Timing chain, belt or tensioner failure on the 2003 Hyundai Santa FE
Only 2 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When timing chain, belt or tensioner failure gets reported
There are 2 reports of timing chain, belt or tensioner failure on the 2003 Hyundai Santa FE, 2 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 120,000 miles. It is the 38th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 88,502 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 $1,200–$4,500 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.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 8 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2004, at a median of 70,000 miles, and latest on the 2002 at 230,000 miles.
By volume the 2004 carries the most reports, with 9; the 2003 has 0. 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.
I purchased a 2003 hyundai santa fe 09/2007 with 78k mi. In may 2009 I took vehicle to dealership for oil change & asked them to check it out before I went on a road trip. I wasn't having any problems, just wanted to be sure everything was ok. Service tech recommended transmission flush, replacement of timing belt, & replacement of crank sensor. I agreed to recommendations because I want to drive a safe & reliable vehicle. Since may I have returned to service dept. At least 4 times because the vehicle now stalls while I'm driving, no warning, just quits. It starts back up after a few minutes. These events are intermittent. The failures have occurred at speeds between 15 & 55 MPH, while A/C on, outdoor temp 80+ & humid. Sometimes failure occurs while accelerating from a stop, other times at higher speed on hwy. Service tech has been unable to duplicate or get a read on the problem. He has even driven the vehicle home & back (60 mi) at least twice, stating he had no problems. Each visit I am told "no problem found" yet failures persist. Hyundai usa has advised me if it happens again, have it towed to dealership so they may…
The vehicle jerked violently and then suddenly stalled several times on the highway at speeds around 60 MPH, causing dangerous driving conditions. A few days later the vehicle would not start at all. The vehicle was brought to a repair facility and it was discovered that the crankshaft position sensor was cracked at the sensor end near the crankshaft and timing belt. Replacing the part was labor intensive since several engine components had to be removed to reach the sensor, therefore the repair costs were high. The dealership wanted around $1,000 to replace with the part only costing $90. I brought the vehicle to an independent repair shop and had the crankshaft position sensor replaced, the vehicle now starts. Both the hyundai dealership and hyundai motor america refused to cover repair costs while the vehicle was in need of repair and before I brought it elsewhere. Both dealer and manufacturer continue to refuse now to reimburse costs after I had to go to a less costly repair facility. My case # with hyundai motor america is #3467755. I have also contacted the alternative dispute resolution line at the better business bureau. I…
Also reported on the 2003 Hyundai Santa FE
Other suspension problem
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Other powertrain problem
Other electrical problem
Other brake problem
Other body or interior problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 2 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 2 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 timing chain, belt or tensioner failure happen on the 2003 Hyundai Santa FE?
Across 2 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 90,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is timing chain, belt or tensioner failure on the 2003 Hyundai Santa FE?
2 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.0 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