Engine went off-line by itself

[BB6886]

a couple of days ago i was going bumper to bumper regular city traffic, and just when i hit the break and shifted to neutral the engine turned off, in fact everything went off, but luckily the electrical came back quickly, and i was able to stop on time.

no idea what the hell happened, but after restarting the car, everything worked fine again.

my guess, it's probably a weird sensor glitch

I've always been shifting to neutral to coast the rest of the way up to the light or bumper in front or me, never had that happen before.

I'll take it to the dealer to have it checked out, but they'll probably say it's nothing.

It have not happened since then.

Has anyone experience something like this before?

[Sauron]

Originally Posted by BB6886

a couple of days ago i was going bumper to bumper regular city traffic, and just when i hit the break and shifted to neutral the engine turned off, in fact everything went off, but luckily the electrical came back quickly, and i was able to stop on time.

no idea what the hell happened, but after restarting the car, everything worked fine again.

my guess, it's probably a weird sensor glitch

I've always been shifting to neutral to coast the rest of the way up to the light or bumper in front or me, never had that happen before.

I'll take it to the dealer to have it checked out, but they'll probably say it's nothing.

It have not happened since then.

Has anyone experience something like this before?

Just curious...why would you do that? What's the perceived benefit of shifting to neutral while rolling up on a light?

Best,

[Cheekie B]

Agree... no point in shifting, harder on the tranny. Just take your foot off and coast.

[BB6886]

in neutral it rolls just as expected by the laws of physics

if i just coast with the tranny engaged it eats away the free roll, even when you leave it on 5, it'll auto down shift to 5 & 4 most of the time when there's not enough speed to keep it on 6

it's an habit i picked up from previous cars, it breaks faster in shorter distance for sudden stops

with the tranny engaged you are still being pushed forward a short distance even when you floor the breaks in a sudden stop manoeuvre

either way, the point is the engine suddenly shutdown by itself, which i find extremely weird.

never had this problem before on other cars, by shifting to neutral and stopping suddenly, well not even on the Sorento until just over the weekend.

I've been driving the same since the day i picked it up from the dealer without any issue until last weekend.

[DavesSpectra]

BB6886..
You sound like a technician when you said "Engine went off-line by itself".
I think you may have found a programming "glitch/bug"...

Todays cars "fly by wire" meaning we as drivers "request" something to happen (accelerate/push to start/roll up a window/set the alarm) the ECM/TCM/BCM modules (hopefully) perform the task we requested..

I think you may have found an error in the ECM/TCM program that would not have "normally" been found.. Your sequence of "events" probably have not been taken into account when the code was written..
-let up on the accelerator (computer controlled)
-applied brake (computer monitored)
-placed range selector in neutral (computer monitored)
-engine RPM drop to "idle" (computer controlled)
THEN the ECM/TCM "thought" you were going to shut down the engine and performed that task...

Even "if" it doesn't create an unsafe condition and you can "recover" by restarting/rebooting the ECM/TCM... It's unnerving to say the least..

I WOULD contact both your dealer and KIA Corporate about a possible programing error so they can locate the "possible" bug and correct the code. You might want to cut and paste what I posted here and add/correct any sequence of events you may wish to add... You will help KIA and other Sorento drivers by doing so...
Don't take a brush off from your dealer if it happens...Contact KIA Corporate.
Dave

[BB6886]

Thanks Dave,

Yes, that's definitely the plan, and thanks for the troubleshooting steps I do believe this would actually make it more understandable to the service people at the Kia Dealer

However the actions taken were as follow:

-let up on the accelerator (computer controlled)
-placed range selector in neutral (computer monitored)
-applied brake full force (computer monitored)
-engine RPM drop to "idle" (computer controlled)
THEN the ECM/TCM "thought" you were going to shut down the engine and performed that task...


the above sequence of action has been working great except for that single incident.

doing this sequence in reverse, can cause damage to the tranny if you over shift into Reverse
-applied brake full force (computer monitored)
-placed range selector in neutral (computer monitored)

i've actually tried this a couple of times on the Sorento, it wouldn't even let me do it, there seems to be a build in safety that prevents you from shifting to Neutral if you are already breaking

However switching first to neutral for the free roll, then hitting the brakes, is an allowed move according to the ECM/TCM programming

[Cheekie B]

Or you could just leave it in drive and not worry about it.
Actually I remember reading in the manual that you should always have it in drive when moving ie, coasting downhill (or to a stop) . They did not recommend otherwise.

[lxedition]

Originally Posted by Cheekie B

Or you could just leave it in drive and not worry about it.
Actually I remember reading in the manual that you should always have it in drive when moving ie, coasting downhill (or to a stop) . They did not recommend otherwise.

I read the exact same thing while reading the manual of my 2013 which I just trade in my 2004 for a 2013 EX V6...some of you may remember me

It stated it creates an unsafe environment or something of that nature which makes sense. It would create a premature wear on the transmission also.

[megalobyte]

Coasting in neutral is also going to add brake wear. A big part of what slows the car are the gears, might end up replacing brake pads sooner.

[Mysticality]

When I read 'bumper to bumper traffic', I'm thinking of stop/start traffic jam style... in which case... I also shift to neutral. Less wear on the brakes, less fuel consumption (engine fighting extra load due to trans. being engaged, etc)

If on highway or road and doing a decent speed (10km/h+), then leaving it in gear is better fuel consumption.
When the vehicles kinetic energy turns the engine, the engine uses no fuel.