99 sportage running bad.

[Chris142]

My mom has been sick lately. So I went grocery shopping yesterday and I drove her 99 Sportage to the store. Everything was fine untill I came out of the store to go home.

When I tried to start the car it ran a few seconds, died then made a pop out the tailpipe. I restarted it and it was running terrible. Was missing on atleast 1 cyl. CEL started blinking so we know it has a miss.

I started home in it and after 4 miles it smoothed out and ran fine again. CEL stopped blinking and just stayed on.

Got home and pulled the code which was #4 miss. Took the intake and what not off to access the spark plugs. Plugs had 25000 miles on them since I put them in. They all looked fine to me. No excess carbon, oil or anything.

Put new NGK's in it and put it back together.

This car uses 1 coil for 2 plugs. If it was a bad coil it would kill 2 cyls and I would have a code for 2 dead cyls.

I ran it about 1/2 hr last night in the driveway and it seemed to be running fine.

Like I said the old plugs had 25K on them. The gap is supposed to be .039-.o43. The old ones were closer to .050 but I don't think that .007 would cause that much of a problem.

Ideas?

 

[Billbert]

If it's never had wires , I would change them out, and add some Techron or Regane to the gas.

 

[Chris142]

The wires are part of the coils. The #4 coil is directly on top of the plug. I didn't see any signs of insulation damage on them. It's had a diet of FI cleaners over the years.

 

[The_Jeff]

Leaky injector? Does it smell flooded?

Does the EGR dump out near cyl 1? Is it stuck open?

 

[Chris142]

Didn't smell flooded. No idea on the EGR. I'll go look.

 

[Chris142]

I took it back apart and pulled the plug boots off the coils. Both coils are cracked under the boots. The cracks extend from the spot where the spark plug connects to the base of the coil.

A distance of 2 inches or so. This can't be good so I'm off to Napa for $200 in coils and plug wires.

 

[Chris142]

Well 2 new coils and plug wires did not fix it.

 

[addyguy]

Bad batch of gas?

 

[Hootbro]

This is not of much help to your current situation, but these 1st Gen KIA Sportage will nickle and dime you to death.

I had a 2001 and maintained it religiously per the service charts. By 100K miles was on it, the thing acted like 300K was on it. Every thing just seamed to wear out prematurely. Suspension and drive links were worn. Radiator cracked at 80K. Bad knock sensor at 75K. Center support drive line bearing went at 90K. Interior plastic would just break off in chunks after a couple of years. Just a very [censored] poor workmanship.

Best thing that ever happened to me was my street had a 25 year flood rain and flooded the whole vehicle for a total loss.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: Hootbro
This is not of much help to your current situation, but these 1st Gen KIA Sportage will nickle and dime you to death.

I had a 2001 and maintained it religiously per the service charts. By 100K miles was on it, the thing acted like 300K was on it. Every thing just seamed to wear out prematurely. Suspension and drive links were worn. Radiator cracked at 80K. Bad knock sensor at 75K. Center support drive line bearing went at 90K. Interior plastic would just break off in chunks after a couple of years. Just a very [censored] poor workmanship.

Best thing that ever happened to me was my street had a 25 year flood rain and flooded the whole vehicle for a total loss.
Hers has not had any of these issues. Infact it really drives nice. It replaced a 1987 Dodge Omni that was an entire piece of junk from the start. When I say the start I mean that because my dad bought it new and on the way home he stopped to get gas and it wouldn't start at the station.

It needed rod bearings @ 10k under warranty and again @ about 50K, this time not covered under warranty. It's final death was when the eccentric thats cast into the crankshaft to run the mechanical fuel pump ground it's self flat.

That car had all kinds of weird problems and believe it or not the Kia was an upgrade

 

[The Critic]

Get the injectors flow-tested.

 

[unDummy]

Run a bottle or two of FI cleaner.

Look for vacuum leaks.

 

[Chris142]

I've never messed with Fuel injectors so this is all new to me. Looks like I have to remove a lot of the engine to get to them. Napa gets $25 ea to clean and test them.

 

[SuperFast]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
I've never messed with Fuel injectors so this is all new to me. Looks like I have to remove a lot of the engine to get to them. Napa gets $25 ea to clean and test them.


Not to be funny, but 99-200x *early Kia Sportages have made several "10 worst car" lists.. along with one i personally dont agree with (the 99-06 VW Jetta i had a different Jetta once) and another Kia, the "Scoupe."

 

[The Critic]

If you're suspecting the #4 cyl, then just swap injectors with another cylinder and see if the problem changes?

 

[Axe Man]

As a former '98 Sportage owner and member of a Sportage forum I can provide some assistance.

First, there is no EGR. The exhaust has a dual cat system. One cat is integrated into the exhaust manifold and the 2nd cat is further back in the exhaust system.

If the coil boots are cracked replace them. If you found any oil in the number 4 plug well then the valve cover gasket is leaking internally. Replace it.

If the CEL is still on but not flashing have the ECU scanned again. Post the codes here and I can help.

If the misfire continues on number 4 check the exhaust manifold for cracks. Very common fail and believe it or not can cause a misfire. You'll need to pull the heat shield off the exhaust manifold to check for cracking.

The fuel injectors rarely fail but could be an issue. Yes, getting the fuel rail off the engine is a bear. You'll have to pull the throttle body and the upper half of the intake manifold.

It is also a very common issue for the cat on the exhaust manifold to collapse internally and block the exhaust. But that usually causes a power loss rather than a misfire.

Finally, I can provide sections of the FSM electronically if you need it.

 

[Chris142]

Axe Man. You have mail.

 

[Chris142]

Po304 which is a miss on #4. I already knew that though. Before I start throwing parts at it I'm going to clean and tighten the connections at the injector........Then I'll have to search for the stupid metal clip that went flying that holds the plug onto the injector.