[Sknowski]

I have 10,600 miles on my 2014 Kia Sorento EX. I had unit serviced (oil change/tire rotation) Monday AM and drove home (roughly 60miles). Parked vehicle in drive way and ran UVO diagnostic and synched with IPhone App. Stayed parked in driveway for roughly 2.5 hours. My boss met me at my house and I drove about 3 miles and stopped at a red light. After light turned green I accelerated and vehicle wouldn't go over 20mph. It was like I lost power. I turned around and drove home and parked in driveway. We then took bosses truck to meeting which we were now late. Local Kia service was closed by the time we were out of meeting. I took vehicle to Kia Service Tues Am described the above scenario. They kept vehicle for two days and could not duplicate problem. Any suggestions from anyone or has anyone experienced this before? I feel like this is a huge safety issue considering I travel heavily congested interstates about three to four days a week. Can anyone help or give advice.

 

[sleeperhawk]

Owners of 2014 KIA Sorento, KIA is aware of this issue

the following is from Just Answer and yes I paid, glad I did.
This happened to us twice on Saturday, July 20.


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Kia Sorento SX LTD F: Kia Sorento 2014, twice today while driving

Status: Finished
Category: Kia
Value: $36

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Asked by you on Saturday, July 20, 2013 5:50 PM EST

1 Answered Question

Kia Sorento 2014, twice today while driving in city traffic after stopping at a red light tried to accelerate, NO acceleration!! the vehicle would gradually increase (at a snail's pace) until about 40 mph. When I got out side of town, the only way I could increase to 60 mph was using the cruise control button to accelerate and even this was very painfully slow and would not go above 60. So pulled over turned vehicle off, waited a couple of seconds, turned vehicle back on voila acceleration was back. When I came back to town, going about 40, then at a red light same blasted thing again. So pulled into a parking lot, turned off, restarted acceleration is back. This is a very dangerous thing when you cannot accelerate, especially at intersections.

Country: United States
Make: Kia
Model: Sorento SX LTD F
Year: 2014
Engine: v6 3.3L

You have received an Answer!
From kwiggins29059

Saturday, July 20, 2013 5:58 PM EST
Hello, this is indeed a very dangerous condition. It can be caused by failure of the accelerator or throttle position sensors or corrupted file systems in the vehicles computer. I would advise not driving the vehicle if possible. Please contact your local kia dealer they will tow it and perform the repairs or ECM update at no charge to you.
I'm sorry you're having this issue and honestly there is nothing you can do yourself to remedy it.


You replied

Saturday, July 20, 2013 6:06 PM EST

Thanks for the reply. I believe it is in the computer system too. I just read a post on the KIA forum for 2014 Sorento where another owner has the same issue today. So there is definitely an issue with the 2014 acceleration.


From kwiggins29059

Saturday, July 20, 2013 6:07 PM EST
Yes, KIA has issued some bulletins about updating the software for issues similar to this. Usually it takes around 30 minutes to an hour to check everything and perform the update.

 

[sleeperhawk]

Update:

Took the 2014 Sorento to KIA today, had a call back this afternoon. They say the accelerator sensor went bad. Having the part over nighted and should be repaired tomorrow.

 

[sleeperhawk]

Last Update:

Picked up the KIA today from dealer and after testing highway and in town miles, we have acceleration back. Now for how is another question. By the way, our KIA dealer is great.

 

[mailxd]

just to make sure when it is in 'limp mode', all other electronics/etc are fine (incl radio/etc), right?

I'm asking as I had one experience when the car just died out --- even radio stopped --- felt more like an electrical issue in my case ?

Thanks.

 

[sleeperhawk]

All electronics were still working, car never died, just lost the capability to accelerate until I turned the vehicle off, then re-started.

 

[sleeperhawk]

Ok, back in the shop this morning with the same exact problem. Told them twice in less than 20 days is not good. LIMP MODE sucks but I told them the problem occurred after using the steering column button for ride modes, Normal, Sport, Comfort. Wife had not used the buttons and I did this past weekend, then the problem we occurred.

 

[plympton]

Anyone have new info on this? We went camping last weekend, and while backing up, the engine light came on, voice said to take it in, etc. Wasn't flashing, so I assume it's just an engine fault (and I'm in BFE, so not even in cell range). Car drove fine otherwise. I read that if the fault doesn't re-occur in 20 <somethings> it'll reset itself.

Went to TJ's and on the way experienced this "Limp Mode". You're right - no acceleration at all. Guess I'll have to take it in at this point.

I have a ODB dongle on order to get the fault code, due to arrive Monday. Anyone have a list of 2014 Sorento codes?

 

[VIM]

If you restart car several times, the check engine light should shut off. Don't know if that clears any stored codes though, so I would limit use.

Fault codes are found all over the internet. There may be specific ones for the Sorento. If they are specific to the Sorento or the 2014 Sorento, only Kia may have those.

Post your code and hopefully someone here can look it up for you, if required.

