Those who recall my unfortunate xmastime experiences with sporty breaking down, I last mentioned that after all was put back together again I brought er to Kia for a final checkup as it was now permanently idling a little high, hard starting etc. After replacing the head gasket to take care of the leak causing ignition problems, they took out -as per factory advisement, a certain solenoid valve related to idling. I don't know from where.The only side affect, I was told, was a little delay in starting after an overnight. It is true that after a week now, it is a little fussier to start. I haven't decided whether I want something done about this. I also notice (but wasn't told) thatI no longer have that rpm 'hold' when shifting to a higher gear (Axe does that give you any clue to what that valve is?) But it doesn't seem to be a problem for me because of what I will say next.

The major news (for me anyway)is two fold. One, the engine is much quieter, smoother than it ever was (I've had it from 30k (km) to now -about 51k). And the other, more exciting fact -is that I'm getting a lot more power, like easily 10% or more, and it was never sluggish to begin with. I've tested this in a variety of ways and there is no doubt about it. Acceleration, hill climbs from standing start, etc. Obviously I'm happy about this. It just remains for me to see if my gas mileage has changed for the worse or not. Oh yeah, almost forgot -absolutely NO fluctuation in rpms at idle. Steady as a rock. Nice to be rid of that.