Hello, I'm New - Kia Sorento questions

[fi-76]

Hello there, Hope you don't mind a newbie asking for advice, but I found this forum while searching for information on our 4wd system & limited slip diff.

We bought our sorento last year and love it, however have a couple of questions we can't find a difinitive answer to in the handbook.

Ours is a 53 plate 2.5l manual xs. We have a knob on the right hand side of the dash with 'auto' & 'low' on it.

We believe that when the knob is at 'auto' that the car automatically selects 4wd to 2wd etc, and when the knob is at 'lo' it would be in low range, with limited slip diff, we use this mostly for manouvering in deep snow/ice/mud or manouvering my horsebox about the yard, to save the clutch.

Now in Lo box, when we turn sharp or slip on mud or ice, the wheels sometimes jerk, which we assume is something to do with the limited slip diff forcing the wheels to 'catch up' if they turn at different speeds to gain traction. We aren't too worried about this.

But, we also notice that when in auto and on full steering lock, say parking (in reverse or forwards) the wheels can also give a similar jerk. It this anything to worry about? Is it because the car has limited slip diff in auto as well and can't cope with the difference in the turning of the wheels when on full lock as such? It's especially noticable if you are going up a small curb or similar.

Would be really grateful if anyone could explain in non technical words what's the deal with our 4wd system and how we should be using it to it's best?

many many thanks.

[d3matt]

I was speaking to the salesman in our local Kia dealership a few months ago about buying a used Sorento and he said higher spec models with permanent 4WD suffer from this and they have a lot of owners bringing them in for investigation.
His advice to me was to buy a lower spec with 2WD and selectable 4WD as they are much better and don't suffer from transmission lockup. He said that Kia didn't get it right and is now solved with the new transmission on the 2010 Sorento.
Sorry if this is a bit vague. I'm not really qualified to answer you questions, but at least one reply to your post is better than nothing

[ewokssorrie]

get your diff oils changed ! and get the kia oil as it cleans the little clutches in the diffs ! had mine done and no more jerking !!!

[vulcan]

Originally Posted by d3matt

I was speaking to the salesman in our local Kia dealership a few months ago about buying a used Sorento and he said higher spec models with permanent 4WD suffer from this and they have a lot of owners bringing them in for investigation.
His advice to me was to buy a lower spec with 2WD and selectable 4WD as they are much better and don't suffer from transmission lockup. He said that Kia didn't get it right and is now solved with the new transmission on the 2010 Sorento.
Sorry if this is a bit vague. I'm not really qualified to answer you questions, but at least one reply to your post is better than nothing

It should be made clear that the Sorento has not and never has had permanent 4wd.