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2000 Sephia with ~►Blinkin' O/D Light ~► also a Dim HeadLamp.

53K views 94 replies 14 participants last post by  Loyale 2.7 Turbo 
#1 · (Edited)
2000 Sephia with Blinkin' O/D Light ~► SOLVED! ;)

So, my 2000 Sephia with 2003 Spectra engine had an amazing performance all the First year since the engine Swap... (more info about that, ~► Here) ...but recently the Speedometer stayed at Zero regardless the vehicle's Speed and the O/D Light started Blinkin' while the Check engine Light came On along, I Saw it for the First time since the Engine Swap.


So I Removed a Battery cable and started to Check things around...

I was Hoping there was just something that Became Loose, because I Went in a Long travel on unpaved (Secondary) Roads here, in my Countrie's mountains, (110 Miles) and there was Lots of Vibration due to the bad Roads.

So, while Being there at a Mountain's village; I Removed and Cleaned all the electrical Terminals, also I Removed, cleaned and put back in its place the Vehicle's Speed sensor that is Located under the Air Filter Box, also I Cleaned its Contacts.

Voilá! ... it Fixed the Speedometer issue at all and the Blinkin' O/D Light went away, along the Check Engine Light... and that lasted all the way back home on that bad roads. (another 110 Miles)


I Was happy untill the Passenger's side Headlamp went Dim and came back to Brightness alternatively as the Vehicle fell on Potholes, then Dim again...

I Already Checked the Wires and the Bulb itself, also the Relay and Nothing...

Seems like it has a Loose Ground, so Here comes my First Question:

Where is Located the Grounding for the HeadLamps?

...or there is another issue that could be causing a Dim Headlight?


Now, I Have a Problem with my Sephia: Back in my City, I was driving on a Speedy Highway and then the Transmission took too Long to Shift between gears... Suddenly the O/D Light came to Blink again, along the Check engine Light that came On... Just like the issue I Had on the Mountain's Highs; but now the Speedometer is Working properly, without fails.

Time for More Questions: What does Cause this Issue, beside the Vehicle's Speed Sensor, that Now is Fixed and Working Properly...

Is there a Transmission Speed Sensor? ... if so, Where is it?

Somehow I'm newbie in Automatic transmissions...

ATF Oil is in Proper Level, well... it reads a Li'l Bit overfilled... is Chevron; just changed six months ago.

Please, help me... this is my Wife's car :eek: and she Believes that I did wrong to take it to unpaved roads... I Use to do it very often on my Subaru, By the Way, both my Subie and my Sephia runs on 205/60 R15 all-terrain tires.

Any idea will be Highly appreciated. :)

Kind Regards.

~JesZeK.
 
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#2 ·
Welcome back JesZeK!
First... Headlight... Check headlight connector socket, Then follow the wiring harness from the headlight.. There should be a wire coming off the harness fairly close to the headlight going to the body/ground/earth. Check and clean that. The headlight relays under the hood and in the fuse box would affect both lights.

The check engine light will come on if there is transmission problem and it throws a code.
The O/D light flashing also indicates serious transmission problems. The computer believes there are serious problems because that was communicated to it.The speedometer dropping to zero could be considered a good thing as that usually indicates a speed sensor problem. It could be minor. The Sephia was known for "weak" automatic transmissions and We just had a poster here in the USA with a 2003 that has only 56k miles and the tranny went bad. The Sephia was not designed to be an "off road" vehicle...it's a "city" car. Your mountain roads sound like quite a challenge.

One thing you did mention was it was a little overfilled...this CAN cause problems with foaming and shifting and possible failure.

I believe you previously said the car had high mileage and if so...the poor car did extremely well with it's first transmission.
You can tell your wife that we said the car did VERY well for being that many miles and it being a city car.
You may have problems locating a good automatic because most failed under 100k miles and the "used" stock is probably depleted.
The Sephia with a manual transmission lasted much longer.

Dave
 
#3 · (Edited)
Thank you Dave, you're So Kind.

