[K P]

I get that same rattling at low acceleration.

Did you take it to the dealership? If so, what did they say?

 

[K P]

No, never took it to the dealer. I contributed the noise to like maybe noisy injectors, or something like that, once it warmed up it went away.

Hmm that's interesting. In my case it never goes away regardless of whether the vehicle is warm or cold. The only time it truly starts to disappear is when the vehicle starts to go over 45 mph. It's completely gone by 50 mph and after that, the HEV is a beast to drive (barring the wind noise).

 

[K P]

I’ll try to pay more attention to it, I really don’t drive the car a lot it just turned a year old and only a 4000 miles on it. Also I really don’t have any wind noise. It’s a very quiet car. I think it might be quieter than my wife’s Mercedes.

Interesting. It's crazy when it's windy but even when it's not, it's still there. I will pay close attention over the next day or two and report back on the wind noise.

 

[K P]

For the wind noise, there might be a defect on the weatherstrip. Check for air bubbles or pinchmarks

Thanks for the tip. I will take a look and also have the dealership take a look at it.

 

[K P]

I’ll try to pay more attention to it, I really don’t drive the car a lot it just turned a year old and only a 4000 miles on it. Also I really don’t have any wind noise. It’s a very quiet car. I think it might be quieter than my wife’s Mercedes.

So I have driven the vehicle for 2 days since that last post on wind noise and have been paying a little more attention. I would say there is some wind noise coming in but it sounds more like half an mm of glass has been left open if that makes sense. The noise just goes up when the speeds increase and you can hear the wind hitting the windows. Do you get the same? I guess I was expecting the vehicle to be whisper quiet, which is not perhaps how it's meant to be. There is some other noise coming from outside, it's just hard to describe or explain, there isn't a whole lot of engine noise or road noise but it isn't completely quiet. I will keep observing over the next few days and check out the weatherstripping.

 

[K P]

follow up? resolution?

Sorry have been away for a while. The vehicle didn't rattle much the day I took it to the dealer. Anyway, he said it might be a detonation issue and to use premium fuel.

I have been doing that. The vehicle now has a little over 2000 miles on it and I am not sure whether the fuel has anything to do with it or not. There is still some rattle but it is a LOT less. I also don't know if cooler weather has anything to do with it.

One thing I have noticed is that I now use the remote start from the app a lot to heat up the vehicle and because the heat is running, it starts up the gas engine and once that happens, transmission getting stuck no longer happens. It's very smooth. This leads me to believe that the rattling issue has something to do with the transition from the electric to the hybrid set up, where both motors are trying to take control.

So in a nutshell, it's much much better now to the point of being almost a non issue but I am not sure if it's going to come back when the weather changes again.

 

[K P]

Attempt # 3

Was close to a different Kia dealership for something unrelated, decided to drop by to see if I could have them look at the vehicle to sort out the rattling issue as the first dealership seemed to be totally clueless.

Spoke with the service manager, explained the issue, he seemed to know his stuff and said that this might not be an engine issue, it might actually be a transmission issue. Encouraged after listening to him, I scheduled an appointment for the rattling and another issue which I will discuss in a separate thread.

Had the appointment yesterday, waited for an hour or so while the dealership worked on the vehicle after confirming that they could hear the rattle too. Then the rep comes out and tells me that they have updated the codes and reset some settings etc and I should drive it for a few days and come back if the issue is still there.

I drove and the issue is the exact same, NO change. I don't know what they were doing for an hour but I am getting the feeling that these folks just dont have that level of training to figure it out.

I really want to love the vehicle but this rattle is making me have second thoughts about keeping this vehicle. It's so gorgeous from the outside and inside.

Anyway, just wanted to post. Just wondering if I should take it to a local mechanic and have them take a look. But then with this being a hybrid, not sure if they will be able to figure it out either. Then there is the issue with the warranty.

 

[K P]

First, can you make it rattle? Or does it rattle randomly?
If you can "make" it rattle note conditions under which it occurs.
Did you / are you using premium?
Note general weather and temperature at time of rattle.

eg. Rattles at 2nd at Main going up hill worse at 35 degrees vs 70 degrees, worse with reg vs premium gas, at 35mph light acceleration .......

The rattle is always there. It's been there from day 1. I have switched to premium since my second appointment for this issue and have been using it since then. There is nothing specific that I need to do to make it rattle, other than just drive. The rattle usually shows up and lasts for a second or two right at the time when the vehicle is accelerating and when it gets to the point where peak RPM has been reached before the transmission needs to shift to a higher gear, say 2nd to 3rd, that is when you hear the rattle, transmission shifts, RPM drops and the rattle goes away. Then when accelerating again, process repeats until the vehicle has gotten to a higher speed and gear. There is no rattling above 50 mph.

My bandaid solution to AVOID hearing the rattle is by using the paddle shifter, so I can change gear before it gets to the point where I can hear the rattle.

 

[K P]

Mine is noticeable at lower speeds while moderately accelerating to say 40mph.

Yup. Exact same for me.

 

[K P]

Reading all the replies above. I'm not sure if I have the same issue, hope not. But when i'm going up a hill or a heavy acceleration i notice a noise, but it sounds like those manufactured engine noises they been putting into the new cars recently. I never paid attention to it. If the noise they're mentioning above is Loud, then this is Not the noise I'm listening to. I had a person sitting next to me and he hardly noticed it and when I brought to his attention, he agreed with me that it's a manufactured noise, not some to do with the engine or something that is loose. I posted a problem with the battery or no power at all when I went to start it last week. They "Claim" they put it on the analyzer but nothing came up with any codes. Anyone else has similar noises?

No, it's not that. I actually had someone reply but when I came to check in the discussion, their message had disappeared. But I could read part of their message in my email and that poster was facing the same issue. They described the sound as a 'tractor running under the hood', which probably is the most accurate way to describe it. It is worse when it is cold, just makes me hate the vehicle. I need to have this issue addressed, otherwise I will have no choice but to get rid of this car.

 

[K P]

To the OP: That sure sounds like detonation to me. I might suggest changing the oil and going with full synthetic SP rated oil (say Pennzoil Ultra). It might be related to the LSPI issue that the newer formulated oils help to avoid. This might help keep you from having to run premium gas (say 93 oct). I'd also suggest trying both for a while (say 4K miles) to see how the engine responds over time with both mitigations.

Thanks for the tip. The vehicle is already at close to 4400 miles, I will be scheduling an appointment soon. I have been driving on premium gas with no noticeable difference but haven't had an oil change yet. I will let you know if there is any noticeable difference after the oil change, thanks again!

 

[K P]

One thing I want to add. I noticed this first during this past winter but for some reason didn't think much of it but it happened again today so thought I'd post. Today is a much colder day here in the Midwest, so I had to turn the heat on. I have noticed that there is literally NO rattle when the heat is running. Maybe a very very VERY slight noise at settings 1 or 2 for the heat but NONE once I set it to 3 or higher and I have paid very close attention to confirm that the blower motor sound is not drowning out the rattling noise and it is not. I have not started using the AC yet so not sure if it's the same with the AC but there is definitely no rattle with the heat working, all I hear is the turbo spooling just like it should be. Just thought I'd post that here. Wondering if this may potentially be an HVAC issue. Maybe there is something in the blower motor that is stuck or moving around or maybe loose.