Hyundai Accent 1998 Engine Trouble?

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Flowerhat

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Summary:

I recently bought a Hyundai Accent 1998
Odometer reads at 168 000 km

From the owner I learned that it was mostly only driven short distances
I believe this coupled with the fact that it had missed a lot of Oil changes, may have resulted in carbonisation inside the engine compartment.


I have a couple of problems and I was hoping there are members here who can help me with some guidance on the best sollution for these problems.

1. Vehicle producing a lot of smoke
The car creates huge amounts of smoke when starting & driving the vehicle. I do not know how bad the smoke is while driving, but after returning home at night everyone chokes on the exhaust fumes.

2. Consumes a lot of Oil
I filled up with oil when I left from Pretoria and when I arrived at Bloemfontein the engine was half full (positive eh?) There is no leakage of oil from below the vehicle.

3. Low on power
Vehicle does not have a lot of power, struggles a lot to get up and over a hill..
This situation is slightly better after we replaced the clogged up sparkplug (read below)

4. Vehicle shakes when driving
Whenever I go from 3rd to 4th gear the vehicle starts to shake excessively, after replacing a clogged up sparkplug this problem was mostly resolved.




The mechanic gave me 2 sollutions regarding the smoke:

(A) Clean engine using engline flush

The mechanic had me excited when he said the smoke can be from various things, he mentioned the gunk that has collected on the inside of the engine because of its skipped oil changes.

He mentioned that by removing the said gunk I could also help resolve the excessive smoking problem. However, the plan he had was to use Engine Flush (Oil Flush) to clean out the dirt from the engine.

I am always sceptical of any advice, so I did some research on the internet myself.
What I found out was that engine flush is a risky thing to put in your engine.
People's opinions vary greatly on the safety and efficiency of using engine flush to remove carbonisation.

Some claim that engine flush will loosen carbonised debri from the engine but deposit it in other places of the engine where it wouldn't be removed even after doing the mandatory oil change afterwards.

This left over mixture of carbonised debris may lead to clogged up pipes and resulting in engine damage.


(B) Open engine and do ring service (and clean engine carbonisation)

I am leaning towards this option. I doubt if my timing belt has ever been replaced, so perhaps it is a good idea to let the ring service be done and get it over with.


What are your opinions on cleaning a messy engine such as mine, should I let the mechanic do a ring service + clean the engine, or should I first try the engine flush even though so many people vote against it?

Thanks
 
Last edited:
Sound like you are burning oil. So look at the rings & pistons. Is your coolant fine, not milky?

You can try option A but I don't think it will help much seeing you are losing oil. I would go with option B.
 
Have you done a compression test yet?

Checked your air-fuel mixture? It can also be too rich.

A rich air-fuel mixture will also cause carbonization and poor performance.

It might also be leaking valve stem seals.

So... do the compression test first with a cold engine. If the compression is 100% then your problem is leaking valve stem seals - and only necessitate the removal of the cylinder head top for refurbishment.

If compression test fail, then you'll need to do the ring service. Do the valve stem seals at the same time while the engine is open - otherwise you'll have to replace these later.


But, seeing that you've mentioned that the car uses oil - it most probably will be piston rings.
 
Flowerhat said:
Summary:

I recently bought a Hyundai Accent 1998
Odometer reads at 168 000 km

From the owner I learned that it was mostly only driven short distances
I believe this coupled with the fact that it had missed a lot of Oil changes, may have resulted in carbonisation inside the engine compartment.


I have a couple of problems and I was hoping there are members here who can help me with some guidance on the best sollution for these problems.

1. Vehicle producing a lot of smoke
The car creates huge amounts of smoke when starting & driving the vehicle. I do not know how bad the smoke is while driving, but after returning home at night everyone chokes on the exhaust fumes.

2. Consumes a lot of Oil
I filled up with oil when I left from Pretoria and when I arrived at Bloemfontein the engine was half full (positive eh?) There is no leakage of oil from below the vehicle.

