Other engine problem on the 2004 Hyundai Santa FE
3 fires 1 injury 4 of the 21 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other engine problem gets reported
Owners of the 2004 Hyundai Santa FE report other engine problem at a median of 55,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 20,000 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles, from 12 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 5th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 15,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 145,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 133,786 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
42% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12,800 miles | 21,425 miles | 53,200 miles | 69,841 miles | 146,586 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
Of these reports, 3 a fire and 1 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $300–$4,000 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 25 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2018, at a median of 15,000 miles, and latest on the 2026 at 190,000 miles.
By volume the 2017 carries the most reports, with 330; the 2004 has 21. 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.
While driving at any speed the consumer felt the vehicle shaking. When the vehicle was being shifted from reverse to drive the consumer could feel the engine slipping. The dealer has examined the vehicle three times concerning the engine. The dealer found there is a component that is missing from the engine. The dealer did not explain what the component was that is needed. *nm *sc
While driving, the check engine light came on. The consumer took the vehicle to the dealer and the engine cylinder was found to be defective. *jb vehicle came out of the factory with defective cylinders. It took 5 months for the engine light to come on. *tc
My pregnant wife was driving down the highway. There was no accident. There were no warning signs before it was to late. Wife saw smoke coming up from the engine of our 2004 hyundai santa fe (odo 24,000 miles). She pulled over to the curb. The vehicle had never done this before. My pregnant wife was pulled out of the burning vehicle by a passerby. Wife suffered a contusion to her right cheek during this incident. She did not know the vehicle was on fire. She notified 911 who sent a fire truck and police officer. The vehicle exploded at least 3 times as she waited outside in the cold, frenzied by the disaster. The fire was so intense that the front wheels were melted. A policeman and 2 fire trucks responded to the blaze. The vehicle has been declared a total loss by allstate. Reliable imports (springfield, mo.) would not even help us obtain a rental car. The safety features of this hyundai vehicle were proudly acclaimed by the car salesman and manager at the dealership. Both the manufacturer and the dealership have been unhelpful in helping us in any way. The vehicle was under a full bumper-to-bumper, new vehicle warranty. They…
Also reported on the 2004 Hyundai Santa FE
Strut, shock or spring failure
Other speed control problem
Other suspension problem
ABS module or sensor failure
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 21 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 engine problem happen on the 2004 Hyundai Santa FE?
Across 12 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 55,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 20,000 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other engine problem on the 2004 Hyundai Santa FE?
21 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 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