[DavidB]

Hi All,
After my first month, I'm still generally dellighted withour 2005XSE auto, but.......

About a fortnight ago it began to moan gently on the overrun. The noise was at a constant pitch but seemed to vary in intensity, at its worst decelerating around 40mph.It has gradually become louder until it's a wail that fills the car - still only on the overrun. It appears to be coming from the front driver's side and I'm speculating that it's a drive shaft/final drive problem. I don't think it's a wheel bearing. Whatever it is seems to be upsetting the transmission, which is beginning to snatch when the car slows right down.

Before I do battle with the garage, do any of our resident gurus recognise the symptoms? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

David

 

[colb]

Check out the rear diff pinion bearing, my 2007 XE went bad on me with similar noise as you describe.
Went to an independent Transmission specialist who put new non Kia bearings in the diff, Kia dealer just wanted to fit a new diff.
Colb

 

[DavidB]

Thanks, Colb. The car is booked in for investigation on Wed. I'll report on what they find.
David

 

[DavidB]

The good news is that nothing is about to fall off - it's not a wheel bearing, or loose bolts, or anything of that sort. The bad news is that the garage didn't want to start stripping bits down and perhaps leave the car immobilised over Christmas. So we've agreed that I'll use itgently over the holiday and book it in for further investigation in Jan. If you encounter a wailing Sorento in the next week or so, it might be the car, it might be the owner.................

 

[johnw]

Does the snatching get worse if you steer mine did this although not an auto was selecting four wheel drive when it shouldn't charged £3,000+ for a new transfer box but still have the problem suspect an electrical fault but garage can't fix it.

 

[DavidB]

The car is now booked in next Wed for a thorough investigation. The noise has become worse and the snatching more noticeable. Looks like I may be thankful for the warranty.Does anyone know if these symptoms describe troublein the transfer boxwet clutch? I'm told that can be troublesome. I'll report progress - if there is any.

 

[DavidB]

Turns out the front axle crown wheel and pinion were chewing each other up. Garage foreman seemed genuinely surprised: he said they occasionally go at very high mileages but he's never come across it at only 30k. Then there was the three-day ritual dance with the warranty company before they accepted the claim. And today the wrong parts arrived so it looks like next Monday at the earliest before I get it back.
Meanwhile, I'm zipping about in a Suzuki Splash courtesy car. It's comfortable, amazingly roomy, a hoot to drive and appears to be giving about 50mpg. Butwould it tow a 1400kg caravan....................?!

 

[DavidB]

We're now into "you couldn't make it up" territory. It turns out that a whole new front axle is to be fitted. The first one that came was for an XE and didn't fit. After ten days or so, a second one arrived and was duly fitted. I was told the car just had to be road-tested and I'd have it the following day. Apparently the noise when they put it into 4wd was horrendous. It seems this axle was for a different market and had the wrong gear ratios. Axle no3 is due to arrive next Wed and the car should be ready by Fri - five weeks and two days after it went into the garage.I'm not holding my breath.
The garage (Border Cars Dumfries) has been painstaking and patient and has kept me mobile with a courtesy carbut it seems to me that there has to be something amiss with Kia's spare parts operation. Is this a common experience?

 

[proac]

When i was in the motor trade weuse thevin number so we would always get the right part, as you have said in your post there are different models of the same car xe, xse.

 

[DavidB]

Well............two months, three new front axles, one front propshaft u/j (collapsed roller-bearings) and new tyres later (not to mention a fortune in the swear-box), it's fixed! When I got it back about ten days ago, the wailing had gone but there was still an underlying grumble and fidget. In desperation, having read other threads here, I took it to my local tyre depot and had them take all four wheels off to check the tyre diameters. Sure enough, the 2 new reartyres, though nominally the same size,were visibly smaller than the older ones on the front. One set of tyres later, the car is transformed - makingthe point again that cars with the torque-on-demand 4wd systemneed matching tyres all round. Who'd have thought that such big, butch things would be so sensitive?! The remaining question (to which, for the sake of my blood pressure, I won't seek an answer) is, "How the heck did all that get past Kia's alleged 84-pointused car pdi, a service and an MOT - and what else have they missed????" Words don't quite fail me but........

 

[DavidB]

I should add that the car came, not from Border Kia, who have worked hard to put it right, but from Burton Kia who won't be on this year's Christmas-card list.

 

[bitman]

i had somethingsimilarwith a 2003 mercedes c-class cdi, came from merc direct birmingham with full service history and 1 year mercwarranty. 8 months later they had replaced (all underwarranty) all pads / discs, 3 times master brake cylinder, 2 times brake booster, complete steering rack.you can understand that i got rid of that bag of spanners before the warranty was running out as i had no trust in that car.

also i did see at the gatwick group kia garage a black 2008 sorento with different front and rear tires and when i told the sales man about it he didn't even care about it... i even explained him about the tod system and how this setup coulddamagethe tod system.

so don't take those so called 'brand' garages for granted



all thou when i bought unseen a 2001 toyota rav 4 gx in 2006 from the guildford toyota garage i paid and drove back home to birmingham and in 2010 i sold it. only problem i had was 1 license plate bulb and 1 co/2 sensor (waranty) in all those years!

 

[DavidB]

As you suggest, Bitman, some cars are little better than a box of bits, no matter what the badge. The question now is: do I have one of those? We've just been away for a few days andI was reminded of all the things that attracted me to the car in the first place, but it's going to take a while for my confidence in it to be restored.Do you really get 33mpg? I reckon I'm getting 27-28 (just over 400 miles per tank to the point where the warning light comes on) which is a bit of a blow. The car seems to have spent its life on short commuting trips - perhaps it'll loosen a bit yet. I'm not holding my breath, though.