My gripe with the transmission is when it decelerates, it gets jerky downshifts at 30 & 20 mph

 

Umm... that's a good thing really. The trans is downshifting for you, aka sport, in case you need to get on it again. Basically the same as downshifting in a manual. Go drive some DSG cars and they do the same thing.

 

That's the "sporty-ness" of the transmission.

That reminds me though, when there are hard upshifts, there are also hard downshifts when slowing.

 

The downshifting trans also blows your fuel economy. No coasting in this car.

 

Where did you find this TSB?

 

l’ve just lost 2nd 4th 5th and Reverse gears in my Kia Optima estate?
it’s auto 2017 model, any ideas?

 

On my SX when using the paddle shifters and I am full throttle it skips second gear or so it says on the dash screen. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

You are waiting too long to shift so it does it for you and then you shift too at the same time and end up skipping a gear. That is why I don't use the paddle shifters! Always happens to me.

 

Thank you for posting this. The jerking shifts in my '12 SX just appeared this morning and the CEL lit up on the next start. I'll be taking this info with me to the dealer in the A.M.

UPDATE: this is exactly what the problem was. Code thrown was P0713 and it took about 1.5 hours to replace the sensor. Thanks again!

 

For those complaining about the "sporty" shifts... you can have them reprogram it. My SA (service advisor) informed me there are 3 programmed modes for the 2012-current 2.0T cars. Not sure about 2.4's. They are sport, easy, and something else. I'll check with him again as mine is going in for it's first oil change. Our 2011 which had no programmable options used to coast FOREVER... the wife loved it. Me, being used to BMW's, was kinda meh about it. But I loved the MPGs I could get with it. The 2013 gets at least 2mpg less than the 2011.

Just FYI. I'll see if I can get more info about it.

 

Just got my 10 month old, 2013 Optima SX back from dealer service. Had a couple of run ins with some rough/clunky shifting then the engine light lit up a couple days ago. Immediately took the car to the dealer where they had to replace the trans oil temp sensor. Not a big deal, but a bit frustrating to have a repair done so early.

 

Mine just had to have the sensor replaced at about 16,000 miles/ 16 months.

 

... add me to the list. =[ please let it be the sensor.

 

Had my sensor replaced last year when I only had 7k miles. They had my car for about 3 days.

 

One year later update...

I had just over 9000 miles on the car when the sensor failed. I am now over 34k miles, so about 25k miles on the new sensor and have not had any issues with it since.

 

I've had the herky jerky shifting issue since day one with my 2012 EX Turbo. It is exactly as described in the first post. Once the engine/transmission warms up it seems to go away. of course it is much worse in the winter.

I took it back to the dealer a couple of times early on for the problem but since a warning light has never come on there was nothing they could do, or so they told me. I now have just over 14k miles and still have never seen a warning light. Will they do the repair without an indicator light/trouble code to confirm that a problem exists?

 

That depends on the dealer I guess. Since this is just a TSB and not recall, they are supposed to have to "reproduce the issue," but some dealers will be a bit more proactive. You could take in the TSB, as well as a printout of this thread and see what they say. Though, it kind of sounds like this won't work since you've already taken it in.

Otherwise, if you are close to the dealer and could drop it there for them to be able check it first thing in the morning before the engine/oil temp has warmed up.

 

I took the car in the first time for the shifting problem shortly after I bought it in Jan. 2012. I don't think the TSB was out at that point. Of course they didn't call when it did come out.

I will be calling them to see if something can be done.

 

Well, I took mine back to the dealer this morning with the TSB in hand. Basically they told me the same thing as the other two times. If there is no check engine light or history code in the computer there is nothing they can do, even if they duplicated the problem. They suggested I call KIA directly which I did. I told the Customer Service Agent about the TSB and the dealerships stance on the issue. She told me that there was nothing she could do if the dealership could not duplicate the problem. I explained that the dealership DID duplicate the problem during one of the previous visits but that they wouldn't do anything without a code. After a few back and forths she refused to do anything for me.

