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Kia Spectra Engine Issues

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Comments

  • acm563acm563 Member Posts: 11
    Hope it all works out for you. My son called me again today to say the 2002 was acting up again. It appears it is the new transmission we just put in about 2000 miles ago...We bought the new transmission from the Kia dealership, lets see what excuse they give us for not honoring THAT warranty now.....
  • abermausabermaus Member Posts: 3
    Gosh that is awful....and thanks, you too. It sounds like the mechanics that build and work on Kias don't know what they are doing.

    I bet my Kia warranty will turn out to be useless, but we will see. I will follow up to everyone know.
  • commodoreheadcommodorehead Member Posts: 1
    yes best thrash car on the market no body roll no rev limit goes till it blows 3 yrs and still no blow up
  • ribbonkingribbonking Member Posts: 24
    I see a lot of Kia bashing on this board and thought I would let you know that I had a very positive experience recently. I bought a 2004.5 Kia Spectra (when the new version first came out) for my teenage son. We just had to have the short block replaced due to a suspected oil pump failure- MAJOR repair. We did have most of the maintenance records, missing one of the oil change receipts. Some maintenance work had been done at the dealer, some oil changes at Jiffy Lube. They repaired the engine under their warranty program, even towed it to the dealership at no cost to us. We did have to pay for filters and fluids, about $200.00. That would have been a very costly repair had they not covered it under warranty - about 35,000 miles on the car. I give kudos to Kia for this one. :D
  • iluvmysephia1iluvmysephia1 Member Posts: 7,704
    Kia dealership. I mean, with my two Kia's, a 1999 Sephia and a 2001 Sportage 4X4, I did have to use that generous Warranty a few times. But the dealer I went to always took care of the problem and I don't remember having to wait very long for the fix or repair or recall, whatever it might have been. I often wonder how good people have kept up with their maintenance and the paperwork that goes along with that maintenance work, ya know? I never had a problem with either of my Kia dealership's service departments. Really, they want to take good care of you so you'll come back and buy again, it doesn't make sense that Kia dealerships would want to alienate you for any reason.

    2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick

  • jaxbmcjaxbmc Member Posts: 1
    bought a used 2001 Spectra (70,000ish miles on it) 18 months ago. No problems at first, about six months in it started stalling (w/check engine light) when idling with the brakes on (at stoplights), usually about the time the engine cooling fan kicked on. Looked through the owners manual and consequently tightened the gas cap? huh who knew.. Seemed to do the trick so I added an extra rubber o-ring so my spouse wouldn't have any issues tightening it. Well here we are nine months later and the same thing is happening again, the gas cap trick ain't getting it no more. It's stalling again when idling and/or A/C is turned on. Can anyone tell me a fix? Seems like it's vapor lock or possibly something electrical (as everything just goes off, dead, kaput). Re-starts just fine? and runs until it just shuts off again (sometimes a day sometimes a week)..
  • dawnelldawnell Member Posts: 1
    My Kia had no problems or signs of any problems. All of a sudden it wont start. The battery seems to be fine, and the engine turns over, but it wont get the engine started. It has plenty of gas. The ECU fuse was blown, and I replaced it. Anyone know what could be wrong with it?
  • sam96sam96 Member Posts: 3
    My Kia Spectra does not have the insulation material under the hood. Why does Kia not want this. Can this lack of insulation create too much heat for the hood and thereby harm the paint on the hood? Does it even matter? Ideas, comments, your experience, please. thanks! :confuse:
  • pembergerpemberger Member Posts: 1
    I am having the same problem reported here for 2007 models. The check engine light comes on. First 2 times I called service they said just tighten gas cap and then wait 3 days to see if the light goes of. I did and the light did go off, after 3 days. Since then the same proble has occurred 3 more times. The care was new in April 2008 and has 3200 miles on it. Is there any better gas cap available? I tighten it down to 5 or 6 clicks but the problem continues. Any other solutions?
  • PF_FlyerPF_Flyer Member Posts: 9,372
  • pizardpizard Member Posts: 45
    Just had my Spectra in for oil change and rotation and Firestone noticed that there was a crack in the crankshaft.

    Does anyone know if this is covered by the powertrain warranty? The car is 6 years old and only has about 50,000 miles on it.

    Thanks!
  • ikillbugsikillbugs Member Posts: 4
    Powertrain warranty on a new one is 10 yrs / 100k miles for the ORIGINAL owner only, subsequently it's 6 yrs / 50k miles. I can't imagine an '02 would be any better.. My bet is it's out of warranty (unless you're the original owner)... only because it's so close... it always happens that way :mad:
  • pizardpizard Member Posts: 45
    Well the dealership said it was an axel problem but then paperwork said crankshaft but regardless it wasn't covered by warranty even though we still have the powertrain warranty. We are original owners with only 50k miles on it and it's just over 6 years old.

    Costs $600 for repair and 2 new tires damaged from crack.

    Dealership ripoff.
  • lamronh49lamronh49 Member Posts: 86
    Sounds more like a problem with a front axle.
    I don't know how a tech could eyeball a crankshaft--an internal engine part--while rotating tires. Unless Superman had to get a day job.

    Get the Firestoners to speak specifically, since this diagnosis does not make any sense. :confuse:

    Check with your KIA dealer, there is the possibility of a recall or they could do a warranty stretch.

