[hlacoss]

I had a pretty scary experience today. I was merging on the freeway today during rush hour. The on-ramp was slow moving, but after traffic sped up, my engine had almost NO power. The SC was acting as though it were in limp mode, but no indicator lights were on at all.

The max speed I could achieve was about 40 mph. I was able to exit after a couple miles, and I pulled into a parking lot, shut the SC off. Waited a minute. Restarted the car, and everything is back to normal.


Any similar experiences or thoughts? I was definitely in Drive, nothing unusual at all. The car was barely responsive, and this was a very dangerous situation given the nature of the freeway I was on.

 

[ToadVine]

Yes, I recall reading a couple of similar complaints on this forum that sounded very similar. I don't recall whether there was ever any recurrance or explanation. Perhaps those OPs will spot this thread and respond.

Take it to the dealer, get them to scan it for codes. Even if they find nothing, this may not be the end of it, so you want the first incident documented.

 

[Walking Black Bear]

Yep. Get it documented. Even if they find nothing.

Which engine do you have? Base or Turbo?

 

[hlacoss]

Yep. Get it documented. Even if they find nothing.

Which engine do you have? Base or Turbo?

Yep, agreed. I am out of town at the moment, but I did hook up a code scanner this morning — no codes.

I have the turbo. I’ll comb through the forum, maybe I have some similarities that I haven’t seen yet.

 

[jcn115]

Yep, agreed. I am out of town at the moment, but I did hook up a code scanner this morning — no codes.

I have the turbo. I’ll comb through the forum, maybe I have some similarities that I haven’t seen yet.

It may be the dual clutch logic. I used to own a 2016 Tucson with a dual clutch and when the Tucson was released, it had the transmission logic bug that it did not accelerate. After several reports Hyundai, did a software update the fix the issue. Your problem sounds very similar, see the following video of the 16 Tucson showing the issue:

 

[GTAcruz]

It may be the dual clutch logic. I used to own a 2016 Tucson with a dual clutch and when the Tucson was released, it had the transmission logic bug that it did not accelerate. After several reports Hyundai, did a software update the fix the issue. Your problem sounds very similar, see the following video of the 16 Tucson showing the issue:

I had similar experience with my 2019 Veloster Turbo as the video - Veloster has a dry DCT ( not wet like SC) - having similar problem as the video - in addition, it wouldn’t engage reverse. I could put it into reverse, but wasn’t able to move it.
Took it to the dealer, they called corporate and a new DCT put in Right away…

 

[jcn115]

I had similar experience with my 2019 Veloster Turbo as the video - Veloster has a dry DCT ( not wet like SC) - having similar problem as the video - in addition, it wouldn’t engage reverse. I could put it into reverse, but wasn’t able to move it.
Took it to the dealer, they called corporate and a new DCT put in Right away…

my old Tucson had a dry clutch too. The SC clutch is wet to minimize overheating issues that the dry DCT had. I was disappointed when I head that the Premium and Limited came with DCT. I don’t want a DCT, so I got a SEL with Activity package.

 

[GTAcruz]

my old Tucson had a dry clutch too. The SC clutch is wet to minimize overheating issues that the dry DCT had. I was disappointed when I head that the Premium and Limited came with DCT. I don’t want a DCT, so I got a SEL with Activity package.

I was surprised as well, they introduced a DCT for the SC - but I ordered the Ultimate trim, hopefully the wet deals with slow speed much better… I’ve come close to overheating the dry VCT several times, I’ve wached that temperature gauge go yellow and slowly climb toward red…

 

[JMII]

Next time this happens I would see if you can force it to shift with the paddles.

 

[hlacoss]

Next time this happens I would see if you can force it to shift with the paddles.

Great idea. It was a pretty tense situation, and I hadn’t remembered that it had paddles at all at that moment.

 

[md_cruz]

Had the same happen Week and a half ago, Premium AWD. The DCT had no power pulling onto the interstate. Dead pedal, no RPMs and the RPMS That did come had no torque application. I did shift to the paddles and back. But it only marginally improved. It resolved itself after about 30 seconds

 

[HSC4ME]

my old Tucson had a dry clutch too. The SC clutch is wet to minimize overheating issues that the dry DCT had. I was disappointed when I head that the Premium and Limited came with DCT. I don’t want a DCT, so I got a SEL with Activity package.

I took the same route with SEL AWD Non-Activity Package as well. If they offered the standard trans with the turbo engine, I might have been tempted, but I'm not into power like I was in my younger years. It seems there are a higher percentage of issues with the DCT models so far. Hope all these issues are software related and can be ironed out over time. Hoping to try out my AWD this coming weekend in Big Bear, a local mountain retreat here in SoCal.

 

[md_cruz]

Regarding overheating; last week I was up at Bigelow preserve in ME several ascents and descent of several thousand feet, single-lane gravel switchbacks. The SC AWD (turbo) was great. No overheating, stayed a tick below the median the whole time. Even reversed up some slopes, but not as a stress test

I do wish that I could put a bit more RWD bias in, Even with the AWD lock, the front wheels slip a fair amount along with some understeer.

 

[JMII]

I do wish that I could put a bit more RWD bias in, Even with the AWD lock, the front wheels slip a fair amount along with some understeer.

I think its only able to send 50% rearward. All the off road reviews I've watched indicate its just not aggressive nor powerful enough when it comes to the rear wheels. Its basically soft-roader AWD so understeer and front tire spin is expected. Others have reported despite the drive mode or lock setting it always sends power rearward at launch in an effort to mitigate the situation. Clearly the software could use some tweaking.

 

[md_cruz]

Truthfully anything from 1-3 gear under 35 mph should be much more rear bias imo. Not just the little fart or rear power from lauch. Perhaps they are worried about weight over the rear wheels and traction /stability with the rear kicking out, but understeer is much worse in my view.

 

[SantaCruzFan]

@md_cruz I agree. The SC would no doubt handle much better and be more fun to drive if they did what you recommend.

I am guessing they did this mainly because of fuel mileage constraints, since those numbers for vehicles are critical for car makers today. It could probably be changed in software and it would be nice to at least have the option to make it drive like real AWD, at least when you need it.

 

[Elisagtv6]

I had a pretty scary experience today. I was merging on the freeway today during rush hour. The on-ramp was slow moving, but after traffic sped up, my engine had almost NO power. The SC was acting as though it were in limp mode, but no indicator lights were on at all.

The max speed I could achieve was about 40 mph. I was able to exit after a couple miles, and I pulled into a parking lot, shut the SC off. Waited a minute. Restarted the car, and everything is back to normal.


Any similar experiences or thoughts? I was definitely in Drive, nothing unusual at all. The car was barely responsive, and this was a very dangerous situation given the nature of the freeway I was on.

Were you operating the vehicle with cruise control ON prior to the condition you described?

 

[hlacoss]

Were you operating the vehicle with cruise control ON prior to the condition you described?

The cruise was off. Just driving to get on the highway.

 

[Paul Walker]

I had a pretty scary experience today. I was merging on the freeway today during rush hour. The on-ramp was slow moving, but after traffic sped up, my engine had almost NO power. The SC was acting as though it were in limp mode, but no indicator lights were on at all.

The max speed I could achieve was about 40 mph. I was able to exit after a couple miles, and I pulled into a parking lot, shut the SC off. Waited a minute. Restarted the car, and everything is back to normal.


Any similar experiences or thoughts? I was definitely in Drive, nothing unusual at all. The car was barely responsive, and this was a very dangerous situation given the nature of the freeway I was on.

I just experienced the exact same issue with my Santa Cruz Limited on 12-9-21 - I only have around 240 miles on it.. Lost most acceleration, would not go over 40 mph - Took it to the dealership and they could find nothing wrong and no error codes. It is driving ok now, but I am not confident in this vehicle at this time... Not good..

 

[hlacoss]

I just experienced the exact same issue with my Santa Cruz Limited on 12-9-21 - I only have around 240 miles on it.. Lost most acceleration, would not go over 40 mph - Took it to the dealership and they could find nothing wrong and no error codes. It is driving ok now, but I am not confident in this vehicle at this time... Not good..

I don’t remember the number of miles I had on it, but it was also very early after I got my SC, and I didn’t get any codes from the code reader or anything.

That said, I have not had the problem again, and I’m over 4000 miles now — maybe it’s an early system glitch or something? Hopefully!! Hang in there, hopefully we won’t have any more of this issue!