Hello Gents, I was glad to find a solid community still working on and enjoying these little brutes.
Recently, I needed a 4x4 for light trail, beach, camping, and fishing duties, and found a Sportage on craigslist for $1750 that seemed to fit the bill.
First thing I did was put 235/75R15 rubber on the stock rims:
It got us to and from the Texas coast at 19 mpg, but had some issues.
-Surging while trying to accelerate. The worst is accelerating between 30 and 65 mph, either almost no power at 2000 rpm or surging at 3500+ rpm. Once up to 70+ mph it settled at about 3000 rpm and was fine so long as it didn't need to downshift.
-No power. Very slow acceleration, and would lose speed quickly trying to go up any kind of hill when cruising at highway speeds.
-Rough shaking idle. Alternates between shaking like it's going to stall at ~600 rpm, or high idle at ~1400.
-My OBD reader shows:
Current Fault Log
------------------
ECU reports no current faults
Pending Fault Log
------------------
P0171: System too Lean (Bank 1)
P0301: Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected
P0300: Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected
P0303: Cylinder 3 Misfire Detected
P0304: Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected
P0302: Cylinder 2 Misfire Detected
-Dripping water onto passenger's feet. It also drains onto the ground out of the drain pipe in the firewall as expected, but it seems like a lot more condensation is being drained than any car I've ever had. What comes out smells like plain water, but maybe the previous owner diluted the coolant/water mixture so much I can't smell it. Leaking heater core? No overheating issues during our trip, even in 100* Texas heat.
-The floor and base of the center console got warm enough to notice the heat against my right calf.
So far, I've only had a chance to tear into the intake and ignition, following this guide: 4x4Wire TrailTalk Forums: READ FIRST IF YOU NEED TO CHANGE THE SPARK PLUGS
Pics so far: 1999 Kia Sportage Ignition and Intake - Album on Imgur
What I found was that the spark plug wires, coils, and plugs seemed almost new. The ignition wire harness that feeds the coils was in bad shape, with the connectors broken and mostly destroyed, but still able to hold the connection. No signs of oil leaking from the valve cover.
I replaced PCV, cleaned the throttle body, cleaned the MAF, hosed out the IAC with carb cleaner, cleaned and refinished the metal TB-Air Intake Pipe gasket, then put it all back together.
Good news is that it works exactly as it did before. Bad news is that it works exactly as it did before.
I have an ignition wire harness
What's next?
I'll try to find a vacuum leak by spraying carb cleaner around all the hoses and gaskets, and I'm going to put a bottle of Bar's radiator stop leak in the coolant hose just before the heater core to see if that stops the leak in the passenger footwell.
Other suggestions?
Thanks!
Recently, I needed a 4x4 for light trail, beach, camping, and fishing duties, and found a Sportage on craigslist for $1750 that seemed to fit the bill.
First thing I did was put 235/75R15 rubber on the stock rims:
It got us to and from the Texas coast at 19 mpg, but had some issues.
-Surging while trying to accelerate. The worst is accelerating between 30 and 65 mph, either almost no power at 2000 rpm or surging at 3500+ rpm. Once up to 70+ mph it settled at about 3000 rpm and was fine so long as it didn't need to downshift.
-No power. Very slow acceleration, and would lose speed quickly trying to go up any kind of hill when cruising at highway speeds.
-Rough shaking idle. Alternates between shaking like it's going to stall at ~600 rpm, or high idle at ~1400.
-My OBD reader shows:
Current Fault Log
------------------
ECU reports no current faults
Pending Fault Log
------------------
P0171: System too Lean (Bank 1)
P0301: Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected
P0300: Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected
P0303: Cylinder 3 Misfire Detected
P0304: Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected
P0302: Cylinder 2 Misfire Detected
-Dripping water onto passenger's feet. It also drains onto the ground out of the drain pipe in the firewall as expected, but it seems like a lot more condensation is being drained than any car I've ever had. What comes out smells like plain water, but maybe the previous owner diluted the coolant/water mixture so much I can't smell it. Leaking heater core? No overheating issues during our trip, even in 100* Texas heat.
-The floor and base of the center console got warm enough to notice the heat against my right calf.
So far, I've only had a chance to tear into the intake and ignition, following this guide: 4x4Wire TrailTalk Forums: READ FIRST IF YOU NEED TO CHANGE THE SPARK PLUGS
Pics so far: 1999 Kia Sportage Ignition and Intake - Album on Imgur
What I found was that the spark plug wires, coils, and plugs seemed almost new. The ignition wire harness that feeds the coils was in bad shape, with the connectors broken and mostly destroyed, but still able to hold the connection. No signs of oil leaking from the valve cover.
I replaced PCV, cleaned the throttle body, cleaned the MAF, hosed out the IAC with carb cleaner, cleaned and refinished the metal TB-Air Intake Pipe gasket, then put it all back together.
Good news is that it works exactly as it did before. Bad news is that it works exactly as it did before.
I have an ignition wire harness
What's next?
I'll try to find a vacuum leak by spraying carb cleaner around all the hoses and gaskets, and I'm going to put a bottle of Bar's radiator stop leak in the coolant hose just before the heater core to see if that stops the leak in the passenger footwell.
Other suggestions?
Thanks!