'06 Kia Sportage weird issue

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Mar 3, 2016
Messages
989
Location
Cincinnati, OH and Port Charlotte, FL
OK, folks, here's my mystery for today...US market Kia Sportage 2.7L v6, auto, AWD, 150k miles. It has started doing an intermittent (like once a day) stumble/stall. No codes, no CEL. It only does it when I am off the gas, say coasting down a hill or to a stop sign, and won't do it if my foot is on the gas at all. The first day I noticed it because it felt like the transmission was downshifting and acting weird as I coasted down a long hill, then it died when I made a left turn with very little gas in the tank. That made me think the fuel filter was getting bad, so I changed it...went ahead and changed the fuel pump too since they are cheap, and both are in the tank. That made no difference, and without an OBD code coming up, I don't know what my next step should be. Any thoughts?
 
I would start by getting a hayes or chilton book, and becoming familiar with the fuel injection components. Does it have a crank sensor? Does it have egr ? etc.
 
Crank sensor would be my best guess, but before I start throwing parts at it, willy nilly, I thought I'd try to gain some insight from other posters here. There's an IAC valve that could potentially create issues.

One symptom I did notice is that it hot idles at 650 RPMs or so, but if it is going to act up, the idle drops to around 500 RPMs.
 
"....with very little gas in the tank..."

Fill up. Engine needs gas to run properly!

Originally Posted By: CincyDavid
OK, folks, here's my mystery for today...US market Kia Sportage 2.7L v6, auto, AWD, 150k miles. It has started doing an intermittent (like once a day) stumble/stall. No codes, no CEL. It only does it when I am off the gas, say coasting down a hill or to a stop sign, and won't do it if my foot is on the gas at all. The first day I noticed it because it felt like the transmission was downshifting and acting weird as I coasted down a long hill, then it died when I made a left turn with very little gas in the tank. That made me think the fuel filter was getting bad, so I changed it...went ahead and changed the fuel pump too since they are cheap, and both are in the tank. That made no difference, and without an OBD code coming up, I don't know what my next step should be. Any thoughts?
 
Dies on closed throttle coast - When a GM car does that (such as my 94 Bonneville 3.8L) - it's the EGR valve.
 
I'd pour in a bottle of Chevron Techron Fuel System Cleaner Concentrate at your next fill up. About $5 at Walmart.
 
SatinSilver, I did that this morning...doesn't seem to have made a difference. It wouldn't matter except one of the cars was totaled this week, the rental has to go back Monday and I haven't bought a replacement car yet.
 
Originally Posted By: CincyDavid
SatinSilver, I did that this morning...doesn't seem to have made a difference.

How quickly did you think a fuel system cleaner was going to work?
 
Bottom feeder, I drove it about 50 miles today. I'm not a fan of trying to fix a mechanical problem with something like fuel system cleaner, not any more than I'd pour radiator leak goo in my cooling system instead of fixing a leak (unless the car was on its last legs anyway). To be frank, I figured, for $5, why not take a shot, but I didn't have very high expectations.
 
Does this have an electronic throttle valve? If so, clean it. Not too long ago I had a heck of a time with an electronic throttle valve that would let the engine stall if you simply turned the steering too much. That was if you could get it started in the first place. I removed it from the engine and hosed it clean with brake cleaner and it ran like new after.
 
Originally Posted By: CincyDavid
Bottom feeder, I drove it about 50 miles today. I'm not a fan of trying to fix a mechanical problem with something like fuel system cleaner, not any more than I'd pour radiator leak goo in my cooling system instead of fixing a leak (unless the car was on its last legs anyway). To be frank, I figured, for $5, why not take a shot, but I didn't have very high expectations.

My question still stands. How quickly were you expecting it to work? Sounds like you had your mind up already that it wasn't going to do anything and gave it 50 miles to convince you otherwise which if course it couldn't possibly do.

I'm not saying it was going to fix your problem, I'm just saying your expectations were highly unrealistic. A mechanical fix would give immediate results, a cleaning solvent needs a whole lot more than an hour's worth of driving to do anything.
 
Bottom_Feeder, I hadn't really thought about the timing of the fuel system cleaner either working, or not, as the case may be. If I'm being perfectly honest with myself, I didn't expect it to do anything at all.

I sense that you have a notion about how long it could/should take before it has an effect...would you care to share your thoughts and expectations?
 
Originally Posted By: CincyDavid
Bottom_Feeder, I hadn't really thought about the timing of the fuel system cleaner either working, or not, as the case may be. If I'm being perfectly honest with myself, I didn't expect it to do anything at all.

I sense that you have a notion about how long it could/should take before it has an effect...would you care to share your thoughts and expectations?

How about running a full tank of treated gas through it? A week's worth of driving rather than an hour's worth? Something along those lines that's a bit more logical and realistic?
 
I'd go with some top tier fuel from Shell preferably from a newer station that is busy. You can try a higher octane fuel only because it has a higher amount of detergents in it. True North owns a bunch of stations so not sure if they have any down your way or not. I'll post their website and you can check. Yes, the hot weather can contribute to making the car feel a little sluggish from heat soak but wouldn't play a part in it hesitating.

I remember my mom had a 96 Saturn that wasn't driven much that hesitated. A cel came on and dad took it to the dealer. They read the code, did a fuel tune up and charged several hundred dollars. The cel came right back so dad called them back and they said to run some .99 fuel system cleaner through it which took care of the cel and never came back.

http://www.truenorth.org/locations/

Also Walmart has a combo pack of CRC throttle body cleaner and MAF cleaner for under $10. They're small bottles but I would try those.
 
Last edited:
OK, so I spent a few minutes tinkering with it...with the a/c off, and the car at operating temp, the idle hunts between an indicated 600 and maybe 700 rpms, and with the a/c on, it creeps up to a range of maybe 700-800rpms. I had never noticed this car's idle "hunting" before but to be fair I never had a reason to pay any attention to it.

I'm going to drive it tomorrow and see how it behaves.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top