Hi All,

I have just purchased my first Sportage after seeing my Fathers perform very well over the last 5 years.

I have a bit of an issue though, my fathers Sportage, '99 Short Body, has considerably more power than mine, late 2000 long body. I have taken it in to the dealers and there
are no fault codes and apparently the cat. is ok. New fuel filter was fitted but no change.

When I floor it I get high revs but no torque, the difference between the two vehicles is very noticeable, it will maintain a high top speed however (i.e. 70mph+). I am taking it back to the dealers tomorrow to beat them with a stick, but if anyone can provide some advice I would appreciate it.

(Not sure if there is any connection but there is a very slight rattle, sounds like the muffler, under my seat under heavy load.)


Cheers

Iain

(In Oz)

Comparing auto to a manual?? Autos are very slow off the mark.

IIRC I met your dad a while ago, and he also had the back seat out (25 kg), and the longbodys are about 100 kg heavier. This will affect your acceleration compared to the shortbody, auto or manual. (125 kg = 8% of the mass of the vehicle). May be nothing wrong at all...

Rattle under the seat is a heat shield around the cat and exhaust, a couple of large hose clamps around each end of the shield usually stops the rattle. (they are only tack welded on and come loose with the thermal cycling of the exhaust)

Hi Gary,

No 'fraid not, both are manual and there is probably a 25% power difference in them, very noticable. My fathers performs better even when loaded with a whole stack of camping gear.

Cheers

Iain

Hi All,

Car came back from the local Kia dealers today with some further info. Apparently two of the ignition coil housings where cracked and the spark plugs where getting worn. I'm going to get the dealer I bought it from to fix the coils. Any thoughts on whether this could be my issue?

They also mentioned the car was pinging, so I guessing there is a timing issue. Anyone know what the most likely cause of this would be on these engines?

Cheers

Iain

That's very likely the cause of the reduced power. If the plugs are worn along with cracked coils that will cause a weak spark. And a weak spark can also cause pinging. Once the pinging starts the knock sensor will detect it and send that signal to the ECM. The ECM will then retard the timing to minimize the pinging. Weak spark + retarded timing = reduced power and lousy acceleration.

i have a similar poblem but i fixed it.

turn the air conditioning off <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

It's only funny because it's true. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Hi All,

Just to close off what the problem was, apparently the cam belt had jumped a notch. Much more power now.

Cheers

Iain