I forget to write on my First post, that I had to do an Emergency U-Turn and Run Fast over Rocks with the Sephia and that car Handles AMAZING on such hard Conditions, the Poor car suffered constant vibration for around Half Hour and Nothing got Damaged, no Shock Absorber, Coil, Steering Part, Brake, nor a Rubber... But the O/D light still Blinks and the Check engine came On along that.

I Already showed your post to my Wife...

My Plan "A" is as Follows:

Since the Transmission is the Original on the Sephia and it has 140,000 Miles (the Spectra engine only has the Half of that Miles) and I Doubt that the previous owner changed the Fluid; (I changed it when I Purchased the Car and then one time a Year after, both times I just used Chevron ATF.) I Imagine that there should be Muddy Buildup, Gum & Varnish... So I Plan to Clean it the Best way I Could without removing the Trans from the Car.

So, Today I went to our Local NAPA Store and I obtained a Can of "SEAFOAM Trans Tune" and I poured it all (a pint) to the actual ATF; then I Drove the Car for an Hour on Traffic.

My plan is to drive it for a couple of Hours more tomorrow and then I will Remove the Transmission's Bottom (Oil Pan?) to Clean it all with Kerosene; I am not Sure if I could Clean (wash) the Oil Filter(s) or if they must be Changed.

Also, I'll Look for Loose electric contacts all around.

Then I will Close it and Pour new, Fresh Oil and Try it Again... I Hope that will fix it, because today Driving with the Seafoam, I Noticed Smoother Shiftin' and also I Noticed that the Overdrive button on the Shifter, Still Works! ... :eek: ... Because the Transmission downshifted when I pressed the O/D button, and it Returned to Shift Up when I pressed the O/D button again; like if it where working Normally.

Now that's Weird... Because the O/D Light continued Blinkin' and the Speedometer (That was Working Fine after I Cleaned its contacts on the Mountain Highs) Dropped to Zero when I Was Cruisin' on the Highway at 55 MPH... for about ten Minutes and that Thing suddenly started to Show 5 MPH... Then Returned to Normal Reading at 55 Mph... Hhmmm....

So I Suspect on Loose Wiring / Solenoids \ Dirty oil that Clogged passages.


If that Doesn't Work... my Plan "B" is to Remove the Trans from the Sephia and Try to Dissasemble it to Check properly each part.

Please, let me Know what do you Think About all That... any Idea, Advice or comment will be Welcome.

Kind Regards.

~ JesZeK.
 
#4 ·
Plan "A" Worked... Let me Explain:

I Drove my Wife's Sephia two days with the SeaFoam Trans-Tune, but only for a total of Fifty Miles, I Drove it on 1st Gear only for ten Miles, then on 2nd Gear another Ten Miles, in Slow Traffic, The Rest where Driven on Highways at Cruise Speeds.

Then I Went to Remove the Oil Pan of the Transmission while the Car was Still Hot at its Normal Operatin' Temps.

I Cleaned both Metallic Filters and everything I Could clean there with Kerosene; and I had to Say: Holy Cow! :eek:

Why: I Found around an Ounce of Metal Chunks... Some of them where very Big like a Bean, and there was Metallic Dust on the Residues; also the the old ATF Mixed with the SeaFoam Detergent, came Plenty of Nasty Lookin' Muddy and Greasy appareance.

The Thing Looked more like a Dirty Gelatine than ATF oil... :eek:

I only could remove a total amount of Four complete Quarts of Oil, from the 5.7 that the Trans uses... So after Closing the Trans with both Filters already Cleaned, I Poured four fresh Quarts of Valvoline ATF oil.

The Results: That thing Drives Smooth as Silk, is Really unbelievable how the Trans has Smoothed like That, because I already was thinking (before the problem happened) that the Auto Trans on the Sephia was Smoother than many others I've drive, but now I cannot "Feel" the Gear Changes, only I Hear the Engine doin' Rpm Changes. ;)

I already have Drive the Kia without any problem nor Flashin' O/D Light at All for a Whole Day.

