Kia Sorento strange behaviour

[Parksy]

For various reasons we hadn't used our caravan yet this year until last weekend.
We didn't travel too far from home, we went to a favourite certified site in the Shropshire hills.
The first snag was with the Thetford caravan fridge, it's stopped working, the flashing lights resemble a disco, it won't switch off and neither lpg or 230v makes any difference. The fridge shows an error code 18, although when it first appeared the code was 12. I'm trying to get a mobile service engineer to take a look, so far without success.
The towcar, a 2009 KIA crd, towed with no problems there and back, but after I detatched the caravan at the storage site the car refused to start, the starter solenoid clicked in but the starter motor wouldn't turn over.
This sort of thing has happened before, I thought that the problem might be due to a discharged battery which may have a dead cell because the battery was on when I bought the car and I intend to replace it before winter, but after about ten minutes the Kia started, as it has done before.
The local Kia dealer where the car is always serviced couldn't identify a specific problem when I asked them to check during the last service..
When we started the journey back from the storage site to home the car seemed to go into limp mode with the rev counter not exceeding 2000 rpm and a road speed of around 25 mph.
I had the impression that the auto gearbox was stuck in low 4x4, and using the manual facility I changed gear ok and made around 45 mph in places. The 4x4 had kicked automatically in as I towed off site up a steep grassy bank, the first time that it's been used by me as far as I'm aware but along the roads the tow was normal.
When the car was safely on the drive at home I switched off, then re-started the car.
Hey Presto! The Kia appears to be back to normal and I gave it a try again this morning with no problems at all.
I wonder if there's a problem with the grey 12 s circuit which may have caused an electrical fault on the fridge and caused the limp mode later on?

 

[Hutch]

Parksey, My old 3 litre Vectra used to do the limp home mode thing, It was the Isuzu 3.o v6 engine, turned out to be muck in the Fuel control unit. Long expensive job.
But your car hasn't that problem I hope.
Lets hope you get it sorted out before the Woosie fest and Twinwoods.

 

[Brasso530]

Personally I think you have 2 faults,1 on fridge,1 poss on car.I say possible on car as on a car you have hundreds of sensors and several ecu's,they all have parameters,if one sensor has a hissy fit or gets a reading only slightly out it'll flag a fault and put car into limp home mode,this fault will be logged in the engine ecu.You can access this fault with a diagnostic scanner and should give a code,then determine what to do about it.If your car goes into limp mode,stop (safely)turn it off,wait couple of mins,start up and drive off.If you have a constant fault it'll stay in limp mode,if as yours has done I'd drive it round for a bit and see if it comes on again.
As for your starting fault,if you get a clicking noise as you turn the key and lights dip dull on dash as this click occurs,your starter motor is at fault,this would indicate why it sometimes starts sometimes not.Or if engine turns over but engine doesn't fire,you need the engine to be turning over at a certain speed to create fuel pressure otherwise injectors won't fire,this would indicate a duff battery.( just re read your post-think you have a starter motor fault)
Unless your alternator has gone and is over charging,I don't think that your faults are connected.If over charging,check with multimeter at battery on car,should be 13and a bit volts,if it's charging over 14,then when you connect to van you may have damaged fridge?not my field-poss Damian could enlighten you.However your car can go into limp mode for an alternator fault.
Top and bottom,drive car for a bit,if not happy call into a garage and explain and a scan should be about £50.then decide what to do.

 

[Dustydog]

Steve

I have emailed you sending details of the UK Kia Owners Forum. Hopefully it will help solve the problem.

http://kiasorento.proboards.com/#category-12
Sometimes this link doesn't work on here but it will on your home pc????
Also if the battery is suspect change it. I think the fridge is probably a different issue. If insufficient power wasn't getting through on 12S it is highly unlikely it would cause damage to the pcb etc.

 

[Parksy]

Thanks Dusty
I think that I may have damaged the fridge PCB by connecting the 12s and forgetting that the solar panel would also be charging on such a sunny day.
If either the car or solar panel regulator allowed a power surge this might be the problem with the fridge.
I'm still waiting for one of the local mobile caravan engineers that I've contacted to ring me back.
The Kia ran as normal with no apparent problems yesterday, I've got it booked in for next week.

 

[otherclive]

Parksy
I've not got a solar panel but recently looking at some later MY vans a number had roof solar panels as OEM fittings. Whilst I always stop the car engine when coupling and uncoupling the electrics I wouldn't have thought about the output from a solar panel. Can these be isolated relatively easily?

