06 Sorento Harmonic balancer bolt

[skippy38672]

I have a 06 Sorento with 96k miles, have done the timing belt twice, have done all required maintenance and now the harmonic balancer bolt breaks. Kia says it is not covered under warranty as it is not part of drive train. It is bolted to the crankshaft, which is by definition the drive train. Any ideas on how I can get Kia to cover this? My mechanic ( not Kia) says they gotta pull the engine, so they they can pull out the crankshaft, so they can have a machine shop get the broken bolt out. Does this sound right? Anything helpful will be appreciated.

[McTweety]

There has been a recall on the 03-04 Sorentos because of the crankshaft bolt breaking. But the 06 should not be affected. What color was your bolt? Old ones (03-04) were gold with a black washer; new ones are gray with a gray washer.

Anyway, you say you have replaced the timing-belt twice. I guess you did them kinda early (50,000 mls?), but that's okay. Did you do the job yourself, or was it done by a Kia dealership? If all the work was done by Kia, I would think it should be covered by the warranty. Typically "drivetrain" includes engine and transmission. I would consider this bolt part of the engine, although its main purpose is to drive an accessory-belt...

In case you did the job yourself, you could end up having a problem with your claim:

KIA specifies that the crankshaft bolt MUST be replaced every time it is removed. If you did the job yourself and re-used the same bolt twice, I can see why Kia is denying the warranty claim. They may ask for evidence (invoice or something, showing that you purchased a new bolt for each job).

You may have over-tightened the bolt. Did you use a Torque wrench to set the correct torque? I believe it's 130 lbs. ft. (176 Nm). If KIA did not do the timing-belt jobs, they may accuse you of over-tightening the bolt. Or putting too much tension on the drive-belts. Again, this may not be true, but it is something they can use against you to deny the claim.

I would try and see if you can work things out with your Kia dealer, or KIA headquarters to see if they are willing to help. Like I said, it has been an issue on older Sorentos. If not, you have a problem. You could get a lawyer and take them to court, but that's just not a fair battle

P.S. You may be able to get the old bolt out without removing the crankshaft from the engine. A good machinist may be able to drill it out and re-tap it if he has good access to it from the front of your car.

[kiaracer]

powertrain only covers internal engine and transmission. that bolt is no an internal engine part so i doubt there's anyway you could get it covered. if the timing belt was done at a dealership and you're within 12K miles or 12 months of having the timing belt done, most dealerships cover the parts and labor for under a 12,000 mile/12 month warranty. if you went to joe blow's shop to get it done, good luck getting them to fix it free. whoever did the timing belt or you did it when you replaced the crank sensor, probably overtorqued the bolt and broke it off.

i don't see how they think pulling the engine is necessary when you could leave the engine in and drill and retap the hole with the engine left in it. they're just trying to get more money.

[maksik]

Who did the timing belt replacement, was the bolt changed with each replacement and how the bolt was torqued?
KIA says - do not re-use the bolt, replace only and can not use impact gun to torque the bolt, only torque wrench.
Also do not overtighten accessory belts.

Sorry, McTweety for repeating your lines.

[skippy38672]

Thank you all for the information. My user manual says to replace TB between 40k and 60k miles, and I had them done at the lower end of that. I had it done at a local shop with a good reputation, so I trust that they used new bolts and torqued them to the proper spec. Looking over the receipts I don't see where they charged me for a new bolt. I do have a call in for Kia headquarters to call me back. Hopefully I will be able to work things out with them.

[pistnbroke]

They should NOT have used locktite on the bolt so it should not be aproblem to get it out without removing the radiator ...if no receipt for bolt I think you are up shit creek without a paddle .....

[nstoolman1]

Funny picture

[a9xs]

I have had this happen at my dealer, i have had luck removing the radiator and using a left hand drill bit to remove the broken peice of the bolt and re-taping the hole and installing a new crank bolt.

[04SorentoLX]

Originally Posted by kiaracer

powertrain only covers internal engine and transmission. that bolt is no an internal engine part so i doubt there's anyway you could get it covered. if the timing belt was done at a dealership and you're within 12K miles or 12 months of having the timing belt done, most dealerships cover the parts and labor for under a 12,000 mile/12 month warranty. if you went to joe blow's shop to get it done, good luck getting them to fix it free. whoever did the timing belt or you did it when you replaced the crank sensor, probably overtorqued the bolt and broke it off.

i don't see how they think pulling the engine is necessary when you could leave the engine in and drill and retap the hole with the engine left in it. they're just trying to get more money.

First I agree with much of what you say. And it comes down to the balanceing act of whom is to blame (and going to step up to fix it) for the bolt failure based on the fact that dealer did not do TB work. Could go 50-50 either way Dealer-Indy first tier. Then once again second tier 50-50 Whomever from first tier-Owner.

Now as for the other things you said about 10/100 POWERTRAIN. Here is just what my 2004 KIA MOTORS Warrenty And Consumer Information Manual says about that. These tucked in with the rest of the stuff listed for each one. Bear in mind what you said above about INTERNAL.

ENGINE: Valve cover?,Flywheel?,Oil Pan?,Water Pump?,Engine Mounts?. Really?

TRANSAXLE:First we do not have one of these. But be that as it may. Driveshafts?, Uni-joints?,Front Hubs?,Trans Mounts?. Really?

AXLES:Axle Shafts and C-V Joints (coupleings)? Hubs and Seals?, Wheel bearings?. Really?

TRANSMISSION:Trans Mounts?. Really?

DIFFERENTIALS:Nothing weird here. Other then by Definition the covered F/R Diff Assem includes your EXTERNAL and bolted onto the Pinion, Axle Shaft Flange/yokes. Much like the Harm balancer is bolted to the Crank.

PROPELLER SHAFT:Nothing weird here either. If you call your covered INTERNAL PARTS u-joints. And not your EXTERNAL not covered parts
u-joints. As then the only thing covered would be the solid or hollow shaft parts. And not the connecting u-joints and end flanges/yokes.

He needs to get proactive and fight for this, and not just lay down and roll over play dead right away. I agree drill it and tap it in vech. Or drill it and stud extracter back it out in vech too. No sweat, pulling the eng to pull crank is a joke. "Saw and see you coming". $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ cha-ching

But first no one has asked Skippy yet the one key thing that makes this all go away as moot or able to be followed thru. We will not guess either anymore in here. "ARE YOU THE ONLY AND FIRST OWNER". Dealer to you 5 miles on it? If you are not or it was a DEMO or it was a turn back after delivery with 150 miles or never picked up (delivered on paper,deal fell thru) but TITLED! and resold to you by dealer. Be careful of just what you think you own. And just what you think you have in the way of rights to that 10/100. Hyundai/KIA have different ideas then you might. Dealer might have told you the truth now (not when bought) and it is NOT covered by the 10/100 with 96 on it. But you were maybe not listening well and missed the key point then and or now yesterday. You only had 5/50.