I love my Optima but this left me with a very bad taste in my mouth. I hope they send me a customer survey

 

Left work yesterday and noticed the amber Check Engine Light came on about 1/2 way home. I called the dealer and the Service Mgr. told me to swing by and they would check it out. Turns out it was the Transaxle Temp. Sensor. The mechanic showed me the TSB on it and explained what was going on. They put the part on order and they said it would take about an hour to an hour and a half to put in after they received it. They said it was OK to drive my car in the meantime. I really haven't noticed any rough shifting or any other transmission issues with the car. My 2013 LX is only about 10 months old with around 7500 miles on it. So I'm a little PO'd that it has to go into the shop for unscheduled maintenance so soon. The good news is the dealership service center has been great to deal with so far. They worked me in at rush hour yesterday and still had me out of there in less than 20 minutes. I'm assuming that they will call me in a couple of days to schedule the work. We'll see how that goes...

 

So has there been a pole taken for how many folks have issues? I just rolled over 11k miles on ours and its shifting harder than an automatic should. I just ordered fluid to flush everything out so when that gets in we will see how that affects things. Im in a rather unique situation being in italy with a north american car... the dealerships and this warrantee crap could make things "fun" to say the least... so I'm just curious what all everyone has been experiencing. i have read of temperature sensors and i have as of late been reading a few about transmission casings cracking and dropping gears out :| yehaw crate rates on a transmission internationally in sure are going to run me a pretty penny... rather be proactive than playing catch up later...

 

My 2.4 is also shifting hard and hesitant from 2nd to third no other gears though. I don't know what is wrong but it is going to the dealer at the end of the is week!

 

Not sure if this is the same problem as the people with the grip problems. when I accelerate hard I lose grip and the traction control turns on and the car jerks until grip is regained. the only way i have been able to control this is by turning off the traction control that way the car dose not decelerate dramatically once the wheels spin. happens on the first three shifts depending on how hard I pull off line.

any ideas??

 

Traction control works by braking a wheel that is "slipping." Once you spool the turbo it tries its hardest to brake the spinning wheel to give you traction back so you can keep accelerating rather than just pulling the throttle back (what BMW likes to do...) The "jerking" is the wheel (or maybe both fronts) losing traction the brake pulses to stop the spinnig and regaining traction over and over. It usually doesn't mean anything is broken, maybe you just need stickier tires like I do. LOL! Turbo, FTW!

 

I had similar issues with the sifting and the CEL's, turns out the dealership replaced the whole tranny instead of trying to figure out the problem.

 

Kia customer service blows. I hope I don't have any more issues cuz if I do I'm selling this **** car and getting something else!

 

I recently had my sensor replaced as well. I never had any transmission issues before (like jerky shifts) but the engine light came on and I got the P0713 code. Funny thing is, after the fix I've noticed that the shifts seem more pronounced and the transmission seems to be hunting for gears much more now. Has anyone had problems AFTER the fix that they didn't have before?

Tony

 

Took my car in. Service dept told me that the system that learns the way you shift did not properly reset itself after they installed the new sensor. They also said there was something wrong with the wastegate, although they weren't able to really articulate what exactly the problem was (I've already had the TSB work done for the wastegate voltage problem). At any rate, after I got the car back she drives just like new again. Zero issues with the transmission so far.

Tony

 

I appear to be having the same issue. When it's cold, transmission doesn't shift properly. When warm, it fine. Check engine light hasn't come on. I took it to the dealer and they were trying to simulate the same problem but claims that everything checks out. It appears that they won't do anything until the check engine light come on, claiming that KIA won't allow them to fix it until the warning light comes on.

Any suggestions? I hate these intermittent problems.

 

I am also having slow shift problems when cold and it hangs before engaging the torque converter. I thought it was me "not driving smoothly" when I am in a hurry in the morning. After about 10mins it stops doing both errors, just like you said. I have no CEL though. Initially I was going to post about the transmission being the reason this car takes 8 seconds to get to 60. It isn't a lack of power, but tall gearing that prevents the car from getting 7 to 7.3 sec sprints to 60. Anyway I will ask about it next time I need service.