2008 Hyundai Santa Fe Electrical System Problems
- 58
- Owner complaint records in our dataset
Records are owner complaints, not a measured failure rate.
Owner complaint recordsComplaint records reflect reports in our dataset and do not measure how frequently the problem occurs across all vehicles.
Among these 58 stored complaint records:
- 0 indicate a crash
- 1 indicate injury
- 3 indicate fire
What owners report
- check engine · 23 records
- fuel gauge · 22 records
- engine light · 21 records
- valve cover · 10 records
- fuel tank · 7 records
- cover gasket · 7 records
Mileage in stored records
| Band | Records |
|---|---|
| 60–100k mi | 21 |
| 100–150k mi | 16 |
| 30–60k mi | 10 |
| 1–30k mi | 5 |
| 150–400k mi | 3 |
Complaint records
Owner-submitted complaint content, presented as stored.
Electrical System · Engine · Service Brakes
When driving and you hit the breaks, the vehicle attempts to stall, or if you use the high or low breams the radio shuts off and the gps turns on or you loses it all, while on high way way if you use your high or low beams the engine starts to stall then keeps going causing the vehicle behind you have to break quickly to avoid hitting you as you loose all power for a matter of seconds this happen while moving or…
ODI 10837613
Electrical System · Fuel/Propulsion System
2008 hyundai santa fe, 78k miles. Fuel gage reading starting bouncing around. Showed half full on a freshly filled tank. Eventually check engine light came on. Error code p0464 (fuel level sensor 'a' electrical circuit was intermittent for a predetermined period of time.). Fuel sensors required replacement. An inaccurate fuel reading is a safety concern, just like any other issue that can lead to unexpected vehicle…
ODI 10811453
Electrical System · Engine · Unknown Or Other
Fuel gauge has been faulty and check engine light would turn on and off after replacing what i thought was a bad battery one month ago. One week ago while driving, all lights on dashboard came on (battery, check engine, abs, esc...), engine started to rev, electrical and power steering failed, and car had to be turned off in the middle of the road and towed home. This has happened twice while driving now. Issue is…
ODI 10776084
Electrical System · Fuel/Propulsion System
When the gas tank is less than half full, the fuel gauge displays tank as nearly empty and the amber low fuel light appears. The check engine warning light also comes on. The fuel gauge swings back up to nearly half full, drops down to 1/4 full, then drops down to almost empty, then swing back to half full. About 3 months after this problem started, the fuel gauge remains near empty with the amber low fuel light…
ODI 10785212
Electrical System · Service Brakes · Steering
I lost power steering and power brakes while stopped at a stop sign going up a very steep grade. I was unable to shift into park so that i could turn my car off. I had to lay on the brake with all my weight to keep from rolling backwards into cars behind me. There were no warning lights. After a minute, which felt like much longer, i was able to shift to park and turn my car off and back on. The second time i lost…
ODI 10763932
Electrical System · Fuel System, Gasoline
My gas gauge stopped working correctly, going up and down but never passing one half a tank and the check engine light remains on all the time. The mechanic said the seats would need to be taken out to get to the sensor, that it was probably bad and would need a new one. I tried to estimate how much gas i had in the tank by using the odometer and resetting at 0 for a gas fillup till i got the car in for service. The…
ODI 10715139
Electrical System
I filled up the tank and the gas gauge level read empty. Continued and has been on empty. Sometimes it will rise gradually to correct level. And when you turn off engine then it goes back to empty. I find this to be dangerous because i don't know if the car will stop. I have read many others that have had the same problem. A recall is in order to correct this problem for the safety of all. *tr
ODI 10694371
Electrical System
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 hyundai santa fe. The contact stated that all the warning lights illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was not able to be restarted. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that gasket leaked oil into the alternator and the alternator needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 82,000. The vin was not…
ODI 10689709
Electrical System
Leaking oil from front valve cover and causing alternator to fail, just like all the other santa fe and varacruz. *tr
ODI 10662150
Electrical System · Engine
After engine start and while driving any speed the battery light and seatbelt light on the dashboard flashes intermittently. I searched this online and it looks to be an electrical charging issue, namely the alternator is bad. I searched more and found the reason for this is the front valve cover is leaking oil and dripping onto the alternator causing it to malfunction. A recall has been made ( #121) on the 07-12…
ODI 10661468
Electrical System
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 hyundai santa fe. The contact stated while driving 25 mph, the vehicle started to drive abnormally rough. The contact merged the vehicle to the emergency lane and shut the engine off. After multiple attempts, the vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for a diagnosis. The technician observed that there was an oil leak from the front cylinder bank valve cover gasket…
ODI 10637115
Electrical System · Engine · Power Train
