Kia Forum banner
21 - 29 of 29 Posts
Discussion starter · #21 ·
Well, Ive been waiting for weeks for parts to come. The last of them finally got here on Tuesday so I've been sequestered in the garage getting the engine finished and into the car.

I can now confirm that the 2.0L Nu engine can be removed and installed in a PS Soul without dropping the subframe. I did need to remove the hood and hold off on installing the alternator until after the engine was in the car.

Now just a few more hours of installing the manifolds, hooking up the wiring, putting on the under body plastic parts, hood, and filling up the fluids and it's time for the moment of truth!


Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
Discussion starter · #22 ·
I installed the exhaust manifold, intake manifold, made all the wiring connections, and filled it with oil today.

All that's left is the thermostat (which is coming with the UPS truck tomorrow), lower radiator hose, and the coolant.

Then once the battery is dropped in it's time to start it up. I don't see any reason why it won't be running tomorrow.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
Good to hear from you again.... I hope the initial start goes well... It looks like you have some time in the repair but probably not much in parts... How about some shots of the completed soul... I had to do a valve job on my son's 08 Hyundai Accent (timing belt tensioner broke)... It wasn't a hard or bad job... Thanks for sharing...
Dave
 
Discussion starter · #24 ·
Had a couple of minor glitches to deal with. Some P code to clear mostly from the incident that caused the engine meltdown. One came back that scared me P0017. I pulled out the cam position sensors and cleaned them off. After about 10 miles it hasn't come back. When I first started it up i had a slight fuel leak that I realized came from not torquing the flare nuts on the high pressure fuel line - I had to loosen them to install one of the brackets on the driver's side of the head. Snugged them up and had no more problems with the fuel leak.

I'll get some pictures in a few days as it needs a good wash after sitting and collecting dust for several months.

I had my daughter hold my cell phone taking a video of the first start. Let's see if including that link works.


Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
Discussion starter · #25 ·
Got the registration taken care of and started the break in process.

Filled it up with a bottle of STP and 5w30 conventional oil. Installed an oil filter that I took off our 2011 Hyundai Sonata in a regular oil change. In case you are not aware, filters that have been run a while are more efficient than new ones. The thought being that I only wanted to run the conventional oil 50 to 100 miles to get any debris from the rebuild process flushed out of the engine.

At 70 miles after the first start I noticed that the oil pressure light started flickering at idle. I took that as an indication that the filter was at it's end of life and did the first oil change, replacing the conventional oil with a SN Plus rated synthetic 5w20 along with a new filter.

I've put an additional 60 miles since that change and it's running like a top.


Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
Discussion starter · #26 ·
This will probably be the last post in this tread from me unless I'm answering any questions about it. I have two issues yet to take care of - one is a DTC indicating that I need a new O2 sensor after the CAT. Also I have an airbag light on.

One tidbit about this vehicle I'm not sure if I disclosed yet - it has a "rebuilt" branded title from an earlier accident. Whoever did the job did it well ... I didn't notice until I was well into doing the engine repairs that there were some unusual marks on the right front frame rails that turned out to be what was left over from straightening the frame rails on a frame machine. There are no issues with driving it but I found that the right front impact sensor is not even connected to the wiring harness and the end of the harness is missing. My plan is to go to a local wrench-a-part and cut out the section of the harness that I need and fix the harness.

The Kia legal department probably won't like that, but tough. A well repaired harness (the key is that it must we well repaired ... I get why the lawyers don't allow the service manual writers to allow any garage monkey to do that) should work just as well as a new one ... the new harness that Kia requires when there is a damaged wire is in the $1300 range. They can pound sand - I know how to properly and permanently splice wires.

While I'm there I'll also grab an O2 sensor as those buggers are not cheap - and a used one will probably work just fine for a good long time for a tenth of the cost of a new one.

Hope y'all enjoyed following along as I did these repairs - I really enjoyed doing it and I'm proud of how it turned out. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to keep it or sell it (leaning toward selling as I've got more than enough cars in the driveway).

I ended up putting about $1000 in parts and machine shop work into the car. That plus about $500 for tax, title, and license fees pushes the equation a bit toward the "sell it" decision. $1500 for a very good condition Kia Soul ! is a pretty darn good deal. But If I can flip it for $10k to $12k I have a hard time not going that route.

I'm going to put at least 500 miles on it and fix any little gremlins like the O2 sensor (a regular maintenance item) or the air bag issue, to make sure it's 100% ready to go for a couple hundred thousand miles more by the time I'm done with it so whoever buys it will be getting a good car.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kerig3
I literally know next to nothing about car engines, but I read your write-up from beginning to end—it was a fascinating read! What an amazing job you did. It makes me wish I myself possessed a shred of mechanical aptitude because the reward of having done such a job mostly by yourself must be so increadibly satisfying. Whomever ends up owning this car is going to have a very solid ride with a engine that's better than what rolls off the Kia assembly line!
Thank you for sharing. ?
–Kerig
 
21 - 29 of 29 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top