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Engine Failures - Share Your Experience

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246K views 657 replies 210 participants last post by  salvagecars21 
#1 · (Edited)
Unfortunately, we seem to have a lot of these threads popping up lately, I would like a single thread to discuss engine failures and what people have had to go through to fix it.

If you are going through an engine replacement or have in the past, please be sure to post in here with as much information as you can about the following:

- Year, Make, Model, Trim
- Engine/Performance Mods
- Mileage at the time of failure
- Determined cause of engine failure
- Was proper maintenance performed?
- Was it covered under warranty?
- Did KIA approve car rental/reimbursement?
- What was the outcome?

EDIT: Google Doc Spreadsheet by Mr N00blar

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wSo_Bx4DR9kCFY3lOqJsu_5JN33kUU7xDqObGIDtRWs/pubhtml
 
#405 · (Edited)
Munky, you seem up on the Optima damage reports...What about the engine-related fires that have taken out some 220 Kia and Hyundai models? That's a bit more worrisome than
blowing a bearing (well, maybe not if the engine seizes up at 75 MPH lol). But I have yet to hear from Kia regarding my 2012 SX Turbo, yet there's a recent story on the 6 o'clock news showing
an Optima zipping down the highway with flames shooting out from under the chassis. Motorists are yelling for the flaming driver to pull over as they ignore the signs.
I was considering trading in my beloved Turbo for the entry-level Stinger, but now I'm leery as Kia continues to ignore the fire hazard, refusing to issue any warning letter or recall.
Kia has informed me about 3 earlier recall issues and all have been fixed on warranty, Last week, I received a "Product Improvement Campaign" letter re: the 2011-2013 Optima engines and some 2014s that may experience excessive connecting rod bearing damage. Kia will install software to the ECU to alert driver prior to resulting damage.
But zero word on the engine fires, some of which have started while the car was parked, engine off, in the garage!
 
#11 ·
Yeah, I think if this keeps up then Kia will have to follow suit with a recall also. Just depends how many quitters there are.
 
#12 ·
Here's AMVINCE's post from another thread:

AMVINCE said:
I was driving down the road and the lost all power at 70 miles per hour. No warning lights or indications of anything strange, just no power. This seems to be a recurring problem as I am finding out with the Optima Engine and some other KIA's. I know Hyundai had a recall on the same engine but so far nothing from KIA. So far I have been asked for the last three oil changes to start with anticipation of more. Of course the dealers won't admit there is a problem with the engines because they don't want to say something that puts them on the hook. I also know this dealer has at least one other Optima in with engine failure. I am supposed to find out what is next tomorrow, hopefully they will cover it without much hassle. My advice to owners of these cars is make sure you keep all of your records and whenever possible do the oil changes at the dealer. I will post up more as I hear back.
 
#13 ·
If you are going through an engine replacement or have in the past, please be sure to post in here with as much information as you can about the following:

- Year, Make, Model, Trim
- Engine/Performance Mods
- Mileage at the time of failure
- Determined cause of engine failure
- Was proper maintenance performed?
- Was it covered under warranty?
- What was the outcome?
Could I suggest adding the question " Did KIA approve car rental/reimbursement? ". Isn't this something they're obligated to do as part of the warranty?
 
#15 ·
Well according to the service department I was told and engine was ordered today which is good news. I won't 100% believe it until I hear it form the service mgr. tomorrow. The engine is on back order supposed to be 7 days out but was told by one of the Service Adviser, not the who is supposed to be taking care of me and he said it could be a few weeks before I get my car. I asked about a loaner vehicle and he said the I need to see what the Service Manager says. So in short at this point it looks like the engine will be covered. I hope to find out tomorrow for sure. I will post up as soon as I find out.
 
