another Kia Optima engine bites the dust

[NormanBuntz]

It appears my daughter's 2012 Kia Optima 4 cylinder engine is fried at 83K miles. My grandson was driving it around town when everything shut down abruptly. It seems like an oil related engine seizure, but she's still waiting for final word from the Kia dealer in PA. Fortunately she is the original owner and all oil changes were done on schedule at the local Kia dealer, who told her she is the sixth customer this has happened to. She's fortunate to have the 100K mile powertrain warranty.

Hopefully Kia won't try to stick her with a remanufactured engine. Otherwise she may have to join the class action lawsuit.

 

[pair of Blazers]

that sucks. I have 2 KIA's, 2.0L in the Forte w70K and a 2.4L in the Sportage w/32K
what engine was in it?

 

[gabriel9766]

Originally Posted By: pair of Blazers
that sucks. I have 2 KIA's, 2.0L in the Forte w70K and a 2.4L in the Sportage w/32K
what engine was in it?

Manager's 2012 kia forte motor went out at 80k (2.0 motor) (loud lower end knock) kia fixed it and he traded it a few months ago for a 15 mustang 5.0 stick with 7k miles.

 

[daves87rs]

Buddy's 11' Sonata went out on him at 91k earlier this year....

 

[NHGUY]

KIA=Kicked In the *ss.
I guess they haven't progressed all that much in durability since their horrid Sephia US-debut days...

 

[xshoex]

ive got a little over 80k on my 3.5 sorento.. love the car. hope i get lucky lol

 

[dishdude]

So weird, you never hear of lower end issues with such low miles unless run low on oil.

 

[dblshock]

...what a mess, sickening.

 

[SatinSilver]

Just the other day a thread about a 2010 Optima needing engine replacement:

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4261319/1

 

[Rand]

hey hey hey guys dont you know only subaru's EVER have engine problems...

What I learned from BITOG

Still this is a small sample.. is it 1% of the engines .1% of the engines..
do they have a low oil light.. or is this typical americanism where oil is never checked..
run chronically low etc.

FWIW 5 coworkers have various kia vehicles.. seem to be fairly troublefree.

The 2011? or 2012 sorrento has a wierd cluster issue where the blinker and high beam indicators dont illuminate... but work normally.

 

[Danno]

Pretty common issue on the 2.4L Hyundai/KIA engine 2012 -2013.
2nd journal oil passages not cleaned well at factory causing failure of the #2 bearing and engine as a result.

I was just sent an extended warranty letter on our 2013 Sonata 2.4L.

 

[SumpChump]

Sorry tonhear of the OP's problems. My 1.5L 2001
Kia Rio ran a loooong time.

Hearing this about the 2.XL Kia motors makes me feel slightly better about the oil drinking 2.4L 2AZ-FE in my 2008 Scion xB with 140,000. I'm wondering how much oil the cat can take before choking out.

 

[fdcg27]

She's already a part of any class action unless she affirmatively opted out of it.
That's how class actions work once a court allows such a suit to proceed.
What would be wrong with replacing an 83K engine with a factory reman?
The warranty will define what the maker is obligated to do and I'm pretty sure that it is worded to allow repair or replacement at the option of the maker.
The warranty protects the manufacturer as much as it does the retail customer since it spells out what the manufacturer's actual liability is.
Not too much lawsuit bait involved.
Attorneys have been known to file class actions in order to secure settlements that consist mainly of nice fees for them.

 

[demarpaint]

It reminds me of when the Sedona mini van first hit the US market. We had quite a few come back with blown engines. IIRC service was told to run them for 30 minutes at 5,000 rpms, and deliver the car if there were no problems. I'm not sure if that came from Kia Corporate or the owner or our dealership looking to avoid headaches with them. I left and went to work for Honda.

 

[fdcg27]

If they really had "blown" engines, then how could those engines have been run at 5K revs for half an hour?
This sounds like a case of owner stupidity not bad engines.

 

[4WD]

When I was based in Korea - my admin got a new Kia sedan and took me to lunch. I complemented her car - and then noted that I heard they did not always make such good cars. She said how could they ever get better if people gave up on them.
Man, that was different - but then again that's not a Toyota stronghold - they buy at home ...

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted By: Rand
hey hey hey guys dont you know only subaru's EVER have engine problems...


*cough*Toyota*cough*

But my parents have the big sister of the 1MZ-FE sludge monster in their Sienna, and it seems to be OK at 104K. OTOH, Prii are drinking oil at Subaru-like rates.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
If they really had "blown" engines, then how could those engines have been run at 5K revs for half an hour?
This sounds like a case of owner stupidity not bad engines.


Sorry re-reading what I posted it wasn't that clear. I sometimes take things for granted. That was a test to see if the engine would blow, prior to delivering the new vehicle to the customer. If it ran the 30 minutes at 5,000 rpms w/o issue they got the vehicle. Idiotic if you ask me, but that's what they were doing after we got a few back with a blown engine.

When I started selling at a Kia dealer they were considered throw away cars by a lot of people. They have come a long way.

 

[fdcg27]

Okay, that makes more sense.
Maybe the build quality of these V-6s was a little rough and maybe not perfectly clean?
Half an hour at 5K revs should have taken care of any breakin issues as well as flushed through any debris. Follow that with an oil change and you should end up with a good engine. Maybe the factory actually advised that this procedure be used?
A guy I worked with got about 200K out of his early stick Sephia, which I thought was pretty good for a such a cheap car. The body and interior held up pretty well.
This guy, while well compensated is notably frugal when it comes to cars.
His current ride is a four door Versa sedan.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Okay, that makes more sense.
Maybe the build quality of these V-6s was a little rough and maybe not perfectly clean?
Half an hour at 5K revs should have taken care of any breakin issues as well as flushed through any debris. Follow that with an oil change and you should end up with a good engine. Maybe the factory actually advised that this procedure be used?
A guy I worked with got about 200K out of his early stick Sephia, which I thought was pretty good for a such a cheap car. The body and interior held up pretty well.
This guy, while well compensated is notably frugal when it comes to cars.
His current ride is a four door Versa sedan.



I wish I could remember if it was from the owner or Kia. Somehow I feel it probably came from Kia with an oil change after I read your comments. This owner had twelve other dealerships and I have a feeling he might have been clueless when it comes down to it. I will email an old friend I worked with and see if he remembers the exact details.