Common problems after tuning?

[Stew]

Hey all,

New to the forum and the Sonic RS from the Veloster Turbo community.

Had multiple problems including a blown engine (threw rod out of cylinder 1) and turbo replaced under warranty, but had misfire issues after being replaced so decided to bow out before another detonated motor.

Glad to see that there is a lot more aftermarket support and even REMOTE tuning for these cars. We had to do ECU bench tunes and have a spare available if we wanted to avoid detection at the dealer level. I still find it hard to believe that I can't find anybody posting about their tune being detected over here.

Also glad to see little evidence of blown motors with this car. The 2013 VT was so notorious for blowing motors, we had an entire thread on velosterturbo.org and a thread entitled "2013 survivors" lol.

Blown engines...

2013 Veloster Survivors!

I was wondering, what kinds of issues do we see most frequently on the tuned Sonics?

Even stock on the VT, we were seeing torn BPV diaphragms, bad coilpacks, broken spark plugs, bad BPV solenoids, bad injectors, all of which contributed to misfiring and the engines blowing up.

This seems like a relatively safe platform from the searching I did, but just want to see what the consensus is before tuning. I'm not going to go super high boost or fully built either.

Probably just tune and exhaust TBH.

I was reading some of that thread on blown engines and wow. That is a lot of carnage. I can't think of one instance of someone grenading their engine here and there are a LOT of tuned Sonics, most pushing around 22 psi. There have been a couple (two for sure that I know of) head gasket issues come up but nothing like the kind of problems you were seeing over on the Hyundai forum.

Like cndctrdj said, the biggest problems around this forum after tuning is wearing out your front tires faster, you can't seem to keep your foot off the floor, maybe more speeding tickets if you're not careful... that sort of stuff.

Edit: Oh yeah, also as JesusTheAgnostic mentioned our Sonic's have a plastic intake manifold and some (mine included) are splitting at the plastic weld joint. I'm sure this is mostly a problem with the tuned cars with higher boost but I believe a couple of stock Sonics are seeing this as well. Fortunately it's a 30 minute job to replace the intake manifold yourself.

 

[JesusTheAgnostic]

Oh my god! You mentioned me I am literally super excited! About that 30 minute job to replace the intake manifold. You wouldn't happen to have any instructions on that would you? I have reason to believe that little orange ball inside the intake manifold might have gone bye bye on my car today. Oh also I don't remember the rest of the thread but don't forget the little orange ball could blow away and have you puffing blue smoke!

 

[Stew]

Lol, I always try to give credit where due!

The instructions are part of the stickied thread on porting your intake

http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/do-yourself-articles/4410-porting-intake-manifold.html

 

[JesusTheAgnostic]

Great! Now I just need to check my local junkyard. I hope somebody with a 1.4 around here wrecked it and no one has taken the intake manifold!

 

[mja]

To the OP - the only universal problem I can think of directly relating to higher boost on the Sonic is the PCV system. Thankfully there is a diaphragm that will blow on the upper cam/valve cover, but it is built into the plastic piece. Like someone else said, 30 min and 60$ later you'll be good as new. Not a bad idea to have an extra one of these laying around the garage, although it should be covered under warranty.

The early 2012's had a few more issues but most kinks have been worked out.

The manual trans and the stock clutch doesn't like too much power. Most everything else broken on these cars is likely not tune-related.

 

[carsNskis]

Rear main seal leaks have been reported intermittently as well. Not directly attributed but something to be aware of

 

[Natesriv]

still haven't gotten a clear answer... what's a clutch replacement normally run..ballpark?

I'd love a tune, but also really would want to do the clutch at the same time...

 

[carsNskis]

still haven't gotten a clear answer... what's a clutch replacement normally run..ballpark?

I'd love a tune, but also really would want to do the clutch at the same time...

Figure three hours for labor (I know that's high, but dealerships usually double real time to cover problems). Of course parts in addition to labor.

 

[greg51]

Problems

If you cannt work on your car --DONT MOD g

 

[carsNskis]

If you cannt work on your car --DONT MOD g

Mechanics need work too...

 

[JesusTheAgnostic]

still haven't gotten a clear answer... what's a clutch replacement normally run..ballpark?

I'd love a tune, but also really would want to do the clutch at the same time...

Stock clutch? If you do it yourself according to Rock Auto around $100. If you want an upgraded clutch I think the vendors sell them for like $500 or something like that.