Ok, to make a long story short. My check engine light came on after i filled up (it usually does this because of some censor malfunction) ok.... so i continue driving, and then notice steam coming from my hood. I immediately pull over and have the car towed to the closest auto shop.

Diagnosis: Melted Radiator, 1 busted head gasket that all need replaced.

Cost: 2300 bux

Ok, so I was like, why wasn't this covered under the powertrain warranty (im at 91K miles) and he said because I didnt have the thermostat replaced at 60K that it couldn't be submitted under the warranty? Is he full of crap or is that right? I thought it was just SUGGESTED maintenance?

Well, I don't see anything in the maintenance intervals about the thermostat. Even if it is there, it probably recommends you inspect it every so often.

However, I'm almost certain the radiator and thermostat are not covered under the powertrain warranty. It mostly covers the engine and tranny, and even there it only covers major components, not other things like clutches, spark plugs, etc. I'm not sure about the head gasket, but since it was caused by overheating you may be out of luck as far as the warranty goes. The thermostat excuse sounds bogus though, but if the cause of all the problems is the thermostat then I could see how they would say they can't cover it.

On a side note, I don't see how a faulty thermostat would cause the radiator to melt. If the thermostat isn't opening then the coolant would be stuck in the engine block and continue to heat up, it wouldn't be released back into the radiator at all. It seems to me that the radiator would be full of cold coolant still if it isn't circulating.

Thank you very much for your relpy. I have opened up a ticket with Hyundai and am waiting to hear back from them.

I'm not too concerned about paying for a radiator as I am the headgaskets and the heads.

They are charging 64 bux a piece for the headgaskets, 13 hours of labor totalling to 1,333.

3,000 if the heads are blown.

HEY VPXDEMON - I AGREE WITH YOU! WHY ISN'T THIS COVERED? THE SAME @#^&%$@#*^& THING HAPPENED TO ME EXCEPT MY ENGINE LIGHT NEVER CAME ON!! I'M DRIVING ALONG - SMOKE FROM THE ENGINE - CAR STALLS - NOTHING MORE. AFTER I HAD IT TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP WHERE I BOUGHT IT, THEY SAID THE THEMOSTAT WENT 'BAD' AND CAUSED THE ENGINE TO OVER HEAT. BOTTOM LINE; $3K TO REPLACE THE BLOWN THE HEAD GASKET & MELTED RADIATOR. SINCE I HAVE 90,XXX MILES ON IT...I HEARD, "SORRY, NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT". WTF! SOUNDS LIKE THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE TYPE OF FAULTY THEMOSTATS HYUNDAI IS USING...ANY LAWYERS OUT THERE???? HOW ABOUT A RECALL & COMPENSATION???????