- Joined
- Aug 4, 2020
- Messages
- 557
I purchased a 2018 Elantra 2.0L as a commuter car with 23K miles about a month ago. Really great car overall. No current issues or codes thrown. Drives like new. We got a trememdous, historic ice storm this week and obviously unseasonable temperatures. Well, my first experience with the heater was, um...perplexing. I was in a slight hurry and didn't have time to scrape the nearly full inch of solid ice off of the car. I needed to let it thaw so I started it with the heat and blower completely off and in the blend position. The only thing on was the rear defrost. I came back in for about 10-12 minutes to gather some items then returned to find it just reaching normal coolant temperature. I blasted the heat in defrost mode then came back in. I let it idle while I took a shower and got ready (about 20 more minutes). I returned to find a completely thawed car as expected, but what wasn't expected was the temperature gauge being halfway back to the ice cold mark (see picture). Strange. Again, this is after a solid 30 minutes of idle time. Made a mental note and went about my day. Then today I drove it again (with only about a 30 second idle before driving), carefully watching it's behavior. This time I only waited until it hit the halfway mark (the same mark it dropped to yesterday) before cranking the heat. Even while driving 40mph in town with several red lights, it struggled to reach operating temperature even after 20 minutes of driving. The gauge also fluctuated quite a bit along the way (colder, hotter, colder again). By fluctuated, I mean dropping and rising 2-3 whole marks on the gauge. This is beyond excessive by any standard.
To be clear, there were no issues with the temperature of the air blowing out of the vents. Once the car reached a temperature warm enough to provide heat, it blew hot and remained consistent no matter what. The only pattern I could identify was that if I pressed the gas while in park, the gauge would fall moderately, and if idling it would fluctuate slightly.
I chalked it up to a bad thermostat. I did some research and discovered this is a common problem for this car. Many were even recalled. I'm not sure if mine is affected by the recall, and I'll be calling tomorrow to ask a dealer. It's some sort of strange proprietary thermostat that runs $219 even at the parts stores. All the research I did pointed toward a poor design, and there was no sign of a fix.
Does anyone else have this car with similar issues? Has anyone worked on one with these symptoms? Any advice? Thanks.
To be clear, there were no issues with the temperature of the air blowing out of the vents. Once the car reached a temperature warm enough to provide heat, it blew hot and remained consistent no matter what. The only pattern I could identify was that if I pressed the gas while in park, the gauge would fall moderately, and if idling it would fluctuate slightly.
I chalked it up to a bad thermostat. I did some research and discovered this is a common problem for this car. Many were even recalled. I'm not sure if mine is affected by the recall, and I'll be calling tomorrow to ask a dealer. It's some sort of strange proprietary thermostat that runs $219 even at the parts stores. All the research I did pointed toward a poor design, and there was no sign of a fix.
Does anyone else have this car with similar issues? Has anyone worked on one with these symptoms? Any advice? Thanks.
