Those of you who wish to take the risk & rely on manuals go right ahead! I don't claim to be 100% certain on this, just passing on the info given to me by a Corporate Kia Rep and Master Tech! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

lol who wants a belt to break? i got stranded when mine did...im doing mine every 60k

Out of curiosity, I dug a little deeper on the subject. Since Kiatechinfo.com is vague about the subject, I contacted Autodata limited a independent technical source of information. Spoke to a Manager and Tech (Todd) 800-305-0338 and this is what their tech sheet says regarding the Sportage 2.0 16v engine 1995 - 2002.

Caution: This engine has been identified as an INTERFERENCE engine in which the possibility of valve-to-piston damage in the event of a timing belt failure is MOST LIKELY to occur. A new belt must be installed and all cylinders checked for compression before removing the cylinder head.

I advised him of some of the comments about belts breaking and no apparent valve train damage and this is what he said. There is a chance that there may not be any damage or noticeable damage in certain circumstances, mainly during low rpm failure. This doesn't mean there's no damage at all because it still runs! Catastrophic failure generally happens during higher rpm or freeway speeds.

So, again for those of you who still think you have a non-interference motor and no damage will occur during a belt failure, good luck with that!!

It's almost beer thirty and I'm done with this subject! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Let me throw my 2 cents into this discussion.

I have had a Kia Tech tell me that the DOHC engine is an "interference" motor. I had another tech tell me it wasn't.

On an old forum I know of someone who broke a timing belt on the SOHC engine and it was trashed. There was one individual in this forum who broke a belt on a SOHC motor. He installed a new belt and drove away with no damage.

There have been at minimum 8 or 9 instances reported in this forum of individuals who broke a belt on the DOHC motor and sustained no damage. I also recall one individual who broke a belt on the DOHC motor and claimed the engine was trashed but that was never verified.

As posted above the older FSM states that neither engines are "interference" motors. The FSM 1998 and newer does NOT have this statement. However, when you follow the FSM procedure for changing the timing belt on the DOHC motor it states very clearly that with the timing belt removed the cams and crank can be turned independently to properly align the timing marks. If the engine was indeed an "interference" design you could NOT do this.

Also, if you look at the maintenance schedule as listed in the FSM it states to change the timing belt every 60K miles for all areas except California. For California vehicles it states inspect at 60K, 90K, and change at 105K miles. But guess what? It's the SAME part number belt. So in reality the Sportage timing belt is "wear rated" to 105K miles.

So, what's the bottom line? To avoid trouble adhere to the maintenance schedule. When I had my Sportage I made an informed choice to change it at 93K miles. The old belt looked fine. But that was my choice and if you decide to go that long it's your risk. It appears that the tolerances between the valves and pistons are VERY close and under certain conditions if the belt breaks you MIGHT sustain some damage or get lucky and have none.

I am a man of science and if trial/error is given its due course then the outcome is what it is ---------------VS. "Someone told me this....."



I suppose that I was one of these 8 or 9 reported to have had a broken belt during driving the Sporty (DOHC) and did NOT sustain any engine damage either. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

...Just my take on the matter.........{thought that this was about a WATER PUMP GASKET}........................................ <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />...

well in a way the belt is related lol it needs to be removed to do the water pump gasket sorry to the original poster. and i was another of those lucky to escape with no damage and to make myself clear i was by no means saying that im gonan let it break to change it or that damage cannot be done when it breaks.. i got lucky and it was low rpms

I to am a cheap bastard.So im trying to figure out if it is just the water pump gasket or the pump its self.As i dont have the 75 bucks for a new pump.The motor has 98k on it.From what i can tell the timing belt has been changed because some of the bolts are missing.I will be changing the timing belt.Was going out to race with my old car and had the timing belt break on me.We towed it back with a civic lol.The previous owner went on a tie wire frenzy.My front bumper was held on just bye tie wire.Same as the timing belt cover and evap canister.

Had to go to the Stealership this am to have my airbag reset (after installing a new ingition wire harness).<it kept cutting out my windows and blower fan>...

They said the charge would be $90.00 (for reset ) and according to their computer that one of the modules was going bad. I just told them to reset it and charge me for it.

Later they told me that since there is 130,000 miles that I should let them do the timing belt for around $450.00...

I declined and said that I would do this myself. Seeing how my last belt change was done around 70,000 miles I guess that I should wait until I reach 160,000 miles....

BTW...He said that my engine would sustain damage....Gotto go to the beach so I chose not to dignify that conversation any further <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/sleeping.gif" alt="" />


...................And these are KIA people??????????? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />