My old Hyundai Sonata V6 restoration update: Engine work begins

The OE timing belt is made by Gates! I'd seen the brand on Boodmo but never knew they were OE suppliers.

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Engine work begins:

The timing belt is changed. It's due at 96k km and the car has done 94+k so this is just in time. The old one is in good condition though.

I was informed earlier that the idler pulleys needn't be changed, but upon inspection, they're worn out so we're swapping those out.

The water pump that was sourced with so much difficulty is going to be stored for now, as the current one is in good condition according to the mechanic and doesn't warrant a swap.

One hitch is that the engine mount and the bracket are interfering with the torque wrench. We'll torque as many bolts as we can, but the ones that aren't accessible to the wrench will be tightened manually - old-school human "feel" FTW!

After the swap (note the shiny new pulleys!):

The OE timing belt is made by Gates! I'd seen the brand on Boodmo but never knew they were OE suppliers.

The engine mounts replacement is now underway as I type this. Including a picture of an old one (top) and the new one (bottom). Looking at the gap, it's clear as day that the old one is way past its prime.

There are 4 such mounts - 3 for the engine and 1 for the transmission. The trans mount is gone, too, but at the time of placing the parts order my mechanic had insisted it was in good condition and didn't need replacement. Now he's saying I should order one! Checking with Mobis and Avto-Korea for availability...

Meanwhile, we've sourced a die grinder and I'm planning to buff out the rims such that the outer part remains a gloss finish while the inner is all black. The effect should be that you see a black rim surrounded by a shiny "ring", so to speak.

The belt swap is complete. The new drive belt is installed along with new auto tensioner, new drive belt pulleys, and the new engine mount on that side. You can see the shiny new tensioner in the picture below.

The problem is that all the engine mounts are accessible all at once so it doesn't make sense to the mechanic to swap just 3 and do the trans mount separately. Thanks to this oversight the project is delayed by 3 weeks as I wait for the mount to arrive.

That said, there is one piece of good news...

Mannol Makes Up - Big Time

2 weeks after I informed Mannol that they sent the wrong ATF, I got a call from them stating they only got a 20L pack of SP-III! I need only 8L in total - 1L for the power steering fluid replacement, and 7L for the trans itself. I was contemplating what to do when the Mannol rep - Mr Soorya Dhas - informed me that since I had been waiting for this for a long time, they felt like "doing the right thing" and giving me the extra 11L for free! That's right, I get almost ₹10k worth of ATF extra for no extra payment!

I'm overjoyed by this and am utterly satisfied that all the waiting has paid off. The trans oil has probably never been swapped so doing 2 oil changes in shorter time spans to clean out the trans was already on my mind. I thought of doing a proper, proper trans flush but I've heard that it can worsen problems if the debris starts to float.

The correct ATF:

The last of the parts have reached Mobis bar the last-minute orders to the Delhi contact. Work is progressing at a snail's pace because of this.

I also ordered an ATF cleaner and injector cleaner from Rowe.

It's crazy how many speciality products you can use today which clean out your car's fluid systems. We're going to be using a radiator cleaner as well. All of these products just have to be added to their reservoirs and the car used for 10-15 minutes, followed by a fluid change (oil/coolant only). I sure hope they do their job. I'm aware of engine flushes being available but I don't want to use that since it's a mixed bag.

This is taking so long now that I've resorted to watching YouTube videos about the car just to get a feel of what it'll be like when it's ready. Haha.

Until next time...

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