 

[Parksy]

Personally I think you have 2 faults,1 on fridge,1 poss on car.I say possible on car as on a car you have hundreds of sensors and several ecu's,they all have parameters,if one sensor has a hissy fit or gets a reading only slightly out it'll flag a fault and put car into limp home mode,this fault will be logged in the engine ecu.You can access this fault with a diagnostic scanner and should give a code,then determine what to do about it.If your car goes into limp mode,stop (safely)turn it off,wait couple of mins,start up and drive off.If you have a constant fault it'll stay in limp mode,if as yours has done I'd drive it round for a bit and see if it comes on again.
As for your starting fault,if you get a clicking noise as you turn the key and lights dip dull on dash as this click occurs,your starter motor is at fault,this would indicate why it sometimes starts sometimes not.Or if engine turns over but engine doesn't fire,you need the engine to be turning over at a certain speed to create fuel pressure otherwise injectors won't fire,this would indicate a duff battery.( just re read your post-think you have a starter motor fault)
Unless your alternator has gone and is over charging,I don't think that your faults are connected.If over charging,check with multimeter at battery on car,should be 13and a bit volts,if it's charging over 14,then when you connect to van you may have damaged fridge?not my field-poss Damian could enlighten you.However your car can go into limp mode for an alternator fault.
Top and bottom,drive car for a bit,if not happy call into a garage and explain and a scan should be about £50.then decide what to do.

Thanks Brasso, the failure to turn over and to start is an intermittent fault and the last time that it happened was over 6 months ago. After a few minutes the car will start as normal but the Kia dealer checked the starter motor and declared it to be ok.
I've been driving the car normally since Sunday with no problems, the engine revs are normal again.
Someone on the Kia owners club forum suggested that the sequence of door locking might cause a similar fault if the computer on the car deduces that the vehicle is at risk of being stolen. The doors lock themselves after a few minutes and the suggestion was that the system is being a bit too clever for it's own good because loading for the caravan involves the opening of all the doors at different times.
As for the caravan fridge, it's booked in for repair in July, the first date available so I'll post the results when the repair has been done.

 

[Thingy]

Parksy, I know its a long shot re the fridge, but you havent got a battery module fitted for when off grid?? I saw somebody last year at St Mawes with a similar problem, and taking out the discharged batteries seemed to clear the fault code.

Re the Kia, scrap it B)

 

[NigelHutson]

Re the Kia, scrap it B)

That’s harsh, poor thing! :woohoo: :blink:

 

[Dustydog]

WHY hmy:

 

[Thingy]

Wasnt serious Dusty, just being flippant. :cheer: Im just not a big fan of Kia.

 

[Dustydog]

Thingy my boy.....
The old lag, Kia Sorento, has become an icon and is a favourite of tuggers unless you haveva big wallet for a X5.
The current Kia 7 year warranty is legendary.
SWMBO has a two year old model with all the gizmos including heated steering wheel and self parallel parking etc.
I certainly wouldn’t be too dismissive

 

[otherclive]

When the Sorento first arrived in U.K. circa 2004 it had a 3 year warranty which was pretty standard for the industry. What persuaded me to ditch my Discovery 2 which had had tremendous use of its warranty, was that in the US Kia warranted the Sorento for 10 years or 100k miles. In the 70k miles I owned it the Sorento didn’t even shed a light bulb, and that’s including off road sorties on the Salisbury Plain MTA. Brilliant piece of kit.

 

[Thingy]

Im not being dismissive, I just dont like them. Some years back, at the time of my first Xtrail, I looked at the Sorrento, and given its some years back and they must have improved, I really didnt like the fit and finish of them. The rear view mirror dropped off duiring the test drive, and the roof lining didnt quite fit to the rubbers or was badly aligned, and the whole thing was flapping about as I drove it straight back to the dealership.

As for the 7 year warranty, I still ask myself if it is that they, Kia, are so confident, or does it NEED it.

I am sure they arent a bad car, and the finish must have improved, but i personally am just not that keen. Back to Parksys vehicle, it really was just a joke, starter motor knackered, scrap it. Ash tray full, swap it.

HELP ME MAMA, IM DYING UP HERE!

 

[otherclive]

Im not being dismissive, I just dont like them. Some years back, at the time of my first Xtrail, I looked at the Sorrento, and given its some years back and they must have improved, I really didnt like the fit and finish of them. The rear view mirror dropped off duiring the test drive, and the roof lining didnt quite fit to the rubbers or was badly aligned, and the whole thing was flapping about as I drove it straight back to the dealership.

