Edit. Push and pull the wires and can't get the problem to replicate

 

99% of the time issues as described are electrical in nature..

Start at the main connections of the battery, all positive and grounds.. clean (shiny and grease).

Second, find and repair/replace the main power and fuel pump relays..

Any time the main power fails, the ECU will reboot to factory fresh (NO CODES/DTC's)..

... Philip

 

Also check the ground straps between the engine and chassis.

What was the outcome of these suggested checks?

 

Thanks Philip

I'll check those relays then and clean the grounds.

Also, after the car breaks down, and I get it restarted, the transmission gets stuck in 4th gear.

 

Also check the ground straps between the engine and chassis.


Please fill in your profile detail, ......at least location and vehicle.

 

Hello Ckon and welcome to the kia forums . the problem would be easier to solve if you gave more details in your user CP top right of page.
The fact it goes into 4th is failsafe mechanism.
It started when it was raining.
Does your car have an immobiliser, if not the problem of lost electrical power to AT system and going to safety mode could be the connections to the AT valve controller . May just need cleaning and resealing.

Jeff

 

Check battery terminals are clean and tight. If you are in USA places like AutoZone and O'reilly will test your battery and alternator for free. These are easy to check and I suspect likely the cause of your problem.

 

Correct, and they'll do this in a running car.

 

Thanks for your help everybody.

Mike, Yes, If it starts, I can put it in D, and the transmission will be in 4th. I can't get out of 4th by driving or by the quick shift either.

Jeff, the vehicle does have an immobilizer, and I suspected that might be the problem. But would the car shut down while driving though? I'll check out the A T valve controller.

 

Where is the AT valve controller?

 

Is the immobilizer aftermarket or factory Kia? This will be interesting to hear what fixed this car.

Mike :beer:

 

On the transmission case there is a an oblong area where the valves are the electrical connection there is what suffers in wet,
the immobiliser is a coil around ignition barrel common fault and easy to replace but not associated with wet.
As you seem to be having trouble getting out of failsafe gear it is likely to be the valve connections.
I do not have that gen technical tests to check out resistances etc. but if connections clen and seal fails I am sure some one can supply.

Jeff

 

Awesome, I'll check that out when I get home.

The immobilizer is factory.

 

Since you didn't mention it, I don't guess you're seeing a loss of tach reading. I had a slightly loose harness connector to the Crankshaft Position Sensor which gave me very similar symptoms. All they had to do was re-connect it. Evidently was not completely connected when new.

 

Okay, I just got the problem to replicate.

If i let the car warm up for a while, it shuts down.

I put a voltmeter on the battery. It reads around 14 volts while the car is running. just before the car stalls out, it start to drop slowly to 12.5v then stalls. I have to give it a minute before it will restart. Then, it restarts fine, runs for a couple minutes and stalls again.

Also, the radiator fan isn't running.

 

Sorry, Fan runs when i turn on the AC. Voltage doesn't drop from that

 

Voltage dropping below 13 volts is not normal, i wonder if it could be something as simple as a dying battery, loose battery terminals/connectors or slipping fan belt (not letting the alternator do its thing to keep the battery charged).

For a test, can you swap in a good fully charged battery and see if you can replicate the fault - a good battery should be able to hold its own for a little while even when the charging system is not working well.

 

Prior to buying my SX I had a Ford Escape that had a similar issue. After replacing some relays, and cleaning connections and everything else I could think of, the punch line was a battery with an intermittent fault that I never found. If you can, borrow a battery from another vehicle and see if your problem is fixed.

 

Ckon it sounds like the Alternator the voltage should not drop below 13 .5 volts the alternator controls are part of alternator.
Some specialists will recon diode bank, but usually not worth the bother.
The alternator has a plug connection and also a post connection If the post connection is loose or dirty it will cut out car and do the things you have mentioned. It is a real bad connection to check .

Jeff

 

I just took the battery to get checked. It's good. I went to take out the alternator, but it's really giving me problems. I got the belt off and both the bolts loose. Top bolt is out and alternator is loose from the top. But the bottom bolt won't come all the way out because it's blocked by body. Is there a secret to getting this thing out?

 

What leads you to believe that you have a bad alternator?


If the alternator was not charging, the car would still run until the battery got too low, ....... around 9 or 10 volt.


2011 sportage dies while driving, no start, no crank - a failed alternator will not prevent it from cranking IF the battery still has a charge.

 

I'm just taking it out to have it tested. I didn't think it would be so difficult to
remove.

The car does idle fine for about 15 min. Then the battery slowly starts to lose voltage(maybe 0.2volts per second) and it shuts down suddenly when the battery voltage goes below around 12.5v

 

That sounds like a bad alternator to me. Hope it is that simple.

Mike

 

Does anyone know how to get the bottom bolt out of the alternator? It hits against the frame in the engine bay.

Then, even after that is out, I'm not sure if I have enough room to pull the alternator out.

 

I only checked and cleaned the ground and main power on the battery so far. Still stalled

Because i would have to pay to replace the relays, I thought I would have the alternator checked for free at autozone first.

If the alternator is okay, I can go back and replace the relays.

 

I only checked and cleaned the ground and main power on the battery so far. Still stalled

Because i would have to pay to replace the relays, I thought I would have the alternator checked for free at autozone first.

If the alternator is okay, I can go back and replace the relays.

Wouldn't cost anything to check the battery to chassis ground, and the engine to chassis ground - once that's checked, testing the alternator in the car would be far quicker and easier than taking it out for testing.

 

EZ alternator function test, motor off, connect DVM to battery, note voltage, start motor, voltage must increase and likely slightly above 14v. If it did not go up to or slightly over 14v, the alternator is bad. A bad alternator will not be able to increase the voltage with a running motor, voltage will decrease.

Mike

 

Yes, testing the alternator on the car is far more practical compared to removal and carting it to a shop.

And those symptoms could also be due to other issues like bad connections and grounding, not necessarily/limited to a failed alternator.

 

Yeah, I thought taking out the alternator would be a 30 min job. It's not.

I will clean up the battery and engine block grounds today. If that doesn't solve the problem, I will have to have it towed to a mechanic.

I will update everyone on what they find. Thank you all for your help.

 

What's your battery voltage when car is not running? I'd still get the battery tested. They will run a load test on it. If alternator is putting out 14V when running that's good, but if voltage is dropping below 12.5 that's bad, your battery should be able to hold 12.6 on its own. You could have a failing battery and a failing alternator.

 

Anyone ever hear of an AC/DC AmpClamp meter, makes testing so much easier

... Philip

 

DC Clip-On ammeters is a more recent technology, and so much easier than measuring in series.

I believe there's still a fair amount of diagnostics that's still outstanding here.
The cutting out is one problem, and who knows, the cause of that could also be the reason why the charging voltage drops off, but rest assured, the engine does not need the alternator to continue running if the battery voltage is sufficient, and it can run until the battery voltage drops really low, ...... so the alternator is not the cause of the cutting out in this case (OP reported it cut out with a 12v available).

 

Ah! but a loss of main power will kill the ECU's ability to function and also decrease the charge function.

... Philip

 

Yep, which could be something as simple as a bad +12V main connection, or bad ground.