#16 · (Edited)
mine failed last year.
- Year, Make, Model, Trim 2011 optima sx
- Engine/Performance Mods none
- Mileage at the time of failure 68000
- Determined cause of engine failure cylinder 2 rod failure
- Was proper maintenance performed? i bought it with 61k, dont know
- Was it covered under warranty? 3rd owner, no warranty
- Did KIA approve car rental/reimbursement? didnt even go to kia
- What was the outcome? found a 2014 3k motor online and had it installed

used mobil synthetic 5/30 changed at 5k like i always have using OE filter, now using 5/40 oil changing at 3k.
scared to death this thing will blow again, now i baby it.
 
#593 ·
mine failed last year.
- Year, Make, Model, Trim 2011 optima sx
  • Engine/Performance Mods none
  • Mileage at the time of failure 68000
  • Determined cause of engine failure cylinder 2 rod failure
  • Was proper maintenance performed? i bought it with 61k, dont know
  • Was it covered under warranty? 3rd owner, no warranty
  • Did KIA approve car rental/reimbursement? didnt even go to kia
  • What was the outcome? found a 2014 3k motor online and had it installed

used mobil synthetic 5/30 changed at 5k like i always have using OE filter, now using 5/40 oil changing at 3k.
scared to death this thing will blow again, now i baby it.
I believe as a part of the settlement, Kia will reimburse you for the cost of the engine. Have you looked into it?
 
#17 · (Edited)
Here is where I stand. They are replacing the engine which is good and there was no hassle on that. No idea on what failed because they weren't required to tear it down. That tells me Kia knows the engine has issues or maybe I am just pissed that they won't give me anything to drive. No loaner or rental help from Kia since the car is over 60,000 miles. I called Kia and they said even though the engine is on back order and can take two to three weeks to get in they won't do anything because the car is past 60k. The customer service rep called the dealer to confirm my story on the loaner situation . The dealer has loaner vehicles but none available so I am now on a list 15 deep according to the Service Manager and those cars are from a Subaru program not Kia. Then the Kia rep said they are going to try to expedite my engine so I am not out as long and then pr . Sure they are. She then proceeded to read the warranty book to me stating that after 60k that they will not help with a loaner car. I guess it's my fault they have some many engines to replace that they can't produce replacements fast enough. I was told the reason for the back order is that Kia and Hyundai are now manufacturing all the engines at the same place and there are so many Hyundai engines being replaced they can't keep up. This came from the Service Mgr not Kia. I know for a fact there are at least two Optima's in, mine and one other in for engine failure but the Service Mgr hinted there may be another couple. To make this to follow here are the answers in the official form.

- Year, Make, Model, Trim 2012 Optima SX
- Engine/Performance Mods k & N Filter if that even counts
- Mileage at the time of failure 72,000
- Determined cause of engine failure - they are not tearing down the engine
- Was proper maintenance performed? Oil chages form 3000-5000 intervals, One went to 6,000
- Was it covered under warranty? Yes original owner
- Did KIA approve car rental/reimbursement? No and they were very rude, just read off from the manual that the car had over 60k so it was not covered. They didn't care that they have so many engine failures they can't supply the engines
- What was the outcome? As of 4/6 the engine is ordered and on back order. ETA 2-3 weeks

Well that's it for now.
 
#18 ·
2013 Kia Optima SXL 50,000 Miles

I was driving down the highway a couple weeks ago about 75 when my engine completely died. I was able to coast off into a neighborhood and get it towed to a dealership. It's been a couple weeks. I am the first owner of the vehicle and KIA is covering my loaner until the new engine is replaced. Will get it back tomorrow. All they told me was that the engine "seized up" I haven't gotten an official description of what went wrong. Never had a problem with anything on the vehicle before and all oil changes were through the dealership between 5,000-7500 miles.
 
#19 ·
Reposted from another thread in case anyone wants to inquire about this.


received below yesterday

McCuneWright is currently investigating a class action lawsuit against Kia for alleged premature engine failure in certain 2011-14 Kia Optima and Sorento vehicles.