 

[plympton]

Got my new reader just as the flatbed came to the house :-(, and didn't have the leaflet to scroll and get the code. Roadside Assistance wasn't too bad, so hope it's not a painful experience once they get the car to the dealer. Will post when I hear more...

I knew I should have just drove it in. Sat in the lot until I called - no link up with Roadside Assistance... :-( "It arrived without paperwork, so we just let it sit here until you called. Oh, and the engine light wasn't on when we looked at it, and I don't think the code is stored once it goes out on its own." Great. This is turning out great. It's Priority #1 First Thing In The Morning!

 

[plympton]

Just got a call back from the dealer, the code was for the throttle position sensor, and they are either on the phone, or are in e-mail back to the Kia engineers.

(My interpretation) Basically, it's a Class Failure situation where they've had early failures in the field and are scratching their heads because they don't know what the root cause is yet. I'm cringing because what this means is that the early-failure folks are guinea pigs for the engineers whims, "Hey, try this band-aid and see if it fixes it!" Ugh.

 

[plympton]

Just got back my car from the dealer. The replaced the ETC Actuator (Electronic throttle control - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) and the Throttle Body and a gasket.

So far, so good. Dealer rented me a car for a day, too. Overall, decent experience.

 

[Klee]

Same issue but no trouble code logged

I have a 9 months old 2014 Sorento with 8K miles on it, I too experienced the 'limp mode' two nights ago, luckily I was on local road and not too many cars on the road so I was able to put on emergency light and 'cruised' home.

The next morning the issue was gone, I still took it by the dealership hoping that it was an obvious issue that they can fix. Unfortunately the dealership said there was no trouble code registered and the car drove fine so there was nothing they can do. I considered this a huge safety hazard and I was surprised they didn't take it more seriously and simply relied everything on trouble codes.

I even called Kia corporate to file a complain and was told the same mumbo jumbo to wait til it happened again, but I might end up in a car accident if it happens again.

I am glad that I am not alone here, any suggestion what I should try next?

 

[lizeredking]

Any updates on these? We have a limited 2014 with only 3k on the clock, when leaving the drive through it went into limp mode, no lights. confused the heck out of me when i pulled into the highway and couldn't get it to speed up. I stopped and restarted the car, with no change in results. we called the roadside assistance on the slow ride home and had them come pick it up from our driveway.

It's Sunday, we're waiting for the dealership to call us tomorrow.

 

[Hudsoner]

I don't know whether it is the same issue or not. My brand new 2014 V6 brought up the check engine light during the delivery inspection. Dealership could not find any reason for it and contacted Kia. They wanted the engine to be swapped for a brand new 2015 one, and the old engine shipped back to the factory for inspection.
This indicates to me that they still have random problems with the engine and still don't know the exact reason for this.

 

[lizeredking]

Update: no codes, they can't reproduce it. This thing is a month old and we've put less than 3k on it. I'm not comfortable picking it up and handing the keys to the wife and kids and hoping they don't get rear ended. What should I ask them to do?

 

[spacedogg]

Unfortunately limp mode can be caused by any number of issues including something minor as a bad sensor reading a bad value.

You will want to record circumstances in which the first limp mode occurred. Possibly temperature? Time of day? Where you were? How long was car sitting before you started it up?

Hopefully we can figure out what this is.

 

[havmir]

I don't know whether it is the same issue or not. My brand new 2014 V6 brought up the check engine light during the delivery inspection. Dealership could not find any reason for it and contacted Kia. They wanted the engine to be swapped for a brand new 2015 one, and the old engine shipped back to the factory for inspection.
This indicates to me that they still have random problems with the engine and still don't know the exact reason for this.

Gosh ... sorry to hear that. Please don't let them just swap engines ... you paid for a new car that works with an engine that runs ... have them give you a entire new car Hold your ground. I've seen dealer engine swaps result in years of niggling problems.

 

[NorCalRL]

Don't let their problem become your problem...

I don't know whether it is the same issue or not. My brand new 2014 V6 brought up the check engine light during the delivery inspection. Dealership could not find any reason for it and contacted Kia. They wanted the engine to be swapped for a brand new 2015 one, and the old engine shipped back to the factory for inspection.
This indicates to me that they still have random problems with the engine and still don't know the exact reason for this.

Hudsoner,

Don't let Kia's problem become your problem. If they never completed the delivery inspection, you never had the car delivered! It's still their car and their problem. Now you're in the market for a new car. You have the choice to buy a new 2015 Sorento or any other car you prefer. You don't have to accept a car that has never run properly and hasn't even been delivered to you. There's no reason for you to have to get into any discussion about how they want to repair their 2014 Sorento with a 2015 engine unless they want to hire you as a paid consultant.

Dave

 

[lizeredking]

70 degrees out. It was a 15 minute drive followed by 15 minutes in the drive through, then pulled out on the highway, no lights no warning and no acceleration. Never left drive gear during the wait. Stopped and restarted the car and it still wouldn't go over 2k rpm. It was back roads the rest of the way home, it got up to 45mph it just took a while.

Temp gage was just under half, it looked normal.