Electrical Problems???

CaseyH · 08-22-2008, 11:03 PM

I have a 2000 Kia Sportage 4x4 automatic. It has sat for 2 years and I have finally fixed it as I needed a vehicle. (been living downtown) Anyways, it was always garaged and never left out. Well after fixing it, replacing the radiator, radiator fan, and the assembly that holds the fan, and the belts, the car ran great but I noticed that when I hit the brakes the CD player would reset. If I hit the lights or rolled down the windows the samething would happen. I thought it was the fuses, but I was told that if a fuse isn't blown it's still good. I've looked for grounds etc and I cant find anything that is ungrounded. Now when I turn the lights on and press the brakes or do the windows the lights also dim until released, and the lights don't seem near as bright as they used to.

Well past today it got really bad and when I'd hit the brakes the gauges would jump, it would switch gears speratically and almost die. on my way home the car stalled on the highway. Lights and everything still work if I turned em on, but the car wouldn't start anymore. It'd try, run for a few seconds, then die.

The car has ran great except for the electrical stuff, especially with the lights off until today. Engine was strong, good power (for a kia), smooth accel, decent gas mileage.

Any ideas what it could be as it gets towed to the mechanic?

Somebody said something to me about a Voltage Regulator?? I had the Alternator tested, and it was charging properly.... I'm baffled.

bubbashrimp · 08-23-2008, 12:48 AM

I sure don't claim to be an expert, but I would go over the electrical system again. Start with taking it to Autozone for a battery and charging system check, then clean and tightened the positive battery cable. Take the negative cable loose at both ends, clean the connections real good, check it to be sure that it is not corroded and hook it back up good and tight. If that does't help go over all the ground connections, take them loose, clean them and put them back on. The way the lights are dimming and the other problems you are having, it sure sounds like you got a bad ground somewhere.

I recall a problem I had one time where the negative battery cable looked good on the surface, but when I peeled back a couple of inches of the insulation I found it was practically corroded in two.

I don't care for the battery clamps on my Kia. The clamp on the negative battery post is as tight as I can get it but I can still twist the clamp on the post so I went to Autozone and bought a nice new negative battery cable and am going to put it on if this rain ever lets up. So far we have over five inches and it is still rainning.

ron1004 · 08-23-2008, 04:22 AM

Are you using the battery that was in the car for the two years it stood? - If so it's sure to be bad unless you kept a battery maintainer connected all the time.

The regulator is built into the alternator - a basic check on the alternator would be to measure the voltage with the engine running and confirm that it's 13.8 ~ 14.4 Vdc

Also check all the main power and ground connections.

CaseyH · 08-27-2008, 12:13 PM

Update! Most ppl don't do this but I figured I'd get an opinion from you guys also.

Got a call from the shop I took my kia to and this is what they said to me. The Kia is throwing out 3 different codes, they fixed one which was some loose grounds that went bad and were preventing it from starting/running properly. No longer do the lights dim or cd player shut off when the brakes are pressed.

But they did find something else, my Cam Sensor seems to be going bad, as the cpu they used to test my car with was getting that code, but it was also losing connection to my ECU (?). The mechanic doesn't know if it is because of their specific computer they have, and the fact they can't really work on a Kia, or if it is actually bad.

What they did though was they only charged me 25$ for this information, and the car does start and run now w/o the previous problem. I do need to take the car to a Kia dealership though and find out what I need to do.

Just an update!

CaseyH · 08-27-2008, 06:12 PM

Car started doing the stutter thing again really bad, luckily it made it to the Kia Dealership. I'm bout to give up on it. Kia is going to run a diagnostic on it, then we'll see what happens.