While driving on i-95, the charging system warning light came on followed by a loss of engine power and then engine stopped completely. Was able to safely make it to the road side. Dealer diagnosed a defective valve cover gasket allowed oil to leak which dripped on and into the alternator causing it to fail. Second identical failure on vehicle in two years. V-6, automatic, 2wd. Found manufacturer just issued a…
ODI 10626534
Electrical System · Engine · Fuel/Propulsion System
Safety issue: failure of the fuel sending unit permanently turns on the "check engine light" which denies the use of the "check engine light" for other serious conditions. Many consumers have previously reported the failure of the fuel sending unit. These units cost between $800 to $1200 to fix so most drivers do not fix it and instead use the odometer reading to determine when fuel is needed. Unfortunately, driving…
ODI 10734012
Electrical System · Fuel/Propulsion System
The fuel sensor on my 2008 santa fe is malfunctioning and not reporting the actual level of fuel in the tank. It is also causing the empty fuel indicator and the check engine light to stay lit all the time, so not only do i have to manually measure my fuel usage by miles driven, i also have no idea of any potential engine problems since that light/warning system has effectively been rendered useless. Hyundai…
ODI 10644351
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting · Visibility/Wiper
The dash lights started flashing, the wipers stopped working in the middle of a down pour, the lights went dim. The traction system started detuning the engine. All dash lights on. We find that it is a leaky value cover gasket. Drips on the alternator and causes it to go bad. The service manager said "they are all starting to have this problem and it's $700.00. If i was the orginal owner hyundai would replace the…
ODI 10606207
Electrical System
I was driving approx 30 mph on a straight roadway when all electrical seized. Power steering, brakes, ect....i had to pull over and had my 17 month old son in the vehicle with me. I had to put my emergency lights on and find a safe place to pull over. If this would have happened on a highway, we most likely would have had an accident. This is an urgent safety issue!! We brought our vehicle to our local hyundai…
ODI 10606187
Electrical System · Fuel System, Gasoline · Power Train
The santa fe gas gauge behaves erratically! As you drive, the fuel indicator needle moves up and down so that you do not know accurately how much fuel remains in the gas tank. The needle may also indicate a very low fuel level by illuminating the "low fuel" warning light on the dashboard as well. The problem appears to be getting worse as drive time goes on as the needle movements increase the longer time the suv is…
ODI 10585381
Electrical System
Car parked in parking lot at my office. No one in vechile. Parked for several hours. Spontaneously burst into flames...apppeared to be electrical box at rear of car for hitch. *tr
Fire reported
ODI 10576356
Electrical System · Fuel System, Gasoline
The fuel gauge on dash has begun fluctuating wildly even with full tank of gas. No check engine light yet but based on what i have read i am anticipating a problem code coming soon. My research is pointing to the fuel level sensor attached to the fuel pump. However, only the whole assembly appears to be available and as such, it is highly costly to correct. Hyundai should provide a recall for this due to the huge…
ODI 10556933
Electrical System · Engine · Steering
Front valve cover gasket keep leaking oil on to the alternator causing the alternator to go out . The second time it happen the core of the alternator burned .i have replace the alternator 3 times and valve cover gasket twice. Hyundai have a recall on the veracruz for this some issues but will not recall the santa fe for this issues .
ODI 10743767
Electrical System
The sensor for the gas tank went bad, in our opinion, prematurely. Went online to research the issue, and learned that this is a common problem with santa fes, even those newer than ours. Impact: when the sensor fails, the fuel gauge displays 'empty' no matter what amount of fuel is in the tank, rendering the fuel gauge totally unreliable to the driver. The car could run out of gas anywhere-- for example, on a…
ODI 10535058
Air Bags · Electrical System
I took my vehicle to the dealership to perform two recalls: (1) stop lamp switch and (2) pods recalibration. I was informed the air bag light in the dashboard had come on and stayed on after the recalibration of the pods. I never had an issue with the pods system or an air warning light in the dash prior to the recall. I was told hyundai would pay to either replace the passenger front seat belt tensioner or the…
ODI 10583675
Electrical System · Fuel/Propulsion System
The fuel gauge on our '08 hyundai sante fe has recently become erratic. It fluctuates widely (25-50%) over the course of a few minutes with the check engine and low fuel indicators also periodically lighting. It has become so unreliable that we are now relying on the odometer readings to estimate fuel levels. Searching the internet, this appears to be a very common problem with this vehicle and relates to weak pins…
ODI 10496350
Electrical System · Fuel/Propulsion System
I turned on the car and noticed that the gas gauge was showing empty and the engine light was on - i had just filled the tank up that morning so i knew i had plenty of gas. The range indicator was just dashes -not numeric as it should be. The gauge then would rise up and the range would change and then it would go down and the range would change - this continually happened. I went to my mechanic and he said to zero…
ODI 10494792
Air Conditioner · Electrical System
Fan keeps going on and off. Dealer said there is a "short in the a/c control head". *tr
ODI 10494735