[UncleMart]

Hey all this is my first post...
But I thought I should share this

I have owned a deisel 2004 sorrento XS5 speed auto for the last 2 years which tbh has been the best tow car I have ever owned it drives nicely and generally is a bit "Ronseal" so very happy with it until Tuesday morning when travelling on a French motorway just outside Paris it decided to throw the propshaft out of the car - no warning one minute running smoothley the next lots of banging and no drive. I am waiting for the car to get back to the UK for repair my local indie garage says we could be looking at a bill in excess of 4k !!! The car has only done 56k so be warned get your drive chain checked out before you get a nasty suprise - Not sure I will be keeping it once repaired dont think I'll buy another KIA soemhow..........

 

[murphwiz]

Whats actualkly broken?
You say auto box?
Then propshaft?

On servicing I've seen plenty of prop shaft bolts missing, maybe your servicing garage has missed this and now you've lost the prop?

Autobox failure, again, not a problem I've come across, seen a few hoses come adrift, quite a simple fix, beware theres special oil for the 5 speed auto.

 

[UncleMart]

The propsahft left the vehicle in spectacular style as I drove on the motorway at approx 75mph
Once we had stopped there was a trail of transmission fluid on the road behind - the gear shift is now stuck in the D position the french mechanic thought that the gearbox had seized in some way im not to sure as my French isis not good, I did recover what was left of the prop shaft about 200 mtrs back up the road which I spotted as I walked back for the emergency telephone. I had checked all the fluid levels only the night beforealllooked normalprior to that the car has driven without hitch it is however nearly a year and 9000 miles since the last full service -

Now I have to wait for the vehicle to be returned to the UK before my garage canpeform an accurate diagnosis. Something minor would be good but I really think its going to be bad, Ill update when I know more........

 

[murphwiz]

I doubt it would be the main auto box, as theres a transfer box between that and the props, a brand new one is about £2k, but seen them on ebay for about £500.

 

[UncleMart]

Ok brace yourselves -
Heres the latest update - The front proshaft failed at the universal joint at high motorway speed this then flailed around under the car smashing the gearbox casing and damaging the gears , it alsoripped through fuel and brake pipes and smashed into the tunnel floor. It then let go and left the vehicle travelling at approx 75mph the damaged was all caused witihn 3-5 seconds we then coasted to a halt on the hard shoulder.



Repair requires new gearbox/transfer box and front prop shaft, the floor needs to be welded.

Cost for repair using brand new KIA parts including labour circa £9500.00 - having sourced reconditioned parts I will be faceing a bill of £4300.00.



Please if you havnt done so already get someone to check your drive train under the car........




Edited by: UncleMart

 

[murphwiz]

Looks like someone wasn't greasing the UJ's then...

 

[UncleMart]

Looks like someone wasn't greasing the UJ's then...

Rather a glib comment -



I cant remember ever having to grease a UJ between services on any other vehicle -manynowdays are sealed for life - which should be a lot more than 4 years and 55k miles



Intrestingly while trying to source replacements we had the choice of five reconditioned grearbox's but in each case the front propshaft had already been sold and so I have purchased a brand new one. Just makes me wonderhow manyKIA Sorrento'shave suffered prop shaft failures in my case a lower speed fail would have caused much less damage.
Edited by: UncleMart

 

[murphwiz]

Not pointing finger at you, more wondering if uj was greased at service time.
Seen plenty of knackered uj's due to lack of grease.

 

[Viking Paul]

seen a number of the sliding joints get very stiff or seize this puts excessive pressure on the uj and gearbox input shaft had one customer who was comp about not being able to select gears and it turned out that the whole gear train had been forced forward in the gearbox caseing but usual issue car had been used off road and not kia serviced

 

[pgart1]

