Kia Cerato Engine Problems

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.

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.

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.

A ticking noise from the engine of a modern car is often the first signs of a build-up of sludge inside the engine. The hydraulic lash adjusters (which control the amount of clearance in the valve-train) operate on the same oil that lubricates the entire engine. If sludge has begun to build up in the engine, these lash adjusters are often the first components to be damaged.

What causes this build-up? Most commonly, the cause is poor servicing over the years. If a previous owner has stretched the oil-change intervals beyond the factory recommendation, the oil becomes contaminated and dirty and that leads directly to sludge. Does your car have a written record of its past maintenance? If not, I’d be very suspicious of its service history.

You may be lucky, however, and simply have a single lash adjuster that has failed for no good reason. If that’s the case, it can be replaced (I’d replace all 16 of them while I was at it). Perhaps in the first instance, the wise move would be to have somebody who knows these engines have a listen to see if the cause is something else. Modern aluminium engines can often be a bit noisy, and your problem could be related to an injector or fuel pump or perhaps something even deeper inside the engine.

The clicking sound could be a sign of a weak battery, which is having difficulty coping with the cold weather. Don’t pump the accelerator; that does nothing on a fuel-injected car. Have the battery tested.

The tappets are not adjustable, and it’s not normal that they are noisy. It’s hard to know what has happened as a result of it standing for so long. Have a mechanic check the tappets.

It should run on 91-octane fuel without pinging; the knock sensor should ensure that it doesn't occur. Running it on higher-octane fuels makes it less prone to pinging, and again the knock sensor should have it running on the edge of pinging without actually doing it. I would keep the pressure on Kia to fix the problem, and at the same time get the help of an independent mechanic.

You could clean the throttle body to fix the miss. After that you should be looking at the electronics on the engine. The speedo is a mystery, but you would have to think that it is related to the car's electronics.

The problem needs to sorted out with the dealer and Kia, so go back and tell the dealer you are unhappy with the car as it is and request them to fix it. Tell them you will not accept the car as it is. Ask them to demonstrate on another Cerato that the problem is 'normal'.

Like you I doubt very much that changing to higher octane fuel will have any affect on the problem as you describe it. It seems likely that it’s a problem with the idle setting and that’s where they should be looking. Follow the dealer’s advice and run two fills of 95-octane fuel through it, so you can rule that out as a solution when you take it back. The only thing you can do is to keep the pressure up on the dealer, and to register your complaint directly with Kia’s customer assistance people.