Kia Problems

This is a really topical question right now as EVs that are actually rated to tow decent loads start hitting the market. The EV9 with dual motors has a large, 99.8kW battery and plenty of power and torque, making it, on the surface, perfect for towing duties.

Without a trailer hitched up, our testing has showed the big Kia uses about 21 to 22kWh during mostly open-road driving. But experience on EVs generally has shown that towing anything really bumps up the energy consumption and slashes range (which is an official 505km for the EV9). Hook up a really heavy trailer (and 2500kg is getting up there) and you might just find that your effective rage falls to about 200km or maybe even less if you’re not super careful with the throttle pedal.

Ultimately, it will all depend on ambient temperature, driving style, cruising speed, trailer mass and the overall aerodynamics of the loaded rig. Suffice to say, the turbo-diesel is still the tow-car of choice at the moment.

It doesn’t matter whether you have the two-litre petrol, 2.4-litre petrol or the two-litre turbo-diesel engine in your Sportage, they all use timing chain technology rather than the toothed rubber timing belt. As such, the timing chain fitted should be good for the life of the engine and should not require periodic replacement as a timing belt does.

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.

Kia rates the 2017 Sorento to tow a braked trailer of up to 2000kg. That much weight should be well within the limits of the car’s mechanical systems and reflects testing that Kia would have done before releasing the car. Which is to say, you won’t damage the car by towing a sub-two-tonne caravan.

Provided that is, that the caravan and car are loaded correctly and the rig is balanced and safe. This is also dependent on the vehicle being in perfect condition and you diving it correctly in the context of towing a heavy load.

The automatic transmission is your friend here, too, as it is smart enough to decide what gear it needs to be in to make the engine’s life as easy as possible and avoid unnecessary wear and tear. If you think the engine is labouring at any point, you can also lock the transmission out of overdrive and let the engine breath a little easier.

For a lot of second-hand car buyers, the opportunity to purchase a car with a year of factory warranty remaining is a big deal. It’s great peace of mind and that means a lot to some people who are sometimes a bit spooked by the level of technology in modern cars. On the basis that you’ll be selling the car in the next 12 months or so, perhaps now is the time while that warranty is still there to attract would-be buyers.

However, you must be able to prove to a buyer that the car has been serviced correctly and at the appropriate intervals. A car without a full, correct service history is, effectively, a car without a warranty regardless of how old it is. Make sure the service handbook is fully stamped and in the glove-box. By the way, your car’s warranty started when you bought it in late 2018, not 2019 even though it’s a 2019 model-year vehicle.

The shifter in your Kia is designed to be used in the normal (PRND) range in most cases. If you decide you’d like to control the gear selection yourself, you can flick the lever across to the other plane (+ /-) also called Sports mode, and control when the transmission changes gear. By pushing the lever forward in that second plane, you can force the transmission to change up a gear. Pull the selector back and it will shift down a gear. Hence the + and – symbols.

In most cases, the transmission will stay in the gear you select in Sports mode, unless you try to take off from rest in a high gear (when it will shift down for you) or you’ve taken the engine to its maximum speed, at which point the car will automatically shift up a gear to prevent the engine from blowing up.

The idea of this is that you can drive the car in a sportier fashion (makes little sense in a Kia Carnival, I know). But it can also be handy if you are, say, towing a trailer and need a little more engine braking, at which point you can flick across to Sports mode and force the transmission into a lower gear.

Many owners never experiment with Sports mode and it remains a mystery to a lot of people.

CarsGuide tested the Kona Hybrid late last year (you can check out the review and video here) and came to exactly the same conclusion: That the car was great around the city, but lacked a bit of overtaking oomph at highway speeds.

This will not be a problem for many owners who will possibly never need to overtake on a country road, but for those who do, perhaps there are better choices out there.

Your comparison with the petrol Captiva is a valid one, too. On paper, this car had plenty of urge, but the power was all stacked way up in the higher rev ranges and required some forward planning when overtaking.

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.

I reckon an early Kia Carnival would make a great platform for a vanlife adventure. It's very unlikely there's a lot of wiring inside the door, and the only electrical wiring that leaps to mind might be a courtesy light for when you open the sliding door, and the little switch that controls it. So, try to find that switch (it's probably down low near the floor) and see if you can see where any wiring enters or leaves the door via the door jamb. Don't expect to see actual wires, as they probably run inside a black rubber boot or sheath to protect them.

Again, it's very unlikely that there's wiring high up in the door near the window (which is where you need to curtain) but if you drill carefully and check the hole for any coloured wiring just as you punch through the metal, you should be fine. A strong torch will help with this, and disconnect the car's battery before drilling just in case you get mighty unlucky.

You're on the right track with looking at the camshaft-angle sensor. But rather than the actual sensor itself, the problem is likely to be within the wiring that connects the sensor to the car's computer. Without a good, solid condition, the best sensor in the world can't relay the information that the computer needs to command the engine to start.

The next step is a visit to an auto electrician who should be able to test the cam-sensor circuit and check for problems with fuses, wires, connectors and any other component that could be causing the information breakdown.