Loss of Power

[BlkKnight]

Bit of an update.

Been driving the same stretch of road for a couple of weeks - and has no symptoms.

This week - when there is less than 50 miles in the tank - its started again.

Same corner, same speed - just no power.

Very odd.

I'm not going to be able to reproduce this at a dealer. . . . How the hell do I take this forward?

 

[RedCal]

First try and remove as many variables that you can, so you can give a precise account, air temperature, engine temp, oil temp, RPM, speed, drive mode etc. and date and time - I don't know how the ECU logs things but hopefully they can see something like throttle position = 100% but RPM is 1500. There are a few apps that might be able to log it for you with an OBD2 adapter and maybe borrow a GoPro, or two and set them up to record to see if you can capture the event.

In the end it is probably a sensor sending some bad data under the right conditions, the tricky bit is finding which one, and when

 

[BlkKnight]

OBD2

Bit of a noob - what do I need to read (and interpret) the OBD2

 

[G70 Owner]

Has anyone suggested that you’re hitting a fuel cutoff? When taking a turn at speed all the gas will move to the side of the tank, might be starving it putting it into a low fuel limp mode until it comes back flat to the pickup

 

[BlkKnight]

That's certainly what it feels like. Shouldn't do it though?

 

[G70 Owner]

Less than 50 miles in the tank = what exactly? Less than 50 is already pretty low, and combining that with a sharp turn it does sound normal to me

 

[BlkKnight]

In all my car ownership (15 cars ish), I have never expreienced fuel starvation because the tank was only 1/5 full.

The fuel warning light wasn't even on.

 

[G70 Owner]

Your call if you think it’s an actual issue. Take it in, deal with the normal dealer headache. Or when you’re below 1/5th of a tank slow down or fill up more often. I know which option I would choose.

 

[RedCal]

Bit of a noob - what do I need to read (and interpret) the OBD2

You can grab a bluetooth adapter from Amazon for around $30, and software -torque has paid and free version, but I'm not sure of the differences between the two

 

[IslandStinger]

In the past couple of months since mounting Kia proprietary winter wheels (hub-centric) and rubbers from the Kia 2019 catalogue, anytime in Sport Mode and occasionally in Comfort my 2019 GT AWD Limited looses power when hard accelerating from a full stop/light/etc. RPMs remain the same but the loss of power is scary, unpredictable and unexpected. I throttle down and it goes back to normal.
Have run it without the 'extra' goodies inserted and with engine warmed up (travelling for abt 12-15 minutes) and above half full gas tank (always on Premium gas). Kia dealership unable to troubleshoot, said something about oil temp and such (so what happens when it gets warm here in Canada!?), and now Kia Canada says it's the winter wheel package (their product for the Kia Stinger alone!!!). So what's the solution to his scary problem. For Kia Canada is to wait until I re-mount the Staggered wheels for the summer months and then push it as much as possible to see if the problem repeats itself. I need to ask the Stinger community if this problem has touched other owners, it the wheel package excuse can be consider valid, or is there some other technical reason. Only other thought was the safety features - but I disengaged these during testing...
Help Please and thank you...

I have a stock 2018 Stinger GT and the same problem. I've tested it with TCS on/off and SMS on/off and it occurs under every drive mode with these settings on or off. I've had this issue with a full gas tank and yesterday with a 1/4 tank, and I only use 91 octane. When starting hard in 1st, around 4000-4500 RPM the engine power will just suddenly cut and you're left powerless like a speedbump in the middle of the road. A temporary fix from the dealership has been to reset the learning transmission settings but the problem will come back randomly and every time I get it back from the dealership after regular maintenance. I love this car but after 2 very near misses, one involving a semi and another involving a speeding pickup truck, with my young sons in the back. It's unfortunate that no one from the dealership can fix this issue permanently, and it's terrifying to think I could be trying to get out of the way of a speeding vehicle, only to be left powerless in it's path.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Welcome, "one-shot" poster. Hah. You can understand my skepticism if you've read through this thread.

