jay

my first idea would be the window electric motor, if there’s no noise at all coming from the door when your try and open the window I would get that checked.

The new Elantra keys unlike the old models need pairing with a diagnostics tool which can be done with the dealership or any company that offers car key programming, usually without any guarantee if there your own keys

If the catalytic converter has gone then get it replaced rather than just removing it unless you know a garage that can put a new ECU map on the car to stop the engine throwing up a code from the o2 sensors., if you remove it the car will throw up engine codes from the o2 sensors in the exhaust which are extremely sensitive on those cars, messing around with them or trying to remove them will probably put the car in limp mode and its a pain the sort them out without replacing the sensors, my friend had the same problem with one of these cars and it took us ages to sort the sensors out again without them throwing up error codes. the catalytic converter should last you over 100,000 miles so replacing it once will probably last you the life of the car

when you say it doesn’t pick up speed like it should have you ever known it to go quicker than its going now or has it always been the same speed for you. With gentle driving it will be programmed to change gears at lower revs for comfort and emissions but does still seem a little low, the very slight ticking noise will probably just be the drivetrain or fuel injection. Is it the LV3 6 cylinder engine? If it is its just under 300hp and roughly the same torque without forced induction so it isn’t going to be as quick as a V8 or a saloon car but should still have a fair bit of grunt to it. Is there a manual mode to the shifter where you can override the gear changes, if there is try that and see if it feels any different, the restriction with auto transmissions is they are controlled by electrics, not sure about a lot of American motors but a lot of the European ones get sluggish sometimes and a garage can update the software on the car for better performance and shifting. I wouldn’t worry about the ticking...

What colour smoke, white, grey, blue or thick black? white is water vapour (nothing to worry about), blue means there is oil getting into the system somewhere, grey could be oil too, faulty PCV if it has one or transmission fluid getting into the engine from a leak (bit less common) or turbo issues, black usually means too much fuel, in a diesel a clogged DPF if it has one, each colour smoke could indicate many things. Depends on what engine is in it diesel or petrol, I would usually check air filters, injectors if you can and any visual issues like leaks you can see in the engine bay, if its a diesel especially give it a blast down the road when its up to temp and get the revs up and check in the mirror for any smoke coming out when your foot is down. depending on the mileage on the car and how its been driven and maintained could also indicate why its there.

is there any problems that you’ve had with the car leading up to this or any warning lights, does it turn over first time? I would check all the basics first like air filter, plugs fluid levels etc just make sure there’s no blockages and nothing to stop the air flow or spark. If there is any lights on the dash maybe see if there’s any stored codes to indicate anything if there’s was no problems leading up to the running issue.

I struggled with a couple of bolts like them on a audi before, I got one of those cheap multi size socket ends for the ratchet that have them small hex shapes inside on springs, got the bolts off and then just replaced them with standard bolts after to avoid the problem again. The size as far I was aware for these was MM8 though.

Best thing to do, go to a different garage and explain what has apparently been done, how it previously felt and after they fiddled with it and get a fresh set of eyes on it, maybe the garage you went to have done something completely wrong or broken something and don’t want to admit it (VW trannys aren’t cheap to replace if they have) and see what they say. If your short shifter isn’t factory standard I would remove it and get it set back up normal again and working properly so you can drive the car and see if everything works okay or if there’s any problems that pop up that can then only be down to the standard parts. can always install that short shifter again if there’s no issues but may make it easier to set up and avoid any costly problems. If you’ve had continuous problems with the same garage and you don’t think they’ve done it right then get the work done by another garage.

The MAF sensor is located just after the air filter usually on a tube that feeds air into the throttle body on the engine, its quite a delicate sensor usually so be careful not to be too heavy handed with it. If you can get the MAF out and its looks dirty give it a clean, if it looks broken then you can replace them easily enough. Once you’ve done this you will need to remove the code that you read and see if it re appears. Depending on the code if its a generic or engine specific get a garage to read it if it comes back up as it may be something you can’t see that’s causing a problem, the ECU controls the ratio and there is a couple of other sensors that could throw the A/F ratio out but there not cheap to replace if you break them so a garage is best to test them. There is a sensor in the manifold that a few people on the forums for these cars all seem to have a problem with being cross threaded out of the factory and are having problems with when coming to replace or fix them so just watch out for that...

If it gets hot then just unplug it and leave it until you come to fix it, the battery will probably run out and then there’s no issue of the heat, you can always charge it back up when you come to fix it. First thing if you haven’t already tried hold the volume down button and the on'/off button together until the screen goes black and turns back on again with the apple logo. If you still have the issue where it is stuck on the apple logo you will need to either try connect to iTunes on a computer, call apple support or start taking the phone apart and fixing it yourself.