Hyunda i40 - Gearbox & Clutch Problems. | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Fri 27 Feb 2015 19:06

Hyunda i40 - Gearbox & Clutch Problems. - Bycro

Took delivery of a new Hyundai i40 last year. Not purchased, just leased as a company car. Almost 12 months old now but already covered nearly 30,000 miles mainly motorway.

I have concerns with the gearbox and clutch. When the mornings are very cold and icy the gearbox is very stiff, although when the engine reaches operating temperature this improves.Occasionally from a start it is difficult to select first gear. You also have to push the clutch right down into the floor to change through the gearbox. These problems seem to be getting worse now. A colleague who has the same car has had the same and took his to the local dealer in Leeds. They acknowledged that there was an issue and said they could do a temporary fix on the clutch until Hyundai can resolve this long term. He would receive a recall on the vehicle.

I contacted my local dealer in Stourbridge who were very helpful but were not aware of this temporary fix and I have booked the car in for further investigation. Out of curiosity I called Hyundai customer service who are not aware of this problem. Looking on various websites these appear to be common issues with this car yet Hyundai don't seem to want to acknowledge this unless you are lucky.

Anyone had the same problems or is anyone from Hyundai reading this that may like to comment ?

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Fri 6 Mar 2015 02:14

Hyunda i40 - Gearbox & Clutch Problems. - TopScot

I had the same issue on my first i40 And believe me Hyundai are very well aware of these problems to the point of hitting their heads against a brick wall when the see someone coming in with the same problem! and unless you talk to an honest person who puts you first before the company they will deny the problem is common!

The first thing u could try is changing the gearbox oil. However it sounds like you have a low bite point. These are the most common problems of the i40s faults and from what you have said, it sounds like the pressure plate, clutch, or master slave cylinder, perhaps all 3!

hyundai have made various modifications to the pressure plates since 2012 with none working! however, engineers in Korea have been working on the latest modifcation - no release date as yet has been mentioned.

Edited by Ciaran Taxi on 06/03/2015 at 02:16

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Sat 7 Mar 2015 18:05

Hyunda i40 - Gearbox & Clutch Problems. - Bycro

Thanks for the reply Ciaran Taxi.

This is pretty poor on a modern car. People do not expect these sorts of problems.

You say you had the same issue on your first i40, have you has another since then and not had any problems?

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Fri 10 Apr 2015 06:20

Hyunda i40 - Gearbox & Clutch Problems. - TopScot

My second i40 seems to be fine so far, the bite point is low, but that seems to be the way the i40's are? Gear changes are smooth so am not too concerned. Im currently at 23.5k. biggest tip i can give you is to change the gearbox oil every 20k.

To keep the DPF happy i change my engine oil every 10k (approx every 10 weeks)

Edited by Ciaran Taxi on 10/04/2015 at 06:24

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Sun 27 Mar 2016 18:23

Hyunda i40 - Gearbox & Clutch Problem - Affieman

My second i40 seems to be fine so far, the bite point is low, but that seems to be the way the i40's are? Gear changes are smooth so am not too concerned. Im currently at 23.5k. biggest tip i can give you is to change the gearbox oil every 20k.

To keep the DPF happy i change my engine oil every 10k (approx every 10 weeks)

This is not unusual nor unknown to Hyundai. I mentioned a slight problem at my 1st. 20 K service. They had it back for a warranty recall ( clutch damper) that resulted in worse 1st and 2 nd gear selection in the cold. The dealer had it back for a week to make linkage adjustments as instructed by Hyundai engineers. It came back better but still worse than the 20 K service time. It is worst below 6 or 7 degrees C. They know there is a problem but it probably needs a new gearbox. The 65 plate I 40 has a different box with different ratios etc. I am told they are not interchangeable. If you need a clue to what they know, read the owners manual carefully. It says there might be a slight difficulty when cold. There are 2 other new Hyundais in my family with silky smooth gearboxes just like any other car you care to mention. So far the carmaker seems to hope I will go away. They have made no comments to my written reports. Let me know when we need to let Watchdog know about this.

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Sun 27 Mar 2016 17:56

Hyunda i40 - Gearbox & Clutch Problems. - Affieman

This is not unusual nor unknown to Hyundai. I mentioned a slight problem at my 1st 220 K service. They had it back for a warranty recall ( clutch damper) that resulted in worse 1st and 2 nd gear selection in the cold. The dealer had it back for a week to make linkage adjustments as instructed by Hyundai engineers. It came back better but still worse than the 20 K service time. It is worst below 6 or 7 degrees C. They know there is a problem but it needs a new gearbox which they don't want to pay for. Three 65 plate I 40 has a different box with different ratios etc. I am told they are not interchangeable. If you need a clue to what they know, read the owners manual carefully. It says there might be a slight difficulty when cold. There are 2 other new Hyundais in my family with silky smooth gearboxes just like Ford, Vauxhall or any other car you care to mention. So far the carmaker seems to hope I will go away. They have made not comments to my written reports.
Let me know when we need to let Watchdog know about this.

