January 16

After i last done the engine head cover gasket, i looked at it every day for leaks. And the more i looked, the more things i saw. And today i saw this. The after market head cover i bought (because mine had a defect i still don't understand  how it could occurred, an entirely missing area  but with smooth, finished edge, allowing gasses from engine to blow in the engine compartment and some reaching the cabin) is bent.

Between every two bolts there is a bow because the material is not strong enough. It is called polyamide 66 or nylon 66. But after i checked the original i saw it was not the fault of the cheap Chinese though well done part i bought on Amazon. It is made of the same material as the original which had a permanent bow after i removed it.

I remember two things. One is the intriguing smell of ammonia of the exhaust (since the first Elantra). Second is about 6 months ago i was chasing the exhaust smell that was actually due to that missing area and tried the bolts of the cover and they were all loose. No visible oil leak but certainly vapors and leaks that dry being to small.

A while ago i searched and found an aluminum one for my car. Fond one, looking well done, anodized in black to look the same with the plastic original though with a plastic on the inside because they could not cast in aluminum all the intricacies of the nylon one they attached a plastic part with a large number of wood screws like screws holding it with the risk of one falling inside the engine.

So yeah, the engine head plastic cover (not to be confused with the engine removable plastic cover used for soundproofing) are now all made of polyamide, with two inherent problems. Are not as tough as metal one and they bend. They are leaching ammonia. In time, they will create small, invisible leaks.

At the second cylinder (spark plug well) there is part in the shape of a ring, missing. It is present at all the other three and all 4 at the new one i had to put in there.

The edge looks finished, so i just don't know how this could have happen (injection mold defective, maybe). There is a serial number for the part, unfortunately only the last digits are readable but it looks OEM since all the parts inside that engine compartment have similar labels.

The result is blow by gas from the engine (that usually gets recovered through PCV vale) escapes. Besides polluting the air in the cabin (gassing), it corroded the contacts by the coil they were arching and turned into a (metal oxide) dust, also polluting the cabin.

The spark for that cylinder was different from the others, resulting in a retarded ignition and a vibration that destroyed many things, including bending the right half shaft, cracking the McPherson struts, destroying the engine rubber mounts all resulting in problems with steering, etc.. Could have been the cause for the two accidents that car was into before i bought it.

The car initially belonged to a car rental company. I remember after my accident with the first Elantra which was caused by a crazy guy hitting me with a big Ford truck from behind (i might have an idea who he was) i rented a Kia Forte from enterprise (not my choice of brand) which had a huge problem.

Every time i was releasing the gas pedal, the car would suddenly accelerate for about a second which also almost got me into at least one accident. I take it Hyundai might have deals with rental companies to give them discounted cars rejected after the final QC checks?