99 Kia Sportage

davey · 12-16-2004, 01:54 AM

Hello Everyone, Newbie here. recently purchased the sportage, it has 78k miles. I replaced the plugs, wires and the air filter. 2nd day off the lot... the check engine light came on... Brought it in for timing belt replacement... Mechanic mentioned I had the wrong plugs in , Bosch 4 way platinums, I got from Autozone.. he reccomended the NGK's... and said that was probably why the check engine light came on... This car is great around town driving, but on the highway , it seems to misfire, at different speeds, but always the same speeds, for example, 55, 65, 75... it kinda kicks, also, the steering wheel shakes like crazy, actually the whole car does, the empty passenger seat shakes, you can notice it , big time... anyway I brought it back in , the mechanis said it was a problem with air flow... at ,least he said thats what the codes referred to ... he cleared the codes... and the next day , same thing, check engine light is back on.... Not having much faith in this mechanic.... from reading the posts, I am going to autozone in the morning to try and get the codes .. will be back in touch here.... any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Axe Man · 12-16-2004, 08:21 PM

Bosch +4's will work fine in the DOHC engine. I know several folks who run them without any problems.

Get the trouble codes and post them here. They will be formatted PXXXX, where XXXX will be a series of numbers. Make sure all the codes are readout if there are more than one.

Sportage front ends are very sensitive to proper wheel balance. If a wheel/tire combo is not properly balanced you will get wheel shake. I suggest having the front tires checked and balanced as required to start.

davey · 12-23-2004, 03:01 AM

Went to Autozone, they plugged it up, and the codes are 101 and 172, the guy told me that the Mass Air flow sensor needed to be replaced, Does that sound right?
Quoted me a price of 85 bucks, is it easy to change, thanks for the info on the bosch +4's

Axe Man · 12-23-2004, 06:38 AM

P0101: Mass Airflow range/performance problem.

P0172: System too rich. (Caused by the MAF)

9 times out 10 the problem is not the mass airflow sensor itself. They rarely go bad. The electrical connector to the MAF develops corrosion and contact resistance over time which causes this problem. There are 2 solutions. One temporary and one a permanent fix. The temp fix is to unplug the connector and recrimp/clean the contacts. This should clear up the problem but eventually it will come back and you'll have to clean the contacts again. The permanent solution is to cut off the electrical connector from the wiring harness and solder the wires directly to the tabs on the MAF sensor itself. The problem will never reoccur.

Once you repair the connector disconnect the battery for about 10 minutes to reset the ECM. Start the engine and the CEL should go off and remain off.

davey · 12-23-2004, 01:07 PM

Thanks for the info Axe Man, One small problem, I have no clue where this sensor is located... I will see If can find the book for Kia repairs, Think Chilton makes one? Hmmmmm anyway < I got another question.. ok maybe a couple... The Mechanic I talked to said only to use NGK plugs, and I see you mention Bosch +4's will work, and wouldnt be a problem. Right now Im getting maybe 16-17 miles to the gallon, awful gas mileage from what I've seen in some of the internet research, do you think the bosch +4's will help me out with that, and how about the MAF, will that also help?

what do you think about tires, The Tires that are on it... Are good year , sumthing or others, Crappy Tires anyway , ready to be changed, any suggestion of what will make it a more smooth ride. And help stick to the road in the winter.

Thanks again for your help