Question 1

The air-conditioning compressor in my 2009 Kia Cerato has seized. How can I fix it affordably without replacing the entire unit?

Accepted Answer

The air-conditioning system is not critical to the car’s operation, only its comfort. As such, if you can find a belt that still drives all the ancillaries like the coolant pump, alternator, power-steering pump and whatever else is belt-driven on this model, then it’s certainly possible. What you have to ensure is that the shorter belt is the correct length and is still properly tensioned by the existing tensioning pulleys. You may have to change pulleys and brackets to achieve this. If you’re lucky, it will only be the air-conditioner itself that is driven by an auxiliary belt, with everything else running off the primary drive belt. If that’s the case, you simply remove the air-con belt and drive on. In the old days, you simply bought the appropriate belt for the same make and model without factory air-con and fitted that. But more modern cars with standard air-conditioning can be trickier to bypass. But it should be possible, even if you have to take a piece of string the correct length to an auto parts store and go through the various belts to find one the right length. Either that, or find the same make and model at a wrecking yard that was not fitted with factory air-conditioning and use the drive belt pulleys and tensioners from that car. Never use a second-hand drive belt, however.

Question 2

Why is my 2013 Kia Cerato not idling properly?

Accepted Answer

Frankly, about a thousand different things. Poor idling and performance can be down to the ignition system, fuel system or mechanical wear or problems anywhere within the engine. And within those three things can lurk potentially thousands more reasons for poor running. A mechanic familiar with this make and model is your best bet. They will probably start with the basics such as fuel supply and quality, spark strength and timing and a compression test to make sure all is well within the engine itself. This is a case where it’s important to go back to first principles of fuel, spark, compression and then start to look at the more intricate systems that control the engine. Honestly, though, it could be anything from a dud sensor in the intake system, the same problem with the cooling system (not allowing the engine to reach full operating temperature) or even something mechanically fundamental like a blocked catalytic converter, dirty filter or slipped camshaft timing. Or a multitude of things in between. A good workshop will be able to sort it, however, without simply swapping parts that may or may not be the problem.

Question 3

Smoke and water in the tailpipe of 2004 Kia Cerato

Accepted Answer

It’s important to differentiate smoke from water vapour when it comes to problems like this that may not be a problem at all. Given you’re also seeing water being emitted from the tailpipe, I’m tipping that this is all happening when you first start the car in the morning. The fact is, this is perfectly normal behaviour from a conventional engine and is simply the engine doing what it does. The water and water vapour is visible on these colder mornings we’re experiencing right now in Victoria because the exhaust isn’t yet hot enough to turn it to steam (steam is actually invisible, water vapour is the white mist you can see). As the car warms up and the exhaust gets hotter, it will turn the water into steam and you won’t notice it. But how does the water and vapour get into the exhaust in the first place? Believe it or not, water is a natural by-product of burning petrol in an engine. And until the engine and exhaust are hot enough to turn that water to steam, it’s visible to the naked eye. Which is when a lot of people start to get worried. But they needn’t, as it’s nothing to be concerned about. The flip-side is if the tailpipe is actually emitting white or blue-ish smoke, at which point you potentially have a worn or damaged engine. This will happen regardless of whether the engine is hot or cold and it won’t go away once the engine is warmed up. If that’s the case, you need to have the engine compression tested by a mechanic as the first step towards finding the cause.

Question 4

Faulty steering rack in 2010 Kia Cerato

Accepted Answer

It all depends on what you mean by faulty. If the rack has wear in it and isn’t as tight or responsive as it should be, then it will continue to wear out further (and eventually fail) but shouldn’t affect the car beyond that. If, however, you mean the rack is dangerously loose or about to break or come apart at some crucial point, you stand to destroy the car in a crash and perhaps injure yourself or someone else. Or worse. Fundamentally, there’s no margin for error with a car’s steering. If it’s not right, the car should not be driven at all and should be fixed properly before it hits the road again. Provided you can find a second-hand steering rack with no wear and in perfect condition, then it should be fine to use. But again, don’t take chances with any of this. And make doubly sure there’s no damage to the rack and its fittings such as from a previous crash. Ask yourself why the original car donated this second-hand steering rack in the first place.

Question 5

The speed alarm in my 2023 Kia Cerato GT keens sounding

Accepted Answer

This is a really common type of question here at CarsGuide. It seems a lot of car-makers are using these speed warning systems and, in many cases, they’re more of an annoyance than a help. In your Kia, speed sign recognition which is part of the adaptive cruise-control feature is the culprit. When the car’s cameras spot a speed sign, they compare that info with how fast the car is actually going (sometimes using co-ordinate information from the sat-nav as well). Sometimes, however, the sign detected relates to a side-street or roadworks on a side street, giving you a false alarm. Either way, not everybody likes this warning system. There’s good news and bad news in the case of your car, Steve. The good news is that you can go into the menu system, select Driver Assistance, then Vehicle Settings, then Speed Alert, and you should find an Off setting that should disable the warning. The bad news is, you have to do this every time you start the car, because the default setting is On. Perhaps the dealer can suggest a way of turning it off permanently since it appears as though a software update at your first service has enabled the system since you bought the car.

Question 6

My 2010 Kia Cerato won't start after changing the fuel filter

Accepted Answer

This could be a coincidence whereby your maintenance was timed perfectly with something else going wrong. But if we assume that the new fuel filter is what has caused the no-start condition, then the first thing to check is that you've installed the filter in the correct orientation. Many filters only operate in one direction. Install it backwards, and the fuel may not flow at all, which would give you the symptoms you're now looking at.

Question 7

What fuel should I use in my 2018 Kia Cerato?

Accepted Answer

All Kias sold in Australia and built after 1996 can use E10 fuel. But your car will be just as happy on standard ULP with its 91 RON octane rating. You won't notice any difference between the two fuels apart from perhaps a slightly higher fuel consumption when using the E10. That's because the ethanol content of the fuel has less energy in it than normal petrol. But there's really not much in it and the extra E10 you'll use will be offset by the cheaper per-litre cost compared with ULP. The fact that you've used E10 will not alter the retained value or desirability to of your car to a potential buyer one bit.

Question 8

What are the specifications for a 2016 Kia Cerato?

Accepted Answer

This very website has an absolute wealth of information on this topic. Follow this link: https://www.carsguide.com.au/kia/cerato/2016 and you’ll find everything from pricing guides to performance data, dimensions and even towing capacities. It’s all there in black and white and one of the reasons CarsGuide is the best in the business.

Question 9

If I want to upgrade my car should I trade it in or sell it privately?

Accepted Answer

The answer will come down (somewhat) to whether the car dealership you buy from wants your car as a trade-in or not. Even if it’s agreed that your Sportage will act as a trade-in, if the car yard in question doesn’t really want it, they won’t offer you much for it. Sometimes, a car dealer will even give you what’s called a no-trade bonus which is a few dollars off the price of the new car on the basis that you’re not lumbering them with a trade-in they don’t want to have to sell on. You stand to make a little more by selling the Sportage privately, but only if you can be bothered with placing an advert and then having a stream of strangers in your driveway on a Saturday morning. Trading the old car in on the new one is the simplest, easiest way of switching cars, but as with any deal like this, don’t be star-struck by the trade-in price, because the extra you think you’re being given for the car will almost certainly be added on to the price of the new car. The important number with this type of transaction is the change-over figure; the actual amount of money you need to stump up to swap from one car to another.

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