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Car wont start after fueling, misfire, starter won't engage. All related? Help!

16K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  Tuscani922 
#1 ·
Before I jump into the problem, I guess I should start with an introduction. I am new to the forums. I have done tons of research but decided to join this forum to try and solve a problem that is so far outwitting me. My girlfriend has a 2006 Kia Rio. It is a base model with an automatic transmission. I'd like to say it's been a good car, but it hasn't. It's been a constant flow of problems. This problem has been a nagging one for about a year now.

Every time the car gets refueled, it will not start unless you pump the gas pedal and crank it for about a minute, then you have to keep revving the engine for about a minute or it will immediately stall out and sometimes backfire. However, if you turn the car off but then put the key back to the on position before fueling it does not do this. As a side note there are no problems pumping gas, the pump doesn't shut off prematurely or spit back or anything like that.

Also there are two intermittent most likely related problems. The first is that sometimes the car will not start. It won't crank at all, like an anti-theft feature almost. The dash lights come on, but the starter will not engage, and after turning the key back and forth 20 or 30 times sometimes it starts. Sometimes taking the gas cap off or pumping the gas pedal will help but sometimes it still won't start. The other intermittent problem is a misfire while driving. It usually occurs at idle and speeds under 45, I don't notice it on the highway. It almost seems like pre-detonation. It sometimes happens in quick succession and can be pretty violent, and sometimes it is very subtle and only stumble once or twice.

So far in my research I have found that the canister close valve and canister purge solenoid can cause similar issues. The purge valve is under the hood and the close valve is near the tank (if I remember that right). I replaced both to no avail. There is no check engine light on. The only things I can think of are that one of the valves I replaced was faulty out of the box, or the fuel tank pressure sensor is bad, hence the deactivation of the starter, and maybe if it is sending an improper pressure reading to the ecm it is cause flooding and making the car misfire? Rather than replace more parts I'd like some troubleshooting ideas though. Anyone care to take a stab at this one?
 
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#2 ·
86 views and nobody wanted to take a bite? I started teaching my girlfriend to drive my 5 speed yesterday, once she gets the hang of it I'm going to get rid of this piece of junk and let her have my focus. But I would like to fix this thing so it will be worth more than a grand when I get ready to sell it.
 
#3 ·
I'm thinking the fuel tank pressure sensor is the most likely cause, and I found a Kia test procedure for checking it. It should have 2.5 volts output signal with key on engine off and gas cap off according to them. So I'll give that a check and see what I come up with. I'm surprised so many people have this problem but nobody has been able to solve it. And why isn't there a recall for such a wide scale problem?
 
#4 ·
A little update if anyone has this problem in the future (which they will). I developed a new problem, intermittent gauge cluster failure. The needles would drop out, odometer would blink out, then it would come back. This was while driving and at a stop while the car was running. My misfire was getting worse as well. So after an hour or so of research I decided to dive in. Yesterday I disconnected the battery and pulled my cluster, pcm, all pcm fuses, cluster and tcu fuse, memory fuses, and after about 15 minutes I plugged it all back in tight. Gauge problem seems to be solved. Also the airbag light that was on (I assumed unrelated until now) is now gone, my misfire seems to be gone, and my intermittent ac fan failure seems to be gone as well. Sometimes simple resets can do wonders I guess.
My girlfriend said she took it to a mechanic about 6 months ago for the check engine light and the mechanic said "the computer was messed up and the check engine light wouldn't clear, and the airbag light came on" so I think the idiot freaked out the pcm and it just needed a hard reset. The only problem I still seem to have is the intermittent no start. But I believe this to be the ignition switch and lock cylinder, because sometimes the lock cylinder gets stuck, and when it does that's generally when it won't start. I'll order a new cylinder and switch in the next few weeks and see if that cures the last of the problems.
 
#5 ·
fuel wont get to engine after fill up?

similar issue. After only 100,000 km i started having this issue with my engine. After removing the gas cap, my fuel system loses pressure. after putting gas cap back on and starting kia, it wont turn over. I have to sit there for several min feeding it gas as if its an old carburated engine. Any ideas? could it be the fuel filter? Dealer charged me $100 for a scan, and tried to charge me $400 for a tune up to "see if that's the problem". Not happening!
 
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