Here's my genuinely curious question: WTH are you pulling out into traffic with 4.5K RPM for??!! With kids onboard no less? And you get upset at the car? Ripping out in front of semis and any other "speeding" traffic is just plain nuts. Wait to play until you've got a BIG gap to play with.

There are reasons why this car dumps power; actually a whole bunch of factors. If this has happened twice (out of how many goes?), you're just hitting on the complex of those factors.

I will never show off what this car can do in front of anyone but myself. Having great torque and an impressively high top end is no excuse. It's a fangled car, after all: and these days, that means 101 additional things that can hiccup. Only play when it's safe (No Risk).

 

[IslandStinger]

Welcome, "one-shot" poster. Hah. You can understand my skepticism if you've read through this thread.

Here's my genuinely curious question: WTH are you pulling out into traffic with 4.5K RPM for??!! With kids onboard no less? And you get upset at the car? Ripping out in front of semis and any other "speeding" traffic is just plain nuts. Wait to play until you've got a BIG gap to play with.

There are reasons why this car dumps power; actually a whole bunch of factors. If this has happened twice (out of how many goes?), you're just hitting on the complex of those factors.

I will never show off what this car can do in front of anyone but myself. Having great torque and an impressively high top end is no excuse. It's a fangled car, after all: and these days, that means 101 additional things that can hiccup. Only play when it's safe (No Risk).

Well upgrade me to "two-shot" poster at least

It happened pulling out of a blind driveway, half way into the lane and a truck came around the corner well over the speed limit. I hit the gas to get moving, since hitting the brake seemed a worse idea and 4000 rpms come real quick.

I feel I have the right to get upset at a pickup doing 80Km-ish in a 60 zone, it's a common issue on that road, but my post was more about the inability to move anywhere in that moment. There was no "showing off" so that's a bit o f an assumption based on the information I provided. My post was in support of all the other owners facing similar issues.

My car is currently in with the dealer right now and I have told them I need the issue fixed definitively, so if they replace the fuel pump and it goes away I'll post again and hope that is the end of that issue.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Well upgrade me to "two-shot" poster at least

Yay, I was mistaken. The added information changes the whole thing. A blind spot is of course a curse wherever they exist. And worse curse is, of course, the car that falls on its face when the demand for instant speed is made.

But you can see my point about this weird thread: how several (by now) posters have chimed in with this alarming behavior in common, and then disappeared. "Limp mode" is not exactly a common complaint with the Stinger: but when it does happen it is because of some modification messing with the ECU. An actual power failure from a failed system is super rare.

 

[D.J.]

It really just sounds like traction was lost momentarily (bump in the road?) and traction control did it's thing.

I wonder if anyone has a dashcam video of this event occurring, with audio to hear the engine - to better understand the road conditions that led to the event.

When the car looses power, how long does it stay in this mode?

 

[IslandStinger]

Yay, I was mistaken. The added information changes the whole thing. A blind spot is of course a curse wherever they exist. And worse curse is, of course, the car that falls on its face when the demand for instant speed is made.

But you can see my point about this weird thread: how several (by now) posters have chimed in with this alarming behavior in common, and then disappeared. "Limp mode" is not exactly a common complaint with the Stinger: but when it does happen it is because of some modification messing with the ECU. An actual power failure from a failed system is super rare.

Yeah, I definitely see your point about the one-and-dones.

I got the car back from the dealership yesterday and here's what they said:
- They won't try to replicate the issue on the streets around here due to safety concerns but they know the issue well enough to believe it's happening.
- There was another car at the dealership right then with the exact same issue.
- They are in Contact with Kia Canada to see what they suggest, might hear back in a couple of days.
- They want to connect a reader to the OBD port and then check the logs when it happens again.

A short-term fix that they have been using is to reset the learning transmission settings which seems to temporarily remove the problem but it never lasts. Before you ask I don't ever use the learning transmission mode so not sure what that says either.

Also you mentioned limp mode which I've experienced in another car I had, this felt similar but I figured the dealership would have a code for that if it was the cause. I read about a valet mode once but didn't get enough details from the post to connect that to the issue.

 

[IslandStinger]

It really just sounds like traction was lost momentarily (bump in the road?) and traction control did it's thing.