    Or the Firestoners could be lying, or incompetent.
    It's been known to happen!

    Second opinion, I suggest.
  • pizardpizard Member Posts: 45
    OK, that makes sense since that's what the Kia dealership said, but regardless they wouldn't cover it since the axle wasn't part of the powertrain warranty (according to them).
  • lamronh49lamronh49 Member Posts: 86
    Pizard, you might want to check a second source. Dealers have been known to make up stuff on occasion. It is probably not covered by warranty, since they get paid for warranty work. But I'd check with another KIA dealer or KMA (Kia Motors). There is also a fed. govt. site having to do with faulty parts and recalls, etc. but it's late and I can't bring it out of my memory banks.
    Read your warranty book, it will explain exactly what is covered by the B-B and powertrain warranties. IIRC powertrain means engine and trannie only.
    Good luck, an axle with a crack is not to be trifled with. You're fortunate it did not let go at speed. Not my kind of excitement.
  • kia06kia06 Member Posts: 1
    i am about to buy the same headers for my 2006 spectra. I was wondering if its worth the money, i mean bang 4 the buck, did you notice a big difference? :)
  • collegemom06collegemom06 Member Posts: 1
    My daughter is in SF with car problems. We just got the car out of the shop and her check engine light went on and she noticed sluggish acceleration. Went back to the shop and they said they charge an addtn'l $105 to diagnose.

    When the converter goes bad is the sluggish acceleration a symptom? Does anyone know of an honest shop to go to in SF. Been ripped off by 2 so FAR.
    College MOM thanks you.
  • bustamantebustamante Member Posts: 1
    My 2003 Kia Spectra would have trouble turning over. At first we thought it was the starter so we replaced it-didn't change anything. We had to put in a marine battery as it would keep turning over, but took awhile to catch-the marine battery gave us the time needed to get it started. Now it won't start at all, and we tried to pop the clutch to get it going and discovered the engine seems to be frozen...any comments?
  • dealightfulentdealightfulent Member Posts: 1
    Hey all,

    I have a 2003 Kia Spectra 114500 miles on it... and it died on me last night. The key turns and it sounds like it wants to start, but the engine is just not catching. I now nothing about cars, but it has been running through oil like crazy for the last year, and I can't remember ever getting a tune up. It died while I was driving it, at a stop light... shook a little and then just died like I was out of gas.

    My question is since it will probably cost me a ton just to get someone to look at it, is it worth repairing at this point? I think the value of the car is less then $1000 right? I fear that it may be something major, but then again if it is something minor and I don't get it fixed I will feel stupid... ADVICE?? :cry:
  • acm563acm563 Member Posts: 11
    For both this post and the one above(#125) did you get the timing belt changed at the recommended 60K? The reason I ask is that what you described is exactly what happened to me with my 2004 Kia Cinco. If that is the case then you have probably messed up the heads. IF you find this to be the case, THINK, before you automatically just say replace the heads, as they cost almost as much as a new engine so if you decide to go that route put in a new engine. That didnt occur to me until 4 hours after I authorized the heads, and they had already been ordered so the dealership told me they had to go with the original order.....:( My son has a 200 Spectra and he learned from my mistake and made sure he had the timing belt changed at 65K...thankfully we have a trusted mechanic and it cost $150 compared to $645 at dealer
  • hawaiipuphawaiipup Member Posts: 28
    have a 2003 kia spectra went to start it and it was making a squirting noise like something was pumping and sloshing out popped the hood and thought it was the radiator but it was coming from the back of the motor looked and oil was squirting out someone said it may be the sensor is this possible all oil is now on the ground didnt hear any knocking just squishing can anyone help
  • hawaiipuphawaiipup Member Posts: 28
    ok a friend came and checked seems the filter gasket was blown out so they replaced the oil filter it was driven a bit then in the morning it happened again we were thinking the friend didnt tighten the filter tight enough but im concerned there maybe an underlying problem what caused the first oil filter to blow out the friend said he spoke to another mechanic and they thought maybe the head gasket or cracked head but not too sure he even gave the right discription to the other mechanic. if it were a cracked head or a head gasket wouldnt there be signs of water in the oil? the oil that shot onto the motor was clearly oil and not gray any input would be great i keep thinking theres more to it than the oil filter bad
  • 2002kiaspectra2002kiaspectra Member Posts: 1
    I just bought a 2002 kia spectra  that was blowed up I have never worked on a kia be for but in theprocess I'm looking for a motor I found a 2000 Kia Spectra1.8L motor I was told that I can't put a 2000 model 1.8L into the 2002 model kia spectra  and the blowed up motor is a 1.8L anyone know what the difference between the years of the motor is and why it wouldn't work
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    It's the same TD8 engine, looks like...maybe they were referring to the electronics and legal issues. You can't legally "downgrade" a car by putting an older engine in a newer car, for emissions reasons--but presuming you can overcome that in your state, you'll have to use the ECM from the 2000 engine to run it in the 2002, and that means figuring out how to splice thee two harness together so that they work. Also you may run into various issues with connections, sensors or how accessories are mounted.

    Generally it's always a good idea to use the same year engine, unless you can rely on someone who has done the same swap you're contemplating, and who will share all the little tricks with you.
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