Hyundai preliminary evaluation PE12029
Steering Shaft Universal Joint Failure. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the column on 1 model year (2011). Opened Oct 9, 2012, closed Jun 26, 2013 after 9 months without a recall. closed
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedThe Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE12-029 based on one complaint alleging that a fastener became loose in the steering shaft of a model year (MY) 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe vehicle and related Early Warning Reporting field report data. In it's response to ODI's information request letter for PE12-029, Hyundai identified a total of four incidents of steering shaft universal joint failure in early production MY 2011 Santa Fe vehicles, including the incidents that had been identified by ODI. Two of the failures occurred at low mileage early in 2011, shortly after vehicle sale, leading to Hyundai's initial investigation. Hyundai attributed the failures to operator error at the vehicle assembly plant in failing to fully assemble the universal joint to the steering column shaft before tightening the universal pinch bolt. The company inspected 680 vehicles at the assembly plant as part of its initial investigation and found no additional indications of improper steering shaft assembly. Hyundai implemented changes in the assembly process to ensure proper steering shaft assembly, including the use of a go/no go Gap Gauge to ensure that the universal joint knuckle is fully assembled to the steering column shaft before being fastened. Hyundai believes that the improper assembly affected only a few vehicles and that joints that were not properly assembled should have already failed and the likelihood of additional failures is remote. None of the failures involved vehicles produced after the Gap Gauge implementation on April 27, 2011 and no additional failures have been reported since October 2012. Hyundai will notify ODI if any additional failures are reported to the company through the end of 2013. A safety-related defect trend has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted. Accordingly, this investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The agency will take further action if warranted by the circumstances.
A Preliminary Evaluation is the first formal stage: NHTSA has decided the complaints and other information it screened are worth a closer look, and asks the manufacturer for its own data on the condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one closed without a recall. That means NHTSA found no defect trend it chose to act on at the time, or the manufacturer addressed the condition another way (a service campaign or a bulletin, which have their own pages). A closed file can be reopened if new reports arrive.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2011 Hyundai Santa FE.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE12029 a recall?
No. A preliminary evaluation is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one closed without one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is PE12029 still open?
No. It closed on Jun 26, 2013 without a recall.
Which vehicles does PE12029 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 1 model year: 2011 Hyundai Santa FE. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.