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Sun 27 Mar 2016 19:29

Hyunda i40 - Gearbox & Clutch Problems. - daveyK_UK

Hyundai / Kia have always had problems with various gear boxes and clutches.

The 2nd gen hyundai accent/kia rio to the old shape i10 and i40/kia optima are a few that spring to mind, hyundai have form for design faults and totally ignoring customer complaints.

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Sun 27 Mar 2016 19:48

Hyunda i40 - Gearbox & Clutch Problems. - KB.

Hyundai / Kia have always had problems with various gear boxes and clutches.

The 2nd gen hyundai accent/kia rio to the old shape i10 and i40/kia optima are a few that spring to mind, hyundai have form for design faults and totally ignoring customer complaints.

I try to find love for Hyundai. I have one after all...

But I can't understand why they have such trouble with clutches...and to a lesser extent...gearboxes. They MUST know about it. They can't NOT know about it. We all KNOW they know about it. But they seem to want to deny it. Or call it a "characteristic" - boy does that annoy me! That's pretty much why I bought an automatic Hyundai i10 last time...at least it hasn't got a clutch! The first one was (eventually and reluctantly) acknowledged as faulty (after a handful of miles) and was replaced whereupon I got shot of it. The trouble with this one is it does like a drink. Never more than 32 mpg...ever!

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Mon 4 Apr 2016 00:08

Hyunda i40 - Gearbox & Clutch Problems. - Bycro

Hi all,

I am pleased to report I have had no further problems with the clutch or gearbox on my i40 since my Original post.

A modification was carried out to the clutch in February 2015. The car has just covered 62,000 miles. Mainly motorway, but no further issues with this or anything else whatsoever since this was done.

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Sat 28 Jan 2017 15:06

Hyunda i40 - Gearbox & Clutch Problems. - TopScot

Happy to report all good with my i40 -still on original clutch and flywheel after 103k.

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Sat 28 Jan 2017 16:43

Hyunda i40 - Gearbox & Clutch Problems. - Avant

Many thanks for that. Hopefully that means that Hyundai have nailed the problem....unless of course anyone knows differently.

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Sat 28 Jan 2017 17:12

Hyunda i40 - Gearbox & Clutch Problems. - KB.

No, I must admit I wasn't aware that it was ongoing. Wouldn't it be good if they really had cracked it.

I still have the same automatic i10, now over five yrs old. Low mileage and uneventful, fortunately. The gearbox is very 'old school' but is OK. The mpg remains at 32mpg.

The car can only be worth buttons now so might as well hang on until something catches the eye... or it gives up the ghost - which seems unlikely.

I wouldb still hesitate to buy a manual Hyundai though... but that's mainly due to the fondness of automatics.

Speaking of which my Skoda DSG STILL hasn't exploded despite all the naysayers here and elsewhere (and there are plenty of them).

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Wed 8 Feb 2017 13:27

Hyunda i40 - Gearbox & Clutch Problems. - Marc Auckland

Sad to say Hyundai have not cracked it. had my i40 3 years now, very pleased with it.....apart from gear change especially in the lower gears. Between two local Hyundai dealers, it has been in several times, last time they had it for 24 days. Clutch has been rebuilt and replaced and this time they took the gearbox apart and rebuitl it twice with problems getting gears to mesh. Both garages have been great to deal with and tried thier best. The pool cars' not i40s, have had great gear changes! Still have trouble with 1st in particular trying to force it into gear with foot rammed to the floor. I have raised with Hyundai uk, no joy, saying no problem! Shame car is great apart from worst gear change I have ever had and that includes, ladas Skodas and Polski Fiat when I was just married in the early 80's!

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Wed 8 Feb 2017 15:49

Hyunda i40 - Gearbox & Clutch Problems. - KB.

Ahhh... this all brings back such happy memories of doing battles with Hyundai's "Customer Service".

I had the pleasure of dealing with a certain Ms. Campbell at the time (who remains in my recollection following her advice that all my problems were "characteristics of the car"

uk.linkedin.com/in/carole-campbell-7bb2a3a

She might not work there now... the last I could see referred to April 2015. But at athat time the job description appeared to be along the lines...

RAC corporate contact centre manager (as we know, RAC and Hyundai are closely associated).

April 2015 – Present (1 year 11 months)

• Proactively assess current contact centre set up and recommend areas of opportunity/change to improve customer experience both b2b and b2c
• Propose/implement requirements to ensure services reflect the needs of today’s customer
• Support and contribute to proposition development team
• Meet all budgetary/financial requirements
• Develop the strategic direction of the outsourced customer service centres
• Take operational ownership of the customer contact centres – both KPI and experiential measures
• Be the expert in customer experience including multi-channel services, customer satisfaction and emerging customer trends
• Identify/share insights that lead to process improvements and longer term planning for our corporate customer service customers.

So judging from that I think we're all mistaken and the service we should be receiving ought to be exemplary.

I just can't believe that they haven't sorted it out after all this time.

It's about seven years ago that I started to have dealings with them and from what you blokes are saying, not much has changed.

Edited by KB. on 08/02/2017 at 15:54

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