It is alleged that these models may contain a defect predisposing the engines to experience engine bearing failure and/or connecting rod knock. As a result, these issues lead to catastrophic engine failure along with safety issues and costly repairs. Unfortunately, Kia often declines to repair and/or replace the defective engines under warranty. As a result, current and former owners and lessees are often forced to pay for such repairs out-of-pocket.

If you have experienced engine failure with your Kia Optima, please contact the lawyers at McCuneWright LLP by clicking on the link below.
Attorney address info:

CONTACT US

Phone: 909.557.1250
Fax: 909.557.1275
Email:info@mccunewright.com

_______________________________________________________________________

Class-action lawsuit alleges Theta II 2.4L engine fails in Hyundai Sonata cars.


By David A. Wood, CarComplaints.com
Posted in News

May 4, 2015 — A Hyundai Sonata engine failure lawsuit accuses Hyundai of manufacturing defective engines in model year 2011-2012 Sonatas.
The class-action lawsuit was filed by Hyundai Sonata owner, Elizabeth Mendoza, who purchased a 2011 Hyundai Sonata in February 2012. In October 2014, and with about 85,000 miles on the odometer, Mendoza heard a loud knocking noise coming from the engine.
She brought the Sonata to a dealership and was told a piston had blown out. Mendoza asked for her car to be repaired under warranty, but the dealership refused to make the repairs. However, the dealer said the engine could be replaced for $4,500. Mendoza said no and took the Sonata to a mechanic and had the engine replaced at a cost of $3,000.
The plaintiff claims she had the car serviced at Hyundai's recommended maintenance intervals and there was no reason the Theta II engine should have seized.
The Sonata Theta II 2.4L engine failure lawsuit alleges Hyundai knew when the connecting rod bearings start to fail, metal debris from the bearings is sent throughout the engine through contaminated engine oil.
Mendoza claims the problem usually occurs during and shortly after the limited warranty has expired. Additionally, she claims the connecting rod bearings can cause complete engine failure while driving at any speed and cause serious dangers to the occupants.
The plaintiff further claims Hyundai concealed the engine defects to keep selling the cars for more than they were worth. Additionally, the lawsuit alleges Hyundai could have fixed the engines long ago but chose the opposite because the engine failures typically occurred after the warranty period.
The Hyundai Sonata engine failure lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California -Elizabeth Mendoza vs. Hyundai Motor Company, LTD, Hyundai Motor America, Inc.
The plaintiff is represented by Chimicles & Tikellis LLP and McCuneWright LLP.

 
#20 ·
So those yahoos arguing about oil on the other thread are just amusing themselves...apparently there is no oil extant that can help with the above situation.
 
#21 ·
Easter Sunday 2016 my engine shut off and would not turn back on. Whilst trying to start the engine i saw white smoke coming from the engine. I initially thought it was the starter. The next day i had it towed to the dealership. The following day after that i get a call that the engine is locked i will need a new one. All i needed to do was provide maintenance record ( since i do my own oil changes). I manged to make a record going back one year 3 months and 10k miles. In that time i did 3 oil changes averaging at 3.5k intervals. Fast forward to 4/8/2016 and i get a call saying the warranty went through and that i will get covered for the new engine.


-Year, Make, Model, Trim
2012 KIA optima lx
- Engine/Performance Mods
Oil catch can
- Mileage at the time of failure
About to hit 59k
- Determined cause of engine failure?
They haven't told me or they font know themselves. I will update when i get the details.
- Was proper maintenance performed?
I would like to think so. I did oil changes every 3-5k fully synthetic. I didn't use the oem filter. I will start using them now
- Was it covered under warranty?
Fortunately, yes! I will get a new long block asap.
- Did KIA approve car rental/reimbursement?
Yes, I haven't had the chance to pick it up. Will update when i have it.
- What was the outcome?
I'm getting a new engine. I'm really happy KIA is covering it under warranty. Since i do my own oil changed, i only managed to put together a service record only going back 1 year 3 months, and 10k miles. An important outcome: Keep all the receipts! Log all the maintenance done!
 
