Hello, new (used) Sorento owner

[chief0299]

Hello everyone. I just purchased a used 2003 Sorento about 4 weeks ago. I did quite a bit of research prior to buying it and thus far am pleased. I do have a couple of questions about some things that I have found. I've tried to do some searches and looked through the past threads for some answers and have gotten a pretty good idea. Here's my concerns:

Here's what I've got... 2003 Sorento EX 2wd 91,000 miles second owner
#1: I get an oscillation from the engine at around 1400rpms and 3000rpms. From older threads, I'm going to check the coil packs and see what they ohm out at. I'm also going to check all of the pulleys and see what I come up with. I'm also suspecting that the butterflies jumping around might be causing this.

#2: I'm taking the vehicle in on Thursday for the ICV recall. Hopefully I get it back with no problems.

#3: I get a slight wobble in the steering wheel at 70mph and above. The tires are brand new (had the dealer put them on as part of the sale). I'm going to take the vehicle down and have the tires re-balanced to see if it makes a difference.

#4: I've been reading that constantly failing diodes cause the front dome light to go out. Has anyone come up with a permanent and feasible fix for this?

#5: I'm a highly qualified shadetree mechanic. I repair and fly on heavy aircraft for a living as well as have restored one vehicle and am in the process of restoring another. Pretty much anything other than pulling an engine or tranny, I can do myself in my own garage. All that being said, does anyone have an electronic version of the service manual or is there one online I can download?

Thanks all and I look forward to years of conversations.

[pistnbroke]

Welcome..
When you go to the dealer check that all the re calls have been done ...crankshaft bolt and butterflys ...
main important things are
1/ unplug the butterfly system even if they have fitted a new one
2/ keep the aux belts at minimum tension as this overloads the crankshaft bolt and it breaks
3/ check when the camshaft belt was changed and if its due a second change then its recomended to change the water pump as this is driven off the back of the belt and if the bearing fails ....new engine
4/ if you are going in water extend the inlet to the evap canister ( rhs in front of fuel tank)
5/ on line manual has everyting you need ..reference to it lower down

6 / as you have the two part driveshaft ( being 2wd) check the vibration is not from a worn central support rubber /bearing ...common problem ..as you get it at 1500 AND 3000 sounds like some sort of harmonic vibration ...propshaft is a good candidate

7/ dont forget to lift the rear axle 8 inches when topping up as they increased the oil capacity .

8/ if the coils were faulty causing a misfire you would get a mil light ...dont waste your time ...access is difficult anyway ...under LH cover

Just enjoy the vehicle ..the problems quoted on here only affect a very few people and precautions should keep you safe...

[chief0299]

Thanks for the info and the welcome Pistn. The prop shaft, where might that be?

[nstoolman1]

It's the driveshaft. There are three u-joints. Not serviceable other than grease. There are four lube points on the shaft. 3 joints and a spline. The carrier bearing is replaceable. $89 for the bearing and $90 for KIA to press the bearing on. If you bring just the shaft in. I don't know what the cost is to bring the car in and let them do the whole thing. I just went through that song and dance. Was told by KIA that if you bring the shaft in, they send it out, it gets buggered up from the shop they send it to you buy a new driveshaft. If you take the whole car to KIA and it gets buggered up they buy the driveshaft. App $600 to $700. You will be able to tell if the rubber around the bearing is bad.

[04SorentoLX]

Originally Posted by nstoolman1

It's the driveshaft. There are three u-joints. Not serviceable other than grease. There are four lube points on the shaft. 3 joints and a spline. The carrier bearing is replaceable. $89 for the bearing and $90 for KIA to press the bearing on. If you bring just the shaft in. I don't know what the cost is to bring the car in and let them do the whole thing. I just went through that song and dance. Was told by KIA that if you bring the shaft in, they send it out, it gets buggered up from the shop they send it to you buy a new driveshaft. If you take the whole car to KIA and it gets buggered up they buy the driveshaft. App $600 to $700. You will be able to tell if the rubber around the bearing is bad.

Sounds like that dealer gave you some wise info to heed. There are three ways this could go.

1) Dealer does work it costs @$300 or less and your on your way. IF it gets messed up you get a $700 free shaft for that same @$300
2) You do all the work. Buy the bearing and get it pressed on by dealer that sends them out. IF it gets buggered/found usless and not servicable/or it hums/wobbles you have a useless shaft and $89 bearing and you buy a $700 new shaft. By the way they have a VESTED interest in leting you BUY the bearing and then getting you into that $700 shaft think about it. And it really is $789 or more if they nick you for the press fee, as you bought a non returnable bearing.
3) You do all of the work. Buy the bearing and take it to a shop you trust to do it and have it pressed on. You now have a @$190 cost. IF you took your chances and lost this route. You then have a greater chance of winning in court sooner if at all then option (2)

The amount of luck you think you have tells you weather you go with option (3) or option (1). I know what I would do, but it is up to you.

[chief0299]

Thank you for the explanation. Funny, the differences in dialects. Anyways... I'm thinking I've got a drive shaft issue too. Today I put 200 miles on the Sorento and noticed the constant vibration while driving, but noticed something new. The vibration was only there while the engine was under a load. If I shifted to neautral and coasted, no vibration. I know where I'm heading pay day.

Thanks again for the help.

[pistnbroke]

When you go in neutral the torque is reversed on the shaft which would account for the change in vibration pattern.

[nstoolman1]

chief0299
Go here and register Kia Global Information System (KGIS) and under technician notes I think look for
Kt2005030207 and Kt 2005022817
One deals with driveline vibration and the other deals with rear end fluid capacities. Hope this helps

[chief0299]

Thanks for the info everyone. I took my Sorento in today for the ICV recall. I also addressed the driveline vibration problem. When everything was done, the service rep came out and told me the vibration is probably from tires out of balance. I explained to him about only feeling the vibration while the vehicle is under load, not in neutral coasting, he said he would have the tech take another look. About 10 minutes he came back and said that he had the technician put my vehicle on a lift and poked around. The carrier bearing is definately bad. But get this... hey won't replace just the bearing. They want to charge me $786 (US) to replace the entire propshaft assembly including the carrier bearing. I told the service rep that I had a couple of issues with this. First, the extended warranty should cover this because if it isnt taken care of now, it will cost the warranty company double to replace the transmission when it fails as a result of the driveline issues and second, I bought the vehicle 4 weeks ago and this should have been found and taken care of prior to me leaving the lot as this has the potential to be a safety liability on them. The service rep went in to call the warranty company to get approval to change the driveline, but returned shortly to tell me that the warranty company was closed. I have to call them back in the morning to find out if the repairs will or will not be covered.

I asked if the technician burped (bled) the air of my cooling system properly and the rep told me that the way they do the repairs, they slide the top half of the intake over to the side and completely replace the bottom half. I asked if they had to disconect any coolant lines, but was told no. I told him that I saw the instuctions on the Kia tech web page and he said that they do it a little differently to save time.

Everything under the hood looks good. I'm hoping my driveline gets repaired.

Thanks for the help!

[pistnbroke]

and dont forget to tell us what happens !!!!