Four problems related to engine burning oil have been reported for the 2011 Kia Motor Sorento. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2011 Kia Motor Sorento based on all problems reported for the 2011 Sorento.
Every time I changed the oil, I noticed it was not the same as used oil coming from my other vehicles. Engine problems started approximately 3 years ago. I was constantly checking the oil and needing to add. I took the vehicle to the kia dealer where we bought the car and they said the oil was burning up in the motor. It was getting hot. I ran two flushes on the motor and then continued my regular oil changes. In February of 2019 the motor seized up and quit while being driven on city streets. I drained 4. 5 quarts of oil from the vehicle after it was towed. I heard about the recall on various years of kia/Hyundai motors and thought this migh be the problem with my 2011 Sorento.
Headlight housing has become overheated and melted causing me to replace one headlight at $900. When it happened again I spliced the new housing yet the bulb keeps blowing needing replaced. There is knocking in the engine that gets worse when my speed increases and have been told that it sounds like the engine is not getting enough oil. The head gasket has been replaced and it still seems to be burning or losing oil. The indicator lights on the dashboard all randomly come on and then go off. While driving the car seemed to lose power at times then would die at a stop light. This all has been going on for the past six months or more. In the past year I have paid $1900 plus on random repairs.
Car has been burning oil for awhile, so we are constantly topping it off. We are diligent about routine oil changes. There has also been a clicking on hard acceleration that has no known cause, even after being investigated on 2 occasions. Yesterday, while on the highway, the car lost power. Got to an exit and had car towed to shop. Got the call today that there is a hole in one of the pistons and entire engine needs to be replaced. Contacted kia and this year is not included in the multiple engine recall list. Car has approximately 126,000 miles with a repair estimate of $7000.
On 6/5/17 I was driving from mccall to boise idaho which is approximately 90 miles. I parked the car at walmart and went out to start it and it would not start at first then when it would restarted it would die quickly approximately 3 times. I drove it to the boise dennis dillon kia dealership and on the way it stalled, did chugging sound at a stop sign in town and jerked forward and I was able to make it there. The car has been burning oil and I would have to put a quart of oil in probably once a week. My brother who is a mechanic helped me to get parts for it at o"reilly auto parts and helped me replace the valve cover gasket, spark plugs, plug tube seals, headlight bulb, and air filter to see if that would help. Later I ended up buying a new oil filer cap to see if that would help but nothing ever seemed to.