But I've Noticed that the Speedometer Needle tends to Wiggle at Slow Speeds, in example: if I Cruise at 35 Mph on a Street for more than Ten Minutes, I Notice that the Needle Drops for a second to Zero, then it Goes to 35 Mph; and / or the Needle decreases to 20 for a second and then goes Back to 35, while there is No Real Speed Change on the Vehicle.

The Automatic Transmission on the Sephia is Originally Designed by JATCO (Japan Automatic Transmissions Company) in the late 1980's Decade, the First Vehicle to use it was the Subaru GL-10 and RX (both Turbo) from 1987 to 1990; it is named the 4EAT, then the Second vehicle to Use it was the Nissan Pathfinder from 1989.

That Gearbox is Still in Production with minor Modifications, mainly related to the Gear Ratios designed for the Specific Vehicle.

The One on Kia Vehicles is the F-4EAT, the "F" is from Ford, the original Designer for the Sephia Platform.

So, that auto trans isn't Really Bad, the Problem with Kia Vehicles could be the Metallic Alloy used to Cast the Trans, because is a Li'l bit Weaker than the Ford or Mazda Counterparts.

But that Flush I Did seems to work as Magic to Renew a 140,000 Miles old Auto Trans on a Sephia. :D

My Next Step: To Change the Vehicle's Speed Sensor.

That is the one that sends the Vehicle's Speed to the instrument Cluster, so the Speedometer Works and the Auto Trans really Depends on that Reading to measure the Proper Speed to do a Gear Change.

I'll post more info and Pics Soon.

Kind Regards.

~ JesZeK.
 
#5 ·
JesZeK.
You are amazing with the things you come up with. I'm curious about the transmission model. I wonder if they where changed for the South American markets. We just had an 03 Sephia on the forums that had only 57k miles on it and it was toast. It sounds like you have an unbelievable amount of parts available (brands) on such a small island. You remind me of the people in the US back in the 50's and also in Cuba. You repair instead of replace. I tend to be that way also. My 2006 Spectra was a "totalled" vehicle when I bought it. I put very little in parts to make it fully legal and functional.
I saved your last two posts to reverence in the future for others...
I just read in WikiPedia this "Mazda has begun re-production of this transmission, for the 2011 Mazda2 subcompact."
Dave
 
#7 · (Edited)
JesZeK.
You are amazing with the things you come up with...
Again, thank you Dave for your Kind Words, which I Really appreciate.


... I'm curious about the transmission model. I wonder if they where changed for the South American markets. ...
Nope, Central American, Caribbean and South American Markets got almost the Same Kia vehicles, changes are focused on things that aren't legally required; in example: No cathalitic Converters on Certain Models along no Smog Stuff; other models comes with Diesel Engines that aren't available in the USA.

But my Wife's Sephia came from Georgia, USA. I Purchased it on an internet auction at the COPART website, I only paid the Auction Price, plus $300.ºº US Dollars (for Shipping) to receive it here in my Country, at our Caribbean "Cortes" Port.


...We just had an 03 Sephia on the forums that had only 57k miles on it and it was toast...
I Hardly believe it was "Really" Toasted, I didn't saw that Thread but maybe that Trans only Needed "Maintenance" somehow like the things I'm Doing to My Wife's Sephia Trans.


... It sounds like you have an unbelievable amount of parts available (brands) on such a small island...
Well... Yes, Really, but not on the Bay Islands (Honduras) only, there are Plenty of Parts Stores (really a Lot of Them, locals and internationals, such like NAPA) in all the Continental Honduras... we have only just over 112,492 km² with an estimated population of almost eight million. Our Capital City are the twin cities of Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela and our northern portions are Part of the Western Caribbean Zone; we also have Coast on the Pacific Ocean too.

I've obtained parts even in Small Towns, because I've Traveled across all my Country with that Sephia... even I obtained italian Brake Shoes on a Mountain's town.

Honduras is not in South America, nor in North America, but in Central America:





...You remind me of the people in the US back in the 50's and also in Cuba. You repair instead of replace. ...

I Agree, Absolutely.