3. Low on power
Vehicle does not have a lot of power, struggles a lot to get up and over a hill..
This situation is slightly better after we replaced the clogged up sparkplug (read below)

4. Vehicle shakes when driving
Whenever I go from 3rd to 4th gear the vehicle starts to shake excessively, after replacing a clogged up sparkplug this problem was mostly resolved.




The mechanic gave me 2 sollutions regarding the smoke:

(A) Clean engine using engline flush

The mechanic had me excited when he said the smoke can be from various things, he mentioned the gunk that has collected on the inside of the engine because of its skipped oil changes.

He mentioned that by removing the said gunk I could also help resolve the excessive smoking problem. However, the plan he had was to use Engine Flush (Oil Flush) to clean out the dirt from the engine.

I am always sceptical of any advice, so I did some research on the internet myself.
What I found out was that engine flush is a risky thing to put in your engine.
People's opinions vary greatly on the safety and efficiency of using engine flush to remove carbonisation.

Some claim that engine flush will loosen carbonised debri from the engine but deposit it in other places of the engine where it wouldn't be removed even after doing the mandatory oil change afterwards.

This left over mixture of carbonised debris may lead to clogged up pipes and resulting in engine damage.


(B) Open engine and do ring service (and clean engine carbonisation)

I am leaning towards this option. I doubt if my timing belt has ever been replaced, so perhaps it is a good idea to let the ring service be done and get it over with.


What are your opinions on cleaning a messy engine such as mine, should I let the mechanic do a ring service + clean the engine, or should I first try the engine flush even though so many people vote against it?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Problem:

You have a busted piston ring or numerous piston rings.

You need to have the rings replaced, depending on the damage to teh sleeve you might need the sleeves redone and buy new pistons.

Maybe it didn't climb off but just wore out. Then just 4 new piston ring sets and you're sorted.
 
Pitbull said:
Problem:

You have a busted piston ring or numerous piston rings.

You need to have the rings replaced, depending on the damage to teh sleeve you might need the sleeves redone and buy new pistons.

Maybe it didn't climb off but just wore out. Then just 4 new piston ring sets and you're sorted.
Click to expand...

Hello,

Thank you all for your contributions to resolving my problem.

Can I ask for your views on buying the rings etc. ?


I heard people talking about pirate parts.
Is it safe to use in a case like this, how do I know when someone is selling me pirate parts?

What should these items normally cost?

Thanks
 
If I may chime in...

The fact that your car is smoking copiously, losing power and using oil in my view almost guarantees that you're dealing with borked rings at the very least. Ring sets shouldn't be expensive. It is however a BIG job to replace them, so the larger portion of the cost would be labour related.

I'd also strongly advise you to steer clear of anything but genuine parts in this instance. Think about how an engine works: those little rings have to contain the explosions that produce enough power to hurtle a 1.3 ton chunk of metal to 160km/h and beyond. You do not want some shoddy bit of Fong-Kong carp giving out on you two months after the job was done. If you're unsure about the cambelt, have it replaced at the same time.

At least find out from a Hyundai dealer what the cambelt and rings will cost you. Then find a decent independent mechanic to do the job. As far as I know - but I'm open to correction - the Hyundai 4 cylinders don't use timing chains, and they're what's known as 'interference engines'. Meaning, if the belt goes the pistons and valves WILL meet at ungodly speeds and you'll have a wrecked motor.
 
Hey, I know a place that sells genuine parts for a lot cheaper than the agents, Heres their number 011) 334 0764
 
Flowerhat said:
Hello,

Thank you all for your contributions to resolving my problem.

Can I ask for your views on buying the rings etc. ?


I heard people talking about pirate parts.
Is it safe to use in a case like this, how do I know when someone is selling me pirate parts?

What should these items normally cost?

Thanks
Click to expand...

HapticSimian said:
If I may chime in...

The fact that your car is smoking copiously, losing power and using oil in my view almost guarantees that you're dealing with borked rings at the very least. Ring sets shouldn't be expensive. It is however a BIG job to replace them, so the larger portion of the cost would be labour related.

