Engine overheat (2.0T)

[GregM]

Whew! You dodged a "bullet". I had to redo the head on my van when it overheated. Not right away, but it became necessary over time. The needle went into the Red before I saw any steam coming from under the hood. I am very wary now! My son's Corolla was destroyed by his sister driving at night with a blown radiator and she didn't even see the damage being done until it was too late. Fatal.

I hear you and these things happened to me in the past on...used cars.
It’s not exactly what I was expecting from a brand new top of the line KIA (or maybe I should have).

 

[MerlintheMad]

I hear you and these things happened to me in the past on...used cars.
It’s not exactly what I was expecting from a brand new top of the line KIA (or maybe I should have).

Not "expect", but allow for the possibility on ANY car. Kia inspects each vehicle, not just every so many in a "batch". So their efforts must pay off in fewer factory generated deficiencies; but never all of them. I still watch my temperature gauge like a hawk: not expecting anything to go wrong, but also not wanting to miss the first sign of something going wrong. Because it can. I know that Kia will take good care of you. Cooling system fubars are not some esoteric claim that is subjective to observation bias. There is nothing arguable about a temperature gauge going ballistic!

 

[GregM]

It appears KIA uses a third party business for their roadside assistance. I have been waiting for 5 hours now for my Stinger to be towed and nobody showed up yet.

 

[MerlintheMad]

It appears KIA uses a third party business for their roadside assistance. I have been waiting for 5 hours now for my Stinger to be towed and nobody showed up yet.

I would only go that way out on a road trip far from home territory. Where I live I'd go through my insurance towing service. In fact, away on a trip, I'd still try calling my insurance agent first to see if there are long distance options available, before calling Kia's roadside assistance.

 

[GregM]

I would only go that way out on a road trip far from home territory. Where I live I'd go through my insurance towing service. In fact, away on a trip, I'd still try calling my insurance agent first to see if there are long distance options available, before calling Kia's roadside assistance.

Why? Isn’t KIA Roadside Asdistance supposed to be meant exactly for that purpose?

 

[MerlintheMad]

Why? Isn’t KIA Roadside Asdistance supposed to be meant exactly for that purpose?

It is. But if your insurance pays for towing why not use that first? Especially if you are going to wind up waiting for hours on hours for Kia roadside to get there. I'd be giving Kia a chance, of course. But if they don't send somebody then your insurance pays for towing anyway. State Farm pays the bill after you find a tow service within fifty miles. You're not limited to a specific towing company, or one to be found by your insurance after you phone them (like my mother's insurance was; I disliked having to wait for them to call me back and tell me, "Help is on the way"). I see Kia roadside as a backup and last ditch source. At least around home.

 

[GregM]

Well I guess now I know to not use KIA Roadside anymore. One must learn from its own experiences...

 

[GregM]

Does any of you guys know if the Stinger has a data logger?
I’m curious to see what temperature the engine reached when we got the engine overheated warning message.

 

[robz32]

I think for those kind of alerts there is a log entry created in the ECU. However that log may be only accessible by the KIA techincians using their scan tool, not sure.

 

[GregM]

No clear explanation yet about what happened to my engine but I am being told by the tech that there is an open recall on 2.0T engine cooling system....

 

[GregM]

<IMPORTANT UPDATE>

I just got back my car from the dealership and I am just starting to connect the dots.
Back in February I left my Stinger for scheduled maintenance at KIA Glendale,CA.
I asked them to check and perform all the open TSB at the time.
One of those open TSB was the SA333 "Theta 2.0L turbo AFT warmer connector replacement".
When I picked up my car back in February, the invoice listed SA333 as "completed" (see scan of the invoice attached).

Last week, my Stinger engine overheated and has been towed to KIA Alhambra where they looked into the issue.
I found out this morning that my car is ready and that the problem was a pipe leak that caused the engine to overheat.
The pipe leak is directly related to this SA333 which KIA Alhambra service performed (replaced the pipe and seals/o-rings).
It could have been worse (head gasket or melted heads).

What I am trying to understand now is if the first dealer (KIA Glendale, February 2018) lied and did not perform the service action or if the instructions they were given back then by KIA did not solve the problem (are there any differences between the SA333 from February and now?).

I encourage every 2.0T owner to have this issue taken care of as soon as possible, as it WILL eventually result in coolant leakage sooner or later and potentially much bigger engine issues.

One last word about it: this incident does not increase my level of trust in KIA and their dealership network.
This is my first KIA and, if both KIA Corporate and their dealership network attitude does not change, it will be the last.

PS: KIA Corporate never contacted me back despite making an open claim on their website.

 

[max2382]

is this issue with coolant/overheating related only to the 2.0 Stinger or also to the 3.3? I remember reading a post of one user saying that there were overheating probs with the 3.3, but that was the only one I saw, so maybe incorrect.

 

[MerlintheMad]

is this issue with coolant/overheating related only to the 2.0 Stinger or also to the 3.3? I remember reading a post of one user saying that there were overheating probs with the 3.3, but that was the only one I saw, so maybe incorrect.

I don't see why the 2.0T would be more prone to overheating that anything else. The incidents have only been rare and involve some cause, such as missing O ring or loose hose connection, etc. The engine doesn't just overheat because.

 

[rocket23]

No clear explanation yet about what happened to my engine but I am being told by the tech that there is an open recall on 2.0T engine cooling system....

Mine was done february 20th
sa 333 open recall at 416 miles...before I owned it.

 

[Hung tran]

From what I can tell the first dealership did not do it at all. There was no part bill out.

<IMPORTANT UPDATE>

I just got back my car from the dealership and I am just starting to connect the dots.
Back in February I left my Stinger for scheduled maintenance at KIA Glendale,CA.
I asked them to check and perform all the open TSB at the time.
One of those open TSB was the SA333 "Theta 2.0L turbo AFT warmer connector replacement".
When I picked up my car back in February, the invoice listed SA333 as "completed" (see scan of the invoice attached).

Last week, my Stinger engine overheated and has been towed to KIA Alhambra where they looked into the issue.
I found out this morning that my car is ready and that the problem was a pipe leak that caused the engine to overheat.
The pipe leak is directly related to this SA333 which KIA Alhambra service performed (replaced the pipe and seals/o-rings).
It could have been worse (head gasket or melted heads).

What I am trying to understand now is if the first dealer (KIA Glendale, February 2018) lied and did not perform the service action or if the instructions they were given back then by KIA did not solve the problem (are there any differences between the SA333 from February and now?).

I encourage every 2.0T owner to have this issue taken care of as soon as possible, as it WILL eventually result in coolant leakage sooner or later and potentially much bigger engine issues.

One last word about it: this incident does not increase my level of trust in KIA and their dealership network.
This is my first KIA and, if both KIA Corporate and their dealership network attitude does not change, it will be the last.

PS: KIA Corporate never contacted me back despite making an open claim on their website.

View attachment 12441 View attachment 12442

 

[Bryan3.3]

I had an electronic thermostat failure on mine.

 

[rocket23]

I had an electronic thermostat failure on mine.

only 2 ways that could go....too hot or too cold.........too hot I would imagine more often than not.......to bad they can't design the thermostat to remain open when it fails.......