I Discovered that the Sephia Shares really a Lot of Parts with Certain Fords and Mazda 323 / Protegé; so Beside the Kia Dealers and the Aftermarket Stores, I can go to the Ford or Mazda Dealers for Certain Parts.

In example, I Replaced the Original Kia Waterpump, made in Korea, which comes with a Six Blades Propeller; with the Mazda one, Made in Japan and Comes with Seven Blades. It works Great and the Material (aluminium Alloy) seems to be better. Both are Designed for the T8D engine.

Also, My Neighbour has a Black Mazda 323 that looks Pretty identical to my Sephia, even the Doors and many other Details; She had the Transmission failing and she placed in her Mazda, a Kia Transmission.


Here's a Photo of her Vehicle (the Black Mazda) in front of mine (the Blue Kia):



Please note the Details, even the Doors seems to be a Direct Swap somehow...​


...I saved your last two posts to reverence in the future for others...
Thanks Dave, I'm glad I can Help others.

Kind Regards.
 
#6 ·
Found a good site with information on common problems with the F4AEL/4EAT-F.
Some good reading...
Ford F4AEL, F4A-III transmission problems and fixes - Mechanical Database

Remember the Muddy and greasy looking gunk?
Read what they had to say...
"Lastly it is worth to note that the aluminum particles will mix with the carbon that is found in transmission fluid and creates what i will call Muck. This muck will be deposited throughout the transmission and eventually ends up in the valve body and accumulator and also the transaxle cooler and line assemblies"
BINGO...That's why they fail!
 
#8 ·
...Remember the Muddy and greasy looking gunk?

Read what they had to say...

"Lastly it is worth to note that the aluminum particles will mix with the carbon that is found in transmission fluid and creates what i will call Muck. This muck will be deposited throughout the transmission and eventually ends up in the valve body and accumulator and also the transaxle cooler and line assemblies"

BINGO...That's why they fail!

Yes, I Agree... Absolutely.

That's Why I poured a complete Can of SeaFoam "Trans-Tune" on my Sephia's Auto Trans, prior to do the Flush; and I Drove it with that stuff for a While.

When I Removed the Transmission's Oil Pan, I cleaned everything as explained above on Post Nº 4.



And here is the Promised Picture of the Metal Chunks I found on the Flushed Oil:





Could you Believe that?
 
#9 ·
Since the Flush & Cleansing, the Auto Trans on my Sephia works Smooth as Silk, but I Noticed that the Speedometer Needle is Wigglin' and sometimes it Drop to Zero when the Car is Still in Motion at Cruise Speeds...

That makes the O/D Light to Blink.

Since there is Not enogh "Clear" info or Pictures for easy understanding the Sensors Question on internet, I did my own Pictures and here comes my Guide; I Hope it will Help many People with Same Problems.
 
#10 ·
Holy Cow! ... this forum doesn't allows to post more than Four pictures per post and mine had Fifteen... Why?

I Guess I will "Cut" my Writeup in Parts, Starting in the Next post:

 
#11 ·
The Four Speed Electronic Automatic Transmission (4EAT) found on the Kia Sephia, has Two Speed Sensors; one is the "Vehicle Speed Sensor" and the other is the "Turbine Speed Sensor".

The Vehicle Speed Sensor sends the Speed Reading to the Speedometer and feedback the Transmission with the Vehicle's Speed, in order to Aid the Transmission's Computer to do the Proper Shifts for the current vehicle's Speed. The Vehicle Speed Sensor works with Gears and transform the Spin movement to electronic readings.

The Turbine Speed Sensor is Feedback for the Transmission itself and it is Gearless, it works with acoustic Signals.

Here, you can easily find where are they Located on the Second Gen ('98 ~ '01) Kia Sephia.


(however, this info Might apply to other vehicles that has the Same Transmission, use it at your Own Risk)
 
#13 ·
The Vehicle Speed Sensor...





...I have to Change it, because it was Failing...








...here is How the Trans Look without it...


 
#14 ·
...Today I Went to the Local Kia Dealer and purchased a brand new...





...Vehicle Speed Sensor for my Kia, This is the Part Number on Kia...





