Hyundai i40 - i40 On going clutch issue!

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Thu 31 Aug 2017 00:08
Hyundai i40 - i40 On going clutch issue! - David Buchan

Hi all, first post please be gentle!

Hoping for a bit of advice. Have been endured a horrible `sticky` gearbox for probably over a year now, it`s got to the point it is now so frustrating that I`ve asked my local garage to sort it out.
They`ve got back to me sayin they need to replace the clutch. I`m quite happy to try this but am a bit worried the problem will return at some point. Obviously don`t want to be paying for this repair only for it to fail again!

Anyone had any experience with this? I`d love for this repair to allow me to have a few years of happy motoring.

Cheers!

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Thu 31 Aug 2017 08:31
Hyundai i40 - i40 On going clutch issue! - badbusdriver

You don't say the age of the car, but I believe it should have a 5 year warranty?. So given that the i40 came out in 2012, isn't it still under warranty?. If so, using your local garage will invalidate the warranty, so you need to have it dealt with by a dealer.

I read the good/bad section of the honest John review on the i40, and there is a couple of mentions of clutch/gearchange issues, one of which, it appeared to imply that hyundai knew of a design flaw, and a 'fix' was in progress, but being held up by parts supply. Have a read and see if you think it, or any other problems mentioned, apply to your car.

As an aside though, a customer of mine (I am a window cleaner) had a catastrophic engine failure on their i40 (don't remember what engine), and how they were dealt with by the dealer put them right off hyundai's!.

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Mon 27 Nov 2017 21:17
Hyundai i40 - i40 On going clutch issue! - Greg Cz

Hi Dave,

yes the clutch in i40s are disaster, mine was done last year, today gone again, i know that facelift models did get completley redesigned gearbox and clutch but models before facelift got issues.

if u have warranty then it should be done from hyundai pocket

Edited by Greg Cz on 27/11/2017 at 21:18

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Mon 27 Nov 2017 21:29
Hyundai i40 - i40 On going clutch issue! - gordonbennet

Playing devils advocate for a moment, and bear in mind i've never even sat in a i40 let alone driven one.

The 1.7 engine in these is really quite a small unit for a large car, if its coupled with a high first gear then even if the driver thinks they are treating the clucth gently, its going to see some graft getting that car moving.

If this is part of the issue then the make and model is far from alone in this and many makes have similar issues and many owners of these modern cars are finding they are having early clutch failures where in previous car ownership this wasn't the case.

These modern Diesel engines have little useful torque until the turbo comes on stream, hence clutch being slipped involuntarily dozens and possibly hundreds of times a day.

I'm not criticising you understand, i spent many years driving car transporters so am well aware of this issue, some modern cars proving very difficult to load (including some high end 4x4's which needed to be set in low range if they had such a fitting) due to poor low engine rev torque and high first and reverse gears.

For those who have driven this car does this observation ring any bells?

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Mon 27 Nov 2017 22:11
Hyundai i40 - i40 On going clutch issue! - bazza

These modern Diesel engines have little useful torque until the turbo comes on stream, hence clutch being slipped involuntarily dozens and possibly hundreds of times a day.

This is so true, GB. And the same for the latest turbo petrols. There's a dead spot just above idle, where there is nothing at all until the turbo spools up a few hundred rpm later. Takes a bit of getting used to and like you say it's necessary to slip the clutch a bit more. I've noticed it on smaller TDs and particularly the 1.0 ecoboost petrol. This is one of those areas where an atmo engine is much more linear.

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Tue 28 Nov 2017 08:46
Hyundai i40 - i40 On going clutch issue! - Ian_SW

Another factor with the i40 is that the electronic parking brake doesn't release automatically (by design) when setting off. A lot of i40s spend their first 10000 miles as hire cars, and many people who get in them won't be aware of this so will cook the clutch a bit before realising. I've even seen the delivery drivers (who work for the hire company so should do better) do this twice on my driveway when picking them up. One guy did it to the point I could smell hot clutch!

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Tue 28 Nov 2017 08:47
Hyundai i40 - i40 On going clutch issue! - Ian_SW

Duplicate post.

Edited by Avant on 28/11/2017 at 23:52

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If you cover no more than 100 miles per day and have easy access to a charging point at home or work, then an EV is ideal for you.

Is an electric car right for me?