Transmission is getting replaced.

[OliverNuther]

Car went in for its 40K service today where they’ve detected a leaky input shaft seal on the transmission. It’s only a small leak apparently and it’s a warranty job so that’s ok but they reckon they’ll need the car for 3-4 days which is a bit of a bummer. Anyone else had this problem? I can‘t recall this being a common problem.

Update.

I hadn’t heard of any leaky transmissions previously and it seems Kia Australia haven’t either. I’ve just had a call from the dealer who tell me that Kia want them to disassemble the transmission then send them photos of whatever part has failed before they’re allowed to fix it and reassemble my car. So now I’m looking at 2-4 weeks without my car. On the bright side they’re giving me a loan car free of charge but it won’t be a Stinger. PITA.

I thought I’d make this topic into it‘s own thread given that it is now turning into a bit of a saga.

So on Monday arvo I dropped my car back to the dealer for them to start the above process. They had a hire car ready for me (yay); it’s a shitbox Cerato (boo). On Wednesday they rang me to tell me that they had disassembled the car as required and sent the photos to KIA and were now waiting to hear back from them as to what was to be done next. Apparently the leak wasn’t coming from the input shaft seal as first thought but rather was coming from 2 bolts on the transmission behind the bell housing. Today they ring me and tell me that the 2 bolts are completely inaccessible and thus the leak can’t be fixed. KIA have therefore authorised them to replace the entire transmission as it can’t be repaired. Luckily there’s a spare tranny already in Australia so that’s on its way to me but it‘s still going to be a couple of weeks before it gets here and gets fitted.

I can’t picture where these 2 bolts are that they are talking about and I’m a bit of a mechanical dunce at the best of times but it seems to me to be an expensive design flaw if the only solution to a simple leak is to replace the whole unit. I should clarify that apart from the leak my transmission was working completely normally and didn’t need replacing for any other reason. I’ll keep this thread updated as things progress in case anyone else experiences a similar issue.

 

[FitR6]

I just got my transmission replaced a couple weeks ago but for a different reason. The car was jolting on the downshift from 3rd to 2nd, and upon looking further discovered it doing something similar when upshifting in Sports drive mode. Funny that they said they couldn't reproduce the fault when they had it for 4 days (seems to be the go-to response) yet I told them to get in the car with me and reproduced it in the first 60 seconds. They kept it for another 2 weeks to replace the transmission. Almost 3 weeks without the car.

 

[eflyguy]

Not quite sure how a bolt could be inaccessible. How was it put in to begin with?

 

[OliverNuther]

I just got my transmission replaced a couple weeks ago but for a different reason. The car was jolting on the downshift from 3rd to 2nd, and upon looking further discovered it doing something similar when upshifting in Sports drive mode. Funny that they said they couldn't reproduce the fault when they had it for 4 days (seems to be the go-to response) yet I told them to get in the car with me and reproduced it in the first 60 seconds. They kept it for another 2 weeks to replace the transmission. Almost 3 weeks without the car.

The old ‘can’t reproduce fault’ eh? Hope they’re not sending me your old unit.

 

[OliverNuther]

Not quite sure how a bolt could be inaccessible. How was it put in to begin with?

Dunno. Unless something is getting lost in translation from the mechanic to the service advisor to me. But she definitely said the bolts can’t be reached so they have to replace the whole unit. I don’t understand it either. But I have to confess that I just want my car fixed and fixed quickly so I’m not asking too many awkward questions or kicking up any sort of fuss that would delay the repair.

 

[Nasscar]

Dunno. Unless something is getting lost in translation from the mechanic to the service advisor to me. But she definitely said the bolts can’t be reached so they have to replace the whole unit. I don’t understand it either. But I have to confess that I just want my car fixed and fixed quickly so I’m not asking too many awkward questions or kicking up any sort of fuss that would delay the repair.

I agree with you about being a design flaw if you need to replace a whole transmission that is working normally just because you can't access some bolts. Sorry to hear about your delimma.

 

[Nasscar]

I just got my transmission replaced a couple weeks ago but for a different reason. The car was jolting on the downshift from 3rd to 2nd, and upon looking further discovered it doing something similar when upshifting in Sports drive mode. Funny that they said they couldn't reproduce the fault when they had it for 4 days (seems to be the go-to response) yet I told them to get in the car with me and reproduced it in the first 60 seconds. They kept it for another 2 weeks to replace the transmission. Almost 3 weeks without the car.

I hope this isn't going to be a common problem for the Stinger.

 

[FitR6]

I hope this isn't going to be a common problem for the Stinger.

Trust me. If there is going to be a one in a million problem, I'm the one likely to have it.