...Remember that I Wrote that Kia shares a Lot of Parts with other Brands?

Here is the Same part Number, but found on the Hyundai Dealer...





...it was more expensive, so I Choosed the Kia one. ;)
 
#16 · (Edited)
The Turbine Speed Sensor, below the Air Filter Box...





...was Workin' Fine, but I Removed it for...





...Clean it, and...





...do an Electronic Test of it, as Follows:





If the Resistance is Between 300 and 400 ohms, is allright.

If not, Replace the Part.​
 
#17 · (Edited)
Both Speed Sensors are attached to the Transmission by a single M 10 Screw, found on each sensor.


I've just finished to do all these things to my Sephia's Transmission; I'll let you Know how the Thing worked.

Kind Regards.

~ JesZeK.
 
#19 ·
Yes, I Knew it...

What I was tryin' to say is that you're Not limited to only one brand's Dealer to obtrain the Part, because the Same Part Number worked on the Other Brand's Dealer. (Kia ~ Hyundai)

Kind Regards.
 
#20 ·
SOLVED!

The O/D Blinkin' Light and the Check Engine Light Dissapeared, also my Sephia's Speedometer Works Fine.

I Drove the Sephia last night, after posting the Pictures & Procedures above; I drove it for an Hour doing many Speed variations on a Highway, the Speedometer stays Rock Solid on the Number, and Goes Up or Down with Speed.

Also, I Did this morning, a Small trip of 100 round Miles, Driving part of 'em on Unpaved Roads; and the Speedometer Stays Rock Solid on its Reading; also the O/D Blinkin' Light Dissapeared at all.

So, That's it! ;)

I Hope this thread will Help others to solve the Same Problems.

Kind Regards.
 
#21 ·
#22 ·
A Couple of Months has passed since my Last post about the Subject, so I am Glad to Report that the Automatic Transmission on my Wife's Sephia Continues working as New, Smooth Like Silk.


No Blinkin' O/D Lights anymore.

Kind Regards.
 
#23 ·
This was really nice to read through! I can't relate to it because I have a manual trans, but still quite enjoyable, informative, and easy to understand.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Thank you!


How could I describe "Smoother than Smooth"?

Some days ago, my dad was talking with me about my recent repair jobs, and talking about the Sephia's automatic transmission, he said that there is a small amount of the Old ATF Oil plus the Seafoam "Trans-Tune" Detergent that remains on the Trans, and he said that I should remove Half Quart of the New Oil and pour Half Quart of Lucas special Automatic Transmissions' Oil Additive.


A day after that, my dad gave me, as a Gift; a Bottle of This:





Lucas' Automatic Transmissions Fix Oil Additive.​


I Removed Half Quart of the ATF Oil and Poured Half Quart of that additive on the Sephia's 4EAT...

After some miles, the Thing Runs even Smoother than ever.

Kind Regards.
 
#25 ·
Greetings Loyale,

Glad to hear the Sephia is running so smooth.. Always enjoy reading your posts.

Thanks for posting about the Lucas Trans fix - I'm gonna try a quart of that in the 1997 Aspire here & see how it works, will let you know how it goes.
 
#26 ·
This is my Yearly Update:

The F-4EAT Automatic Transmission on my Wife's "KiaStein" Sephia, continues Working "Smooth as Silk" ... Despite that it is more than Thirteen years old and much more than 150,000 Miles; even coupled to a Much Newer T8D Engine with Half that Mileage, from a Spectra.


Here you can see a Short Video of a Weekend Family Travel:

~► The "KiaStein" on Highway - Aurora Mountain Park - YouTube

Kind Regards.
 
#29 ·
My Wife's "KiaStein" runs with 205/60 R15" Tires without problems, I know the Speedometer is around 10% low on its readings but no problems with that; the car Already came with those nice seven spokes Chromed 15" rims when we purchased it.

...and the Transmission continues shifting Smooth and holding Strong, despite the Horrid traffic and Steep hill climbings on bad roads that it faces every day.

Kind Regards.
 
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