#22 ·
Man, that sucks.

It seems like you babied the engine and it still failed.

Even used synthetic oil and changed it very early based on KIA service recommendation.

Probably why they did not give any issue with warranting the engine.

****, like the previous poster mention, oil may not help these engines last.

I am starting to think that they may just be crap engines that will not go the distance,which to me is about 200k miles or more when properly maintained.

I think I may cut my loses and just buy a Lexus when this loan is paid off.

In the mean time I will just keeping reading about these engine failures, and decide if I will even waste money by buying expensive parts for it.

May not be worth it.
 
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#23 ·
If they were built wrong...they will fail prematurely. Case closed.
 
#24 · (Edited)
I will have to agree with that statement.

Poorly built engines can not be saved with just an oil change or oil weight in most cases depending on what the weak point of the engine is.

I was preaching early oil changes since KIA seems to be very interested in the oil change interval and oil filter used when warranting work in these failures.

So i assume that the issue was oil related somehow that make the issue very susceptible when not changing the oil on time.

Therefore, my point was to use the best oil available for protection and change it out sooner to head off the issue if it was oil related.

However, I starting to see that my suggestion may not have an real impact on saving the engines that are defective mechanically due improper assembly or such.

The scary part is that the list of failures is growing as the engines become older.

The amount of failures is numerous on this forum, imagine the number that is going unpublished by owners who do not join a forum like this to complain.

The issue is still fairly new, and for all I know may be isolated to the earlier made engines and later corrected in the 2014 on up models.
 
#25 ·
Yeah, man. It really sucks.

I got this car at 30k and I'm not sure how it was serviced before. Now that i will get a new engine I will log every little thing down. I don't know what i could of done to prevent this.


--GDI engines are great for fuel efficiency and supposedly give better performance. However, they are inherently dirty. I'm not sure what preventive measures can be taken to assure the longest life possible.

From what I gathered on these forums, oil catch cans are a good add-on to help slow down the oil and other contaminants from the intake that could eventually make its way to the combustion chamber. This theoretically should give the engine a longer live.

However, I'm not sure there's proof that this will actually "save" our engines.

What are good preventative maintenance that can be taken?
 
#31 ·
#29 ·
And now you will have a new engine...do over!
 
#39 ·
Just left the dealer asking if they have any eta on my engine. Nobody really knows and of course no car to drive. KIA doesn't have a program for dealers to provide loaner cars which is crap when they can't provide the parts to repair these cars. They now have a least a 3rd one in waiting for a motor. It had 62,000 miles when it failed same scenario driving down the highway and the engine just locked per the service advisor.
 
#40 ·
right now they havent even touched the car... like wtf its my daily number 1. and 2 just because it makes a noise I wanna know WHY
 
#41 ·
update:

Got my car back with the long block installed! yay!!!

Unfortunately, after the dealership i pulled into guitar center and and guess what?
I couldn't shift into park! it got stuck on R and would not move no matter what i did. I had to use the shift lock release thing to move into N. I literally had the car for 30 minutes! 30 minutes! i had to get it towed back into the dealership. I havent had my car since the 28 last month -_-

On the bright side: Its still under warranty and i got a new long block installed :)
 
#43 ·
Congratulations!!!

And my condolences, since it looks like you car will spend so more time with KIA.

I really do not have the patience for this kind of crap.

Going back and fourth to the dealer.

I may have to really think about selling this car while I still have some value since it looks like KIA is not doing too well in terms of reliability and in servicing the cars correctly.

I also have a concern about the replacement engines, are they improved versions or just re-manufactured units with the same weak points that will fail again.

Maybe even sooner the original engine depending on the quality of the rebuild.

Well, time will tell I suppose.
 
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