As for the 7 year warranty, I still ask myself if it is that they, Kia, are so confident, or does it NEED it.

I am sure they arent a bad car, and the finish must have improved, but i personally am just not that keen. Back to Parksys vehicle, it really was just a joke, starter motor knackered, scrap it. Ash tray full, swap it.

HELP ME MAMA, IM DYING UP HERE!

Giving a long warranty because the vehicles will need it is the road to business suicide. If Kia’s and Hyundai’s we’re continually claiming on their warranties wouldnt you expect them to get bad press in the motoring journals, or show badly in the reliability statistics. The inroads they have made to car markets around the world must be testament to their reliability. So much so that they command strong pricing on both new and used markets. Guess it’s like when the Japanese made inroads to the car and motorbike markets. Standby for China and its electric/hybrids.

 

[Hutch]

Sorento Lovely tow car , Parksy, you'll get there.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Sorento Lovely tow car , Parksy, you'll get there.

But the question on my mind is when?

 

[waffler]

Hope I'm not too late with this. I use a solar panel continually connected and have had no problem with Thetford fridge as you describe. The fridge always remains connected to the battery on the gas ignition side so I suggest you disconnect the battery, leave about 20 minutes and reconnect. (This can also work on Truma combi that gets its knickers in a twist.) The car running in limp mode might be a dirty connection on the speed sensor. This can manifest as slow running, no power steering and no auto gear change. Also starts intermittently. The car not starting can be the immobiliser getting confused. Switch off, get out and lock the car on the fob. Unlock on fob and try again. You have to get out because if the seat sensor feels you sitting on the seat it might not arm properly. I live in Shropshire and know a reasonable mobile guy if that helps.

 

[Hutch]

If necessary, I will, go up and collect Parksy and C to bring them to the Woosie Fest. With the vanNot letting them miss that meet up. . :cheer:

 

[Craigyoung]

.....SWMBO has a two year old model with all the gizmos including heated steering wheel and self parallel parking etc.
I certainly wouldn’t be too dismissive .....

Well , they need all the help they can get !!!

 

[Hutch]

Hope I'm not too late with this. I use a solar panel continually connected and have had no problem with Thetford fridge as you describe. The fridge always remains connected to the battery on the gas ignition side so I suggest you disconnect the battery, leave about 20 minutes and reconnect. (This can also work on Truma combi that gets its knickers in a twist.) The car running in limp mode might be a dirty connection on the speed sensor. This can manifest as slow running, no power steering and no auto gear change. Also starts intermittently. The car not starting can be the immobiliser getting confused. Switch off, get out and lock the car on the fob. Unlock on fob and try again. You have to get out because if the seat sensor feels you sitting on the seat it might not arm properly. I live in Shropshire and know a reasonable mobile guy if that helps.

Waffler, my santa fe has Hickups on the sat nav if the gòod lady, punchs in the Sat Nav before the cars computer has wound up. We then have to open a door , close it and lock the doors. Leave for three minutes and then everything , gently comes back to life, . The Hyundai website knows of these problems. Bring back riveted brake shoes.

 

[Dustydog]

Clive has hit the nail on the head
The various car surveys, eg JDPower etc are pretty reliable these days. We all remember the Skoda and Kia jokes from decades ago. But look who’s laughing now
Believe it or not the mk1 Sorento is still one of the most popular tugs. B)

 

[Craigyoung]

If I had the money I would go for a Kia Sorento I think they're lovely car .

 

[otherclive]

Clive has hit the nail on the head
The various car surveys, eg JDPower etc are pretty reliable these days. We all remember the Skoda and Kia jokes from decades ago. But look who’s laughing now
Believe it or not the mk1 Sorento is still one of the most popular tugs. B)

My wife rues the day we sold the Sorento and she’s disliked the subsequent XC70, Forester and Superb which is good for me as I no longer have to book the use of the larger car.

 

[Thingy]

Strange how tastes differ so wildly.

My wife rues the day we sold the Sorento and she’s disliked the subsequent XC70,

We absolutely adored the XC70 and the Shogun we have now is very much a marmite car, some love them, some hate them. Perversely its what people dislike about the Shogun that I find most appealing in this day of lightwweight everything and electronics everywhere. Its sort of honest in its approach to everything.