Engine Belts And Pulleys problems of the 2006 Kia Motor Sorento - part 2

Auto losing speed on acceleration and car running poorly, then quit completely. Had towed to nearest shop for repair. Also had timing belt changed at the same time, per kias required maintenance at 60,000 mi. On Feb. 18, 2011, repairs were made: crankshaft bolt was gone and cotter pin sheered off. These items were fixed along w/timing belt replacement. . June 15, 2011, car losing speed on acceleration and running very badly. I was on highway. I did make it home. I had aaa come and tow it to my normal repair shop, the dorsch kia dealer. Dorsch opened her up and said bolts were not tightened down properly. Meantime, performance auto were I originally took my car showed me a bulletin on my make and model that showed issues with this bolt stretching and coming off and or cracking off. Further, they will not replace any parts or labor because it is kia's issue they said. Now my car is at kia dealership and my pockets are empty.

At 60,000 miles took my 2006 Sorento in for manufacturer's recommended service - change timing belt and new plugs, etc. , never had a problem before then. Got the SUV back from mechanic and the following day, the belts came off, lost power, overheated. Crank shaft bolt came loose. Now at 82,290 miles, bolt broke, harmonic balancer came loose and chewed up the end of the crankshaft. $3200 fix. SUV has been in shop for 5 weeks and will remain there for at least 5 more until I can get the money to fix it. Kia should recall this model as well, they already recognized the problem in 2003 and 2004 models. I am a single mom, raising boys without the benefit of child support or any other help. Kia should stand behind their workmanship!.

Crankshaft torque bolt sheared off causing the braking and steering to become stiff resulting in greatly diminished control of the vehicle. The pulley assembly began to squeal resulting in parking the vehicle until it was time to take it to the dealership for service of the concern. Enroute to the dealership the brake and engine light appeared and braking became sluggish and steering appeared to be stiff. Was able to make it to the dealership and I opened the hood seeing that the serpentine belt had come off. The following day the dealership notified me that the crankshaft torque bolt had sheared off and they were calling kia to determine a fix for replacing the bolt or if the engine would need replaced. After some brief research this appears to be a recurring problem for several kia models and model years.

We are the original owners of this vehicle. The engine shuts down-quits at any speed (even idle) last time at 60 miles an hour on the freeway. Luckily was able to get to the shoulder w/o being rear ended. The vehicle refused to start for about 10 minutes. Then I got it started and ran rough a couple of minutes then cleared up the rest of the way. Another occasion the engine quit in the middle of an intersection in 5:00 traffic, causing bad conjestion. The engine light is triggered occasionally but no repair codes are seen when the computer is hooked up. This is happening about every 3 -4 days and maybe 2 x's in a day. This has happened ever since the dealer changed the timing belt-regular maintenence about 80,0000 mi. The vehicle was running and sounding just great before the kia dealer did this. On the way home, the vehicle went dead and had no power. Got the dealer to take it back. Things were not plugged in--alternator etc. The mechanic was in a hurry to leave for the weekend. Now left lifter bank clatters upon startup a code was given that the dealer did not clear the computer when the belt was changed. We cleared it and the engine still quits. The dealer went out of business (go figure). Also the air conditioning quit due to a line that was split possibly when the mechanic was working on the timing belt. Someone is going to get hurt (accident) if this vehicle continues to do this. No one seems to know what is wrong.

Under normal operation at highway speed, the crankshaft bolt broke and allowed the harmonic balancer/crankshaft pulley assembly to come free of the crankshaft. This resulted in a broken crankshaft sprocket, crankshaft position sensor and timing belt. The vehicle was not covered under warrantee because it is not considered part of kia's drivetrain because it is not a lubricated part. The vehicle was out of service for 14 days. On September 22, 2011 the same bolt came loose and snapped the spring pin aligning the balancer with the crankshaft sprocket. This resulted in the loss of power steering and charging system while my wife and daughters were traveling in the vehicle. The vehicle was not up to speed yet so the damage was minimal. The bolt had to be removed as well as the balancer. The spring pin had to be drilled out of the crank sprocket and replaced. The vehicle was out of service for 7 days.