Other fuel system problem on the 2002 Hyundai Elantra
When other fuel system problem gets reported
Owners of the 2002 Hyundai Elantra report other fuel system problem at a median of 95,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 miles, from 11 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 90,000 miles. It is the 9th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 55,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 105,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 51,511 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
9% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53,489 miles | 55,881 miles | 96,188 miles | 100,000 miles | 105,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $300–$2,200 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 20 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2020, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2002 at 95,000 miles.
By volume the 2013 carries the most reports, with 20; the 2002 has 14. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 hyundai elantra. While placing fuel in the vehicle, gasoline began spewing back out. The contact continued to fill up the tank. A local mechanic performed a bumper-to-bumper inspection of the vehicle and confirmed that gasoline shoots back out of the tank. The mechanic identified it as a possible recall failure and advised the contact to call the dealer; however, she called NHTSA first to verify the recall. The recall number was unknown. The failure mileage was 53,761.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 hyundai elantra. The contact was putting gas into the vehicle when the fuel shut off as if the vehicle was full with fuel, although the tank was not full. In addition, the gasoline would intermittently spill back out from the filler tube. The contact was informed by three different dealers, without performing a diagnostic, that the vehicle would need a closed valve and charcoal canister at her expense. The manufacturer would not provide any assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not accepted. The failure mileage was 58,000 and current mileage was 60,000. Updated 08/13/10. *lj the consumer was unable to put gas in the vehicle unless it was at a very slow rate and gas would shoot out of the vehicle. Updated 08/23/10*jb
We have a 2002 elantra and whenever you try to fill the tank up with gas, it constantly stops after just 25 cents or so and then you keep trying to fill it up and it stops every few seconds. It takes forever to pump a tank or even a half a tank of gas. Very frustrating to say the least. *"tr
Also reported on the 2002 Hyundai Elantra
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Other brake problem
Other body or interior problem
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Airbag failed to deploy in a crash
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 14 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other fuel system problem happen on the 2002 Hyundai Elantra?
Across 11 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 95,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other fuel system problem on the 2002 Hyundai Elantra?
14 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed