NHTSA Complaint #11423258 — 2012 HYUNDAI SONATA

This safety issue affects Hyundai Sonatas with a turbo. The vehicle loses acceleration. The engine will rev with the tachometer functioning properly, but the vehicle speed does not increase accordingly. This is a safety issue because drivers could cause accidents when merging into traffic, changing lanes, or clearing an intersection. This issue may be related to my engine being replaced by Hyundai as part of a recall since it happened within a week of receiving the new engine. What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? -- The problem is related to the wastegate actuator and/or sensor. The ECU/ECM seems to disable the turbo in the vehicle. Stopping and restarting the vehicle (rebooting) eliminates the problem until the vehicle is parked/off for at least nine (9) hours. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? - See introduction above. When accelerating from a stop, the vehicle's acceleration stalls at about 20-23 MPH, even with the tachometer reaching 7,000 RPMs. While driving above 30 MPH, the vehicle is very slow to accelerate so merging onto any highways or changing lanes is a high-risk maneuver. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? -- Yes. They first tried to replace the turbo boost sensor but that did not eliminate the problem. Hyundai Sonata owners have reported this problem since 2012. "Wastegate actuator sensor". Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? -- Yes, the vehicle has been inspected by a manufacturer dealer service center. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? -- No. The warning lamp does not activate on a regular basis with this issue. The warning lamp does appear approximately 10% of the time but again, rebooting the vehicle removes the warning lamp.