I bought a brand new Sorento in 2006, in the first month of ownership the car suffered a front propshaft failure. It was repaired straight away under warranty but the Kia Dealer could not give me any reason why this should happen to a 4 week old car and tried to imply I may have been to blame. The car is now 3.5 years old with just over 70k on the clock and when driving at 70mph last November something went bang, it turned out to be a failure within the Transfer box.
The problem arises through miss information given by one of the sensors to the Transfer Box resulting in the box directing drive to the wrong wheels with something having to give within the drive train, in my case its been firstly the propshaft and now the clutch basket in the Transfer Box. Kia are well aware of the problem but won't admit to a design or manufacuring fault and therefore won't assist with any of the costs towarsd the repair.
I have been fighting for some sort of justice with both my local Kia dealership and Kia Customer Services for the last 2 months for some form of contribution towards the repair costs as the system is clearly not fit for purpose. Unless Kia wake up and smell the coffee I will never buy another Kia ever again or use the local dealership and I would also advise everyone else to do the same, in addition anyone that has a Sorento, my advise would be to get rid before you end up with a £4,000 repair bill or worse. Pity Kia don't run their business as professionally as Toyota, admit when they get it wrong and put it right asap.

 

[Viking Paul]

WARNING


Front prophaft sliding joints we have checked 5 customers cars this week as an exercise and found two with very stiff sliding joints this sliding joint is the part responsible for propshaft and transferbox failures if you genuinely use your car off road then ask your dealer to remove the front prop uj and check and grease the sliding joint, thease joints are tight and even with our air powerd grease gun we are struggling to get any grease into the sliding joint



when the prop is in place there is very little sliding the joint can do so it can become stiff or seize the rear does not suffer because it has much more sliding to do becasue of rear axel deflection



we are in the process of feeding this info back to kia but its going to come down to dealers checking thease joints manualy

 

[UncleMart]

Thanks for the information Paul


I can feel a letter winging its way towards KIA shortly

My Kia has only ever been subjected to muddy camp sites - not real offroading.

my final bill was £4800.00

 

[Bigmark]

Hi all, Bought my 2.5 XS in Jan 2009 and its a lovely car. However now and then i get a judder about 55 mph. This happens when im traveling smoothly along the motorway adn it resembles a slight miss.
Does not seem to happen at other speeds.

I told KIA Warrington in OCT when it had dealer service but they said it all seems fine.

They did say its had somesoftware upgrades during its service but still now and then it does it.

Im not overly concerned but having read post about transfer boxes and UV joints going bust i am just interested if mine is in the early stages of that fault.

Its done 31000 miles and never been off road.

I do tow a caravan now and then.

 

[UncleMart]

Hi Mark


The scary thing is I had no symptons what at all -

With the benefit of hindsight I shall be getting under the car myself every few months to check things out -

 

[Bigruss]

Im highlighting this issue and bringing it to the top of the foram as many people including myself have been asking lately about props and transfer box servicing and lubrication
I ask if anybody has seviced theres to post photos or a link so we can all see what we as owners should be looking for before it happens to us

 

[icm4477]

Hi


You're fault sounds very familar, I have a 2007 XS Auto with exactly the same problem, been ongoing since the 2 recalls done in August 2010. previous to this the car had been used for towing across france many times without problem, a brilliant tow car. I have apparently had the whole tranfer box changed under the extendedwarranty, no difference. my local dealer NK Derby have today told me they can do no more for me. They have been told by Kia UK that 'it is a characteristic of the car'. The fact it was not faulty until the dealer messed with the car seems to have been lost. The fact it is still faulty is no longer for discussion by the dealer

The fault is massively worse when towing, shakes the whole car at times & is getting worse all the time.I have even took the car down with the caravan in tow to help them diagnose the fault. They have backed out the software upgrade no difference. sat with the laptop connected no faults,all the 'senior techs agree it;s faulty but the computer says it not!!whatever happened to real mechanics that could mend cars!!



All a waste of time, they have abandoned me blaming Kia UK, nothing else they can do I'm told.



Do yourself a favour, SELL you're Sorento now & don't ever buy anything from NK Motors Derby 'the UK's largest KIA dealer'who offer 'outstanding custoner service' until Kia UK tell then not to bother anymore.



Next stop Solicitor's office.

 

[stevetag]

Hi this is my first post can anyone help me my kia sorento won't go in to 5th gear in automatic but it will in triptronic can u help thanks steve

 

[BIRDMAN]

You cannot guess automatic fault need an automatic specialist to get a fault code

 

[stevetag]

Thanks birdman