I'd also strongly advise you to steer clear of anything but genuine parts in this instance. Think about how an engine works: those little rings have to contain the explosions that produce enough power to hurtle a 1.3 ton chunk of metal to 160km/h and beyond. You do not want some shoddy bit of Fong-Kong carp giving out on you two months after the job was done. If you're unsure about the cambelt, have it replaced at the same time.

At least find out from a Hyundai dealer what the cambelt and rings will cost you. Then find a decent independent mechanic to do the job. As far as I know - but I'm open to correction - the Hyundai 4 cylinders don't use timing chains, and they're what's known as 'interference engines'. Meaning, if the belt goes the pistons and valves WILL meet at ungodly speeds and you'll have a wrecked motor.
Click to expand...

I fully agree with HapticSimian,

Rather get reputable parts instead of so cheap ass makes. Pirate parts just means it's not original. But if your sleeves needs to be redone you won't get standard rings to work anyway. They will have to bore the sleeve making it slightly bigger than a 1.6. If that is done, it means new pistons and rings. Still not a train smash but the labour will be insanely high as it's allot of detail that needs to be done.

Your other option is to buy an imported engine. That you can put in yourself in a day maybe 2 and the engines normally have a 1month guarantee. So put it in and drive it. If it's working fine, no smoke and runs smooth, then it will cost you another day getting the clearance done and putting that engine number on your vehicle papers.

In my opinion:

Have someone take out the engine and take out the pistons. If the sleeves are borked you have the engine out already and just buy an import one and put it in. If the sleeves are fine, buy a reputable set of piston rings and have him put it in. Then put the engine back. It's not a very difficult thing to do you can do it yourself with very limited knowledge. The problem would be getting it started without breaking it as you will have to have the timing done once the engine is back in.

So if you don't know how to do it, get a mate to help you with the timing and taking out/putting in the engine. The pistons you can take out/put in yourself by removing it via the sump at the bottom. Take out the crank after unscrewing the conrods and you should be able to slip the pistons out one by one from the bottom.
 
Pitbull said:
I fully agree with HapticSimian,

Rather get reputable parts instead of so cheap ass makes. Pirate parts just means it's not original. But if your sleeves needs to be redone you won't get standard rings to work anyway. They will have to bore the sleeve making it slightly bigger than a 1.6. If that is done, it means new pistons and rings. Still not a train smash but the labour will be insanely high as it's allot of detail that needs to be done.

Your other option is to buy an imported engine. That you can put in yourself in a day maybe 2 and the engines normally have a 1month guarantee. So put it in and drive it. If it's working fine, no smoke and runs smooth, then it will cost you another day getting the clearance done and putting that engine number on your vehicle papers.

In my opinion:

Have someone take out the engine and take out the pistons. If the sleeves are borked you have the engine out already and just buy an import one and put it in. If the sleeves are fine, buy a reputable set of piston rings and have him put it in. Then put the engine back. It's not a very difficult thing to do you can do it yourself with very limited knowledge. The problem would be getting it started without breaking it as you will have to have the timing done once the engine is back in.

So if you don't know how to do it, get a mate to help you with the timing and taking out/putting in the engine. The pistons you can take out/put in yourself by removing it via the sump at the bottom. Take out the crank after unscrewing the conrods and you should be able to slip the pistons out one by one from the bottom.
Click to expand...

Hello,

So I have started considering doing over my whole engine because of the broken rings and the carbonized engine I have thanks to its skipped oil changes.

What I can't understand is, why am I doing over a perfectly well kept engine that has only seen 170 000 km?
I never would have though cars engines only last 170 000 km :\

What is the best idea for long term stability, install secondhand imported engine (perhaps new?) or do I redo the engine with quality parts?

Is it really necessary to redo the whole engine?
So many different opinions around, I don't know who to trust.

My mechanic friend advised me as you just did (check sleeves, and just redo rings if sleeves are ok)
Do I really need to buy my stuff from Hyundai dealer, how do I know the stuff is even hyundai branded and not just some overly expensive generic brand?

