Automatic Transmission Leaks

[Jonfe]

I AM THE OWNER OF THE FIRST KIA CARNIVAL ON THE ROAD IN GUATEMALA. IN GENERAL I HAVE BEEN HAPPY WITH THE CAR, BUT FOUND THAT THE VEHICLE HAS FACTORY PROBLEMS THAT THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP HAS REFUSED TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR. THE CAR STARTED WITH THE QUICK WEAR OF THE BREAK PADS (EVERY 8000 TO 10000 KM). THE FACTORY FINALY CORRECTED THE PAD COMPOUND PROBLEM, AFTER A COUPLE OF YEARS WITH THE CAR UNDER 50,000 KM, THE HEAD GASKET BLEW, i HAD TO PAY FOR A KNOWN FACTORY RECALL, BECAUSE THE LOCAL DEALER REFUSE TO ACKNOGLEDGE THE RECALL. A YEAR LATER, THE POWER STEARING PUMP FAILED, AGAIN AN APARENT FACTORY RECALL DENIED BY THE LOCAL DEALER AND AT MY EXPENSE. LAST WEEK THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION STARTED LEAKING. i HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR ANY INFO ON THE WEB ABOUT ANY FAILURES, BUT HAVE NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL. IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE WITH TRASNMISSION LEAKAGE PROBLEMS? CAN ANYONE DIRECTME TO THE WEB LOCATION THAT LISTS ALL RECALLS AND FAILURES?

I BOUGHT THE CAR BASED ON MY NEEDS, COST COMPARISONS TO SIMILAR TYPE VEHICLES AND THE USA 100,000 MILE 10 YEAR WARRANTY. EVENTHOUGH THE LOCAL DEALER ONLY OFFERED 50,000KM 2 YEAR WARRANTY. I GAMBLED ON THE FACT THE FACTORY HAD A GOOD PRODUCT. WRONG??? <_<

[wjcheng]

Guatemala must have lots of hills? up and down? That's what I take a quick guess as your brake issue.

I realized my Kia Sedona 2002 EX did not like hills, uphill is fine or even great, but NOT down hills. You better use lower gear rather than your brake at down hills. I even drive around the mountain to avoid that, which did great!

Your transmission fluid leaking may be just a small plastic pipe broke or aging. Replace it for just $5 will solve the problem. And, you may not need dealer to do this.

For transmission, fluid checking is important, but if years later, you found the problem, you can still get a quart of transmission fluid from gas station to fill it, and then drive to garage to check for leaking pipe.

If you continue driving with low or no transmission fluid, you will end up destroy your transmission and that's thousands dollar job. It is true for any car, not just Kia Sedona.

I got my Kia Sedona 2002 EX for 5 years with 70,000 miles, and I NEVER use dealer's 10 year 100,000 miles waranty. Once you tried to use it, you may find yourself NOT taking care of your car as needed.

Kia Sedona 2002 EX is a great car, much better than any Japanese cars I own, including Misubishi, Honda, Toyota, Nissan ...etc. But, still, you need to maintain it regularly, especially top all fluids...