure. Cold, in this sense, simply means that your tires are at air temperature. You can check tire pressure any time of the day, as long as the tires have been sitting for a few hours or haven’t been driven for more than few kilometers. In other words, you can drive to the gas station a few blocks away and ask them to check the pressure, but don’t expect to pull off the highway after driving for an hour and expect to get an accurate reading.

When you check your tire pressure, remember to check all four tires. Just because three of your tires are at 30 pounds doesn’t mean that fourth tire isn’t nearly flat. Finally, check the spare tire at least once in a while – it would be an unpleasant surprise to find it flat when you need it. If you have a small, space saver spare, then the pressure for that tire is probably not the same pressure as your regular tires. The correct tire pressure should be printed right on this particular type of spare.