I wonder if anyone has a dashcam video of this event occurring, with audio to hear the engine - to better understand the road conditions that led to the event.

When the car looses power, how long does it stay in this mode?

I've had the TC kick in on ice before and it's never resulted in a power loss like this, more like a bit of tap dancing as the wheels fight for grip. The power loss only lasts for a few (4-5?) seconds but the gas pedal does nothing during that time and I usually drive with the TC disabled unless the roads are wet or icy.

My local dealership is aware of the issue and they agree it's not the TC although that sounded like the most plausible cause at first.

 

[Mesmorino]

I've had this issue twice now. First yesterday, and again today. It's not traction control, the tyres are not struggling for grip, I haven't changed tyres (I use all seasons all year round). The car just loses power while accelerating, and the gas pedal does nothing. It's almost like I've run about of petrol, except it's still going (and was going prior to the incident).

The only thing that's changed is that I refuelled yesterday, so my first thought is the fuel pump.

Both times it happened, it was after being at a complete stop, trying to move off and get up to speed on a highway. I'm going to call the dealership tomorrow and take it in.

 

[D.J.]

I've had this issue twice now. First yesterday, and again today. It's not traction control, the tyres are not struggling for grip, I haven't changed tyres (I use all seasons all year round). The car just loses power while accelerating, and the gas pedal does nothing. It's almost like I've run about of petrol, except it's still going (and was going prior to the incident).

The only thing that's changed is that I refuelled yesterday, so my first thought is the fuel pump.

Both times it happened, it was after being at a complete stop, trying to move off and get up to speed on a highway. I'm going to call the dealership tomorrow and take it in.

How long did this power loss last? What did you do to recover? Did you have to shut it off and back on again?

 

[Mesmorino]

How long did this power loss last? What did you do to recover? Did you have to shut it off and back on again?

The first time, several minutes, as it caught me by surprise and I was trying to figure out what was going on. I kept pressing the gas with nothing happening (and traffic building up behind me) so I pulled off the highway and found a parking lot to drive around in. Every time I tried to give it gas it would just cut power around 2k revs (at one point it it threw a couple of lights, check engine and one more that I missed), so I just parked up, turned the engine off and on again. It was fine after that, although I was very easy on the gas.

The second time today was much shorter, if no less alarming. Same thing, tried to give it gas from a stop, it cut power around 4k 2.5k revs, (and the F-150 behind me almost rear ended me), so I pulled into the shoulder with hazards on, and tried to actually figure it out. It only responded to the gas pedal up to around 2.5k revs, and right when it was supposed to shift up, it would just cut power, and the pedal would be not quite dead, but also not responsive. So, it wouldn't accelerate, but I could also see the needle moving, albeit very slowly/sluggishly. This time, I "fixed" it by turning cruise control back on and letting it get up to speed by itself.

While that worked, I noticed that it barely ever got past 2k revs, going from 50km/h to 80ishkm/hr. Once it hit the 90s and 100s, it would go above that, and once it hit 110km/hr it stayed around 1800/1900 revs.

That's more or less how I got to my destination. Both times I was in comfort mode. On the way back I gave it some juice but I was way too concerned with it dropping out on me again so I just always got up to around 60km/hr and let cruise control take it up to 105.

The first time, yesterday, I did briefly switch it to manual mode and tried to shift myself (because the power loss seemed/felt like it was up shifting to the wrong/higher gear), but that didn't do anything. Also while I filled up yesterday, I'm now down to half tank, although I have been doing a lot of driving over the two days. And I bought premium, have been using premium for about 2 years (started with regular).

I'm gonna ask the dealership to check the fuel pump, brake vacuum pressure, and spark plugs.

Edited to correct some numbers, it wasn't reaching anywhere near 4K. On the drive to work today I kept an eye on the tachometer, the car shifts around 2100 revs, and I stay in comfort mode the overwhelming majority of the time. As I pick up speed it maybe gets up to 3k revs or just over, and then it shifts.

 

[SRV]

Sounds to me a fueling issue - and with the fuel pump as the prime suspect in this ongoing investigation...