I didn't know that you needed special tools to fit the timing belt.

What should I consider a good price on labour for a backyard mechanic that will be doing this.

Cheers
 
Last edited:
Yep rings IMO, do a wet and dry compression test.

I am assuming you have the 150csi?
 
The pistons & rings in many cars are usually manufactured by a 3rd party. Local piston manufacturer kolbenco made pistons for mercedes at one stage.
There are some good brands like wiseco, je, mahle etc. Some of these brands are actually better than the OEM products found in your car.
 
ponder said:
The pistons & rings in many cars are usually manufactured by a 3rd party. Local piston manufacturer kolbenco made pistons for mercedes at one stage.
There are some good brands like wiseco, je, mahle etc. Some of these brands are actually better than the OEM products found in your car.
Click to expand...

great thanks. None of the dealers i phoned thus far included a brand name on their invoices.. Which suppliers should i try for these name brand items?
 
"What I can't understand is, why am I doing over a perfectly well kept engine that has only seen 170 000 km?
I never would have though cars engines only last 170 000 km :\"


If the previous owner skipped services and oil changes, then he/she did not really look after the car, so it's probably had a hard life. Numerous skipped oil changes = careless owner. For engine repairs and overhauls, I strongly believe in word of mouth. Ask for references and recommendations from friends and colleagues. If the workshop is reputable, they'll use quality parts and guarantee their work, but you can ask them what parts they use.
 
do you guys think its safe to drive 600km round trip with this engine?

Also, i have discovered 2 holes in my radiator which i subsiquently patched up with pratley steel. How long will this mix hold up?

Can anyone here give me a tip on how to prepare my radiator before adding antifreeze?

Thanks for any replies
 
Flowerhat said:
do you guys think its safe to drive 600km round trip with this engine?

Also, i have discovered 2 holes in my radiator which i subsiquently patched up with pratley steel. How long will this mix hold up?

Can anyone here give me a tip on how to prepare my radiator before adding antifreeze?

Thanks for any replies
Click to expand...

Dude don't.
 
Hello,

Thank you very much for all your advice and input.

To recap my list of engine woes

+Uses lot of oil
+Produced excessive smoke (starting & driving)
+Little / No power, max 60-70km uphill - 1300 engine


I discovered that the light brown sludge on my engine cap was actually water!!

There also apears to be oil in my radiator (Brown sludge on the radiator cap)

Mechanics advised me that I am looking at a bust head gasket.


I was saving up to 8000 Rand for a qualified mechanic to redo my whole engine.

Came last weekend, my good uncle was here visiting. We started chatting about my engine, him knowing a lot about cars convinced me to allow him to take a look, before redoing the whole engine.


Once we opened the engine (What an adventure it was for me) my uncle told me that my engine looks completely healthy, showed me the piston sockets that were perfectly smooth on the inside.

He was certain that the problem lies in the engine head and took it to be skimmed, also bought a new head gasket.

After he returned from the engine workshop, they said there were no problems found on the top or the top gasket..

I was stumped..


My uncle advised me that one remaining cause for these symptoms could be that the rings may not have been fitted correctly. Another mechanic corroborated this theory telling about the grooves that might not be properly aligned allowing oil to push past the rings.



Question time:

I still believe there should have been something wrong with the head gasket, could the inspectors have missed something? How else does the water get into my engine??

I hear from mechanics that its important to :

Replace the big end bearings every time the rings are replaced
Replace the head screws every time the top is replaced (and re Torqued after 5000 km)

My uncle says he will install new rings using my old bearings. Is this safe?

Your advice will be greatly appreciated!
 
Last edited:
you might as well replace the bearings while the head is off so yes.

you can replace the head screws they arent that much but imo not completely necessary. and retorque after 500km from what i heard
 
D3x! said:
you might as well replace the bearings while the head is off so yes.

you can replace the head screws they arent that much but imo not completely necessary. and retorque after 500km from what i heard
Click to expand...

Thanks for your advice
 
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