Welcome to the forum.

The A/C stopped working may be a sign of trouble with the V-belt which also drives the water pump, so you may have overheated it.

If it is overheated, then you could get away with just doing a cylinder head gasket replacement or better a head refurb at the same time.

Sudden death is typically due to a timing belt breaking, but in your case it may be overheating.

 

the timing belt drives the water pump in the sportages so if it was still running, the water pump would still be turning. 25 psi is basically no compression, even 100 psi isn't enough.

i would get a gasket set and do all the gaskets and seals that you can while the engine is apart. 1996 was a long time ago and some rubber seals could go bad just by being too old. it all depends how much trouble you want to risk being in later for rushing a job.

 

Thanks for the quick reply, Ron.

It is likely that the temp gauge wouldn't have shown any high temps in this situation?

What would head refurb involve?

I take it this top end work is do-able without having the engine out of the car? I've replaced an alternator and a master brake cylinder before, cleaned out an idle control valve, that's as much experience as I have.

-James.

 

James, I drive a 4WD 2000 Sporty and I had a recent incident that was almost similar to yours. My AC didn;t cut out but as i was nearing my home after a 1000 km cross country trip, the engine began to lose power and giving funny noises. I pulled in front of my house and whaddya know????

Dry radiator tank!! Not a teeny weeny drop!!

As it was evening I sent my car for repair the next morning. A cheap cover on the engine block was leaking water and I didn't even know about it. I don't recall the temp being high nor was there an Engine Check light.

Fortunately my mech told me that apart from replacing the cheap cover, my engine ran normal again. The didn't seem to be a head gasket leakage so i didn't touch any other things.

Lucky me, labour was only 12 dollars, cover was 1.50 so that adds up to 13.50.

Moral of the story, don't depend on the engine check light or the temp gauge to warm you of problems.

Like you I love my sporty too!

 

head and gasket replacement can be done without engine removal.
you can also try to change rings "on the car", but you would need open the engine from bottom (oil pan) and push cylinders to the top.

I would say, head and gasket are kind of strait forward and should be easy as long as you follow the procedure regarding assembling it back (order of tightening screws).
More difficult might be connecting all the wires, vacuum lines and so on.
Also, the timing belt marks are important.

It would be better for you if you have someone to help you with that. Someone who knows this stuff.

 

jamesgood72, like Aaron Ong said, I would try the cheapest and easiest thing.
fill with water, check oil and all stuff, and crank the engine. Make sure timing belt is fine too.
If anything is wrong, it will not worsen with this try.

 

If you have no compression, (25psi is nothing) your engine will not run. Filling the radiator will not work. you either have a blown head gasket and possibly warped heads or your rings are shot in which case you'd be better off with a new engine. I would have them pull the head and at least replace the gasket and do a compression check. If it is still leaking at the head you will need the head resurfaced. Either way, it is not going to be cheap but head work will be less than half of a new engine, if that's the problem.

 

Thanks for all the replies, you have a very friendly forum here!

At the moment, my thinking is that I'll get the car towed back to the house, and my friend is going to help me take the head off, and we'll see what we can do. I don't think I can justify $4000 on this car at the moment, luckily I do have another car to use.

Since the engine didn't freeze, it seems like there is some change changing the head gasket and maybe some head work will get it going again.

I'll keep you posted. BTW, here's a picture of the car.

-James.

 

Thanks for all the replies, you have a very friendly forum here!

At the moment, my thinking is that I'll get the car towed back to the house, and my friend is going to help me take the head off, and we'll see what we can do. I don't think I can justify $4000 on this car at the moment, luckily I do have another car to use.

Since the engine didn't freeze, it seems like there is some change [chance] changing the head gasket and maybe some head work will get it going again.

I'll keep you posted. BTW, here's a picture of the car.


-James.

Only if it's confirmed that the head gasket needs changing and is the cause of your problems - looking at your last set of pictures it doesn't appear that you actually had a head gasket problem.

 

OK, I've used the Kia Way site to read about how to get the head off, but I puzzled trying to get the intake manifold off. Is this what the manual refers to as the 'dynamic chamber'? There are apparently 8 bolts holding it on. Any tips on how to get it off. Do I need to get the whole thing off, or just the upper half?

I currently have the timing belt off, the cam pulleys, timing belt back plate, and everything I needed to do to get that off, the head cover, fan assemblies, etc.

Thanks for any help again...

-James.

 

OK, got it all out. Was a real pain to get to the EGR connectors, but all done now. No sheared bolts or anything like that.

There doesn't appear to be any piston / cylinder damage. Didn't have a straight edge to check the head yet, that's next. If anyone has any comments / observations / tips, please let me know. Thanks!

-James.

 

Hi Ron,

No, my personal feeling is that the head is out of true (the head bolts seemed different torques to me), it wasn't just general gasket failure. But I still haven't got a straight edge on there to check yet. I'll let you know when I do - I have a machine shop that says they'll mill the surface for $35.

-James.

 

The head is off, and has been to the machine shop, nice and flat now.

Does it sound a good idea to get the official Kia gasket set? My local dealer has it for $194. This is obviously quite expensive, but I assume it has every gasket I could possibly need to put everything back together (saying that, I think it's just the head, head cover, exhaust and intake gaskets that I need, right?). Or do you guys recommend any other set?

