Transmission Not Go Into Gear problems of the 2011 Kia Motor Sorento

Transmission problems like not getting into gear or jerking when shifting and engine seem to loose power or not have enough also there is a noise the a/c making a rattling noise and vibrating .

2011 kia Sorento sx vehicle was put into reverse, started to back up, the transmission gear slips out of reverse, into neutral or not in an engaged gear position and engine rev's up. Observed that the gear shift did not appear to move or displace itself. Placed the gear shift back into park. Waited a 10 seconds or so and put into reverse again. Transmission pauses for a few seconds then shifts hard with a very loud thud /clank /bang sound. This is the replacement transmission of the original equipment transmission and now the issue of slipping out of gear in reverse is exactly unequivocally the same.

Since I bought the 2011 kia Sorento the transmission or engine tends to stall in the middle of driving like not changing gears, gets locked, jerks back and forth till it unlocks or changes gears while at the same time slowing or stopping car in it's tracks. Twice I have hit my head on the steering wheel, have had seat belts lock tight against me and my passengers when it locks while trying to change gears. It happens at least 3-6 time a year since I have had the car. I have reported it to my service dealership kearny pearson kia, 7303 clairemont mesa blvd, san diego, CA 92111 and they have not found anything wrong. These past two years the gears locking is getting worse and the car slows down instantly from driving on the frwy 65 mph down to 35 mph instantly almost having cars hit me from behind. Same for driving on the street going 35-40 mph dropping to 5-10mph and stop/jerk/go/stop/jerk and almost having cars behind me crash into me. I have been blessed to have had fast reacting drivers behind me or no drivers. This last incident last month was so powerful that I smacked the steering wheel and thought I had gotten hit but didn't. My chest got tight as if I was having a heart attack from the force and my kids cried from the whiplash. This was yet the strongest. Also, since 2011 I have had 7 - 10 incidents of smoke coming out of the air vents, smiling like fire. I turn off the vent and it continues for 10min then goes away. I am no mechanic but if I had to guess I would say something with the air-conditioning being high for long periods and then when it gets turned down or off seems to activate these things especially the gears locking. Just my observation. I hope you can get to the bottom of this because for the first time in my life I fear for my life and those with me or around me with this car. You just don't know when it will happen next.

2 days ago while driving heard loud sound, whoa, could not determine what caused it. This morning in my garage started for daily drive, when I put car from park to reverse was loud clunk sound. Put back in park did this 3 or 4 times loud clunking with jolting seem to lunge forward. Violent sound and feel. No warning lights are illuminated. My husband got in car, he experienced the same. I called kia service, they told me to call roadside for tow. He told me then it would be a 1 day job. He seemed familiar what I described. Towed to dealer, they called me later of course they could not replicate the problem. We explained over the phone it has to be something due to loud sounds, clunking metal sound, could not put in gear. They kept the car over night, to try again in the morning, they are contacting kia manufacturing for advice. Now I am reading all these complaints, some sound exactly like my experienced. I have no recall letter or notifications. From kia losing faith in kia and afraid to drive this vehicle.

Tl- the contact owns a 2011 kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 mph, all the instrument panel lights illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The contact also stated that there was a sudden loss of engine power. The contact mentioned that there was a sudden increase in rpm and the vehicle failed to shift gears while traveling 15 mph. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on five separate occasions. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 34,000 and the current mileage was 38,000. Dr.

My husband was on private property. He got in the car, put the car in reverse and backed up. He heard a loud pop. He put the car in drive, and his foot was still on the brake. The car began to accelerate on its own with his foot on the brake until the vehicle got up to 60 miles per hour. Trying not to hit the house, or the person outside of the property he maneuvered the car into the back yard. The car was steadily picking up speed and his foot was on the brake the entire time. He could not get the gear to shift or the brakes to work. The vehicle struck a tree and that impeded the movement of the vehicle. He turned the car off and got out of it.

I was driving on I-95 at aprox. 65 mph and felt a severe jolt. This could have caused an inexperienced driver like either of my kids to loose control. I initially thought someone had hit the rear of my car. There didn't seem to be any other vehicles close enough to have hit me, so I pulled over onto the shoulder to see if I had hit something. Everything looked fine so I proceeded to get back onto the highway. I noticed the car was sluggish and then noticed it was not shifting gears. As I continued to accelerate the engine rpm continued to climb so I had to drive below 45mph. When the shifter was moved to the manual side it was in 4th gear. I pulled over onto the shoulder again and shifted into neutral and drive a few times but it would always go back to 4th gear when in drive. I had to drive the rest of the way, about 20 miles at a slower speed with the flashers on. This morning I checked out the car and it was operating normally. I will bring the vehicle to kia, but will not let other family members drive the car unless I am certain it is corrected. I now see there are a lot of the same complaints on edmonds. Com. Is there a recall for this? I could not find one on your web-site.

I filed this report 6/23/11 on kia. Com consumer care website: 2011 Sorento lx (4cyl awd) transmission has locked up multiple times. At 40 mph during acceleration, loud bang followed by severe jerking, (hard down-shift), loss of drive (engine continues to run but does not shift into gear), coast to stop,put in park. First few times it drove okay after a complete stop and from park, this last time it would not shift beyond 40 mph. Towed twice to dealer but they were unable to replicate the issue in the mileage that they drove it. Vehicle purchased 01/30/10 with 24k miles. Mileage at the last service was 33k. First event 5/17, occurs every 4-5 days or approx 200-250 mi. Chk engine lt / transmission light have never come on, computer diagnostic doesnt register any issues. The dealer was very nice but without kia's approval would not keep the car long enough to find the problem. I asked kia directly to provide a tech to drive the car long enough to experience the issue but they have refused to authorize it and have also stated that without verification they will not approve any repairs. I am very afraid that next time it happens it will cause a serious accident. I have already had two close calls on the freeway 6/the same issue occurred again 4 days ago (6/24) on a narrow two lane road while accellerating after a stop sign (again about 40-45 mph). This time it lost all drive and rpm's did not go up when pushing the gas pedal. Put it into park and tried two more times before it finally drove. Today 6/28, at a gas station the car would not go into reverse. After several tries to shift into any gear, turned it off and on again and it drove okay out of the station but 200 yds later as I was accelerating up the ramp to enter I-5 (a 6 lane freeway during early commute) it made the same loud bang, jerk and then lost drive, coasted to shoulder. Turned engine off, waited a few minutes to restart, it was not very responsive but I was able to exit the freeway.

The contact owns a 2011 kia Sorento. The contact stated that the transmission failed to switch gears while driving 55 mph. The contact had to shut off the engine to allow the vehicle to cool in order to proceed with driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis where they were unable to diagnose or duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN is unavailable. The failure mileage was 3,000 and the current mileage was 5,000.