 

[G70 Owner]

I just got my transmission replaced a couple weeks ago but for a different reason. The car was jolting on the downshift from 3rd to 2nd, and upon looking further discovered it doing something similar when upshifting in Sports drive mode. Funny that they said they couldn't reproduce the fault when they had it for 4 days (seems to be the go-to response) yet I told them to get in the car with me and reproduced it in the first 60 seconds. They kept it for another 2 weeks to replace the transmission. Almost 3 weeks without the car.

Ive got this issue too minus the upshifts, with my G70. Same story as you with the dealer saying they cant replicate and everything feels normal to them. Was yours about 95% better once fully up to temp? or did the issue remain at all temps?

 

[FitR6]

Ive got this issue too minus the upshifts, with my G70. Same story as you with the dealer saying they cant replicate and everything feels normal to them. Was yours about 95% better once fully up to temp? or did the issue remain at all temps?

Mine was consistent all the time regardless of the temps.

 

[G70 Owner]

Mine was consistent all the time regardless of the temps.

appreciate the reply. sounds like your issue was more serious than mine

 

[FitR6]

appreciate the reply. sounds like your issue was more serious than mine

No probs. I hope you are able to get yours fixed. It shouldn't be this difficult. What's the point of a 7 year warranty when Kia first find ways to deny there's a problem, then rarely fix it properly when they finally DO admit there's a fault (as in the sunroof rattles.... don't even get me started on that mess)? Good luck with it.

 

[Nasscar]

No probs. I hope you are able to get yours fixed. It shouldn't be this difficult. What's the point of a 7 year warranty when Kia first find ways to deny there's a problem, then rarely fix it properly when they finally DO admit there's a fault (as in the sunroof rattles.... don't even get me started on that mess)? Good luck with it.

You’re lucky it’s not a Ford or Jeep. Ford would say it’s your driving manner, Jeep would just straight out refuse to replace it. Have always heard good things about Kia after care so maybe this is just a blip.

 

[FitR6]

You’re lucky it’s not a Ford or Jeep. Ford would say it’s your driving manner, Jeep would just straight out refuse to replace it. Have always heard good things about Kia after care so maybe this is just a blip.

My last car WAS a Jeep and the after sales care was zero. I'm not getting much help with my sunroof problem with Kia though, so I'm a bit done with buying things that keep producing faults. Where did quality go?

 

[OliverNuther]

My last car WAS a Jeep and the after sales care was zero.

That explains the resurgence of the Jeep ads promising to do better. Too little, too late I suspect.

 

[Nasscar]

That explains the resurgence of the Jeep ads promising to do better. Too little, too late I suspect.

Agreed. You just have to look at their sales in the last couple of years....just dropped off a cliff. It wouldn't surprise me if they pull up stumps and leave Australia for good. Can't see how they can afford to continue to sell cars here.

 

[Nasscar]

My last car WAS a Jeep and the after sales care was zero. I'm not getting much help with my sunroof problem with Kia though, so I'm a bit done with buying things that keep producing faults. Where did quality go?

Kia did come up near the top of the list for reliability on the JD power rankings so generally they are very good. Try a Land Rover and see how you go. (always comes near the bottom of the list and generally very expensive and unreliable.) Hope your luck gets better with the Stinger because it is a great car.

 

[FitR6]

Kia did come up near the top of the list for reliability on the JD power rankings so generally they are very good. Try a Land Rover and see how you go. (always comes near the bottom of the list and generally very expensive and unreliable.) Hope your luck gets better with the Stinger because it is a all I can say is I've had my Stinger in 5 times to get the same issue fixed and they tell me it's all repaired and the second I hop in the car I can see it's not. So call that what you will but that's not the service I need, regardless of whether it's done with a smile. Fix the damn problem! That's what I call service.

Kia did come up near the top of the list for reliability on the JD power rankings so generally they are very good. Try a Land Rover and see how you go. (always comes near the bottom of the list and generally very expensive and unreliable.) Hope your luck gets better with the Stinger because it is a great car.

Where they rank means nothing to me when I have an issue that continually goes unfixed. I've had my Stinger in 5 times to get the same issue fixed and they tell me it's all repaired and the second I hop in the car I can see it's not. So call that what you will but that's not the service I need, regardless of whether it's done with a smile. Fix the damn problem! That's what I call service.

 

[Nasscar]

Where they rank means nothing to me when I have an issue that continually goes unfixed. I've had my Stinger in 5 times to get the same issue fixed and they tell me it's all repaired and the second I hop in the car I can see it's not. So call that what you will but that's not the service I need, regardless of whether it's done with a smile. Fix the damn problem! That's what I call service.

Maybe it's time for a different dealer.

 

[OliverNuther]

I haven‘t had any problems with this car or KIA generally and I’m assuming that this issue will be resolved smoothly but one thing of which I am now certain is that I will not be keeping this car past it’s warranty period. It will definitely be traded for something else, hopefully another Stinger, before the 7 years are up. No way do I want to be paying for a transmission replacement out of my own pocket if this were to happen out of warranty.