What else should I change at this time? Thermostat, timing belt? I think I read that it's a good idea to change the water pump?

I don't want to be having to tear it down next year!

Thanks,

-James.

EDIT : Just found a post from you in another thread, Ron, suggesting "I normally get the belt replacement kit which includes the idler and tensioner rollers, and I change the coolant pump on alternate belt changes unless t feels rough then I'd change it regardless".

 

Great, thank you guys.

I've ordered the water pump, timing belt, head gasket set, 4 NGK plugs and the thermostat. I'm trying to do this right, so hopefully that little lot will be all I need. I'll pickup antifreeze at the local autozone, the very helpful guy at Bill Seidel Kia here in Miami said it didn't need any special type.

Apart from the EGR pipe which was a real pain, everything has come apart very easily so far (no rusted / sheared off bolts, or anything really). Hope I can get it all back together.

-James.

 

Here's the head now it's been machined :

 

Anyone have any tips on what to use when putting the new gaskets on? Should I use any sealants or compounds when installing? The shop manual doesn't state any.

-James.

 

i don't. i've had bad luck with using a combination of rtv and a gasket. id either use a gasket or rtv, not both. if you do use rtv and gaskets, don't put anything on the head gasket. fuel will eat away at whatever sealant you use on it and cause a blown gasket again.

 

Thanks kiaracer. I'll just use the gasket.

My current problem is removing the main crankshaft belt pulley. Any ideas on that one? I've put the car in 5th gear, and have already broken a small socket extension trying to undo it. The engine turns over very easily when not in gear.

EDIT - OK, got that fixed. You don't have to remove the big 21mm bolt on the crank pulley. It's the 6 10mm bolts around the outside of the 21mm bolt. Phew.

Thanks to this thread : http://www.kia-forums.com/do-yourself/28174-timing-belt-replacement-instructions-finally.html

I have now cleaned all the milling debris up from the head (cleaned it all out with lots of degreaser, brake cleaner, then a water hose, dried, and a bit more brake cleaner), replaced the water pump, and am ready to put the head on, I think.

-James.

 

Help! Can anyone tell me where the hose shown in the attached pic should connect to? It taps off the main coolant line that passes behind the engine. It taps off that line just before the oil cooler connection.

I've looked through the kia global information system, and I can't work out where it came from. My 'extensive' picture collection doesn't seem to reveal it's destination either.

BTW - my car's heater core is by-passed. Someone else had done it, I assume maybe the heater core is bad. Anyway, there shouldn't be any problems doing that, should there?

-James.

 

That is one of the coolant hose going to the throttle body.

 

Thanks, that should help. Where did you find that image, out of interest? What section?

I find it hard to follow sometimes. The steps seem to be backwards on some of the print-outs I made from the site.

I wish we had a Chilton or Haynes manual...

-James.

 

SPORTAGE(AL) > 2000 > ENGINE > G 2.0L DOHC > > Fuel System > Engine Control System > Throttle Body > Repair procedures > Inspection

 

Well, everything is back together, but it's not starting at the moment.

Got lots of things to check, but it's started raining outside, so I thought I'd post an update.

It sounds like it's turning over normally, but not starting. The fuel pump relay is constantly clicking (almost buzzing) when the ignition is on. I don't remember that as being normal, is it?

I guess we'll check for spark, fuel, etc.

-James.

 

Can anyone tell me how to depressurize the fuel system? The Kia Global Service Way keeps telling me to refer the "Releasing Fuel System Pressure in this section" part, but I cannot find that section.

Also, anyone any idea on the clicking fuel relay? What could that point to? I am about check the coil packs, as per the manual, I don't think we have any spark.

Thank you.

-James.

 

question... did you do your own compression test when you got the engine back from the mechanic? Did the machine shop say that the head was out of true far enough to cause compression loss? Did you have any water in the oil? This doesn't look like a head isue. What is the compression on the cylinders now? If they aren't giving you compression then you may have to check the pistons and rings.

Sorry I didn't see this thread earler. Never trust a mechanic to give you the complete and true story unless you know them personally. Always check their diagnosis. An overheat should not cause a catastrophic failure of your engine. There is an overheat shut off switch that will shut off your engine in the event of an overheat. If your engine overheated to the point of permanent engine dammage then you need to be sure that you replace the temp sensor and make sure the kill switch works. I don't think your coil packs would have suddenly gone bad. Make sure your timing is set right and that you didn't bump the cam position sensor.

Your fuel relay shouldn't be clicking. Swap the relay out with a known working relay and see if you have the same clicking. If the relay went bad then replace it. If the relay is not faulty, you need to make sure the fuel pump is not fried. As far as depressurizing the fuel system... Just make sure the hose isn't pointed near your face and pull the line. It's not going to explode, maybe spray a little fuel, but it won't be an issue.

 

http://www.kia-forums.com/1g-1994-2002-sportage/52295-will-not-start-fuel-help.html

this guy had a similar problem with his relay clicking and it turning over but no start.

 

Hey, nice find there Baratacus, thank you very much. I'll check my earths.

-James.

 

Baratacus, thank you so much, that really helped. It's a long story, but the plate with 2 wires connected to it was not attached to the passenger side rear of the intake manifold. Hook that up, and the clicking stopped. I can also now read codes using the OBDII port. All checks out good. The battery is charging, and will try starting again tomorrow...

-James.