2008 Kia Sedona: adaptive cruise control problems

Filed Nov 14, 2016 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 55,000 miles · UT

Traveling at 85 MPH, cruise control on, "ESC off" light and check engine light illuminated on the dashboard and the vehicle decelerated rapidly. Lost ability to accelerate past 20 MPH. Vehicle was stopped and restarted. Accelerator resumed working for however the check engine light illuminated and checked the code it was throttle position sensor. This morning the check engine light remained on and the vehicle.

Filed Nov 10, 2015 · Driver assistance · 112,200 miles · FL

Esc light wouyld go on and off sporadically along with cruise control becoming unresponsive. Condition was sporadic. Brought vehicle to naples kia on 11-10-2015 for repair. Replaced stop lamp switch at cost to me. Research today shows was recall on the part? I took it in for recall in the past and now believe this same part was possibly already replaced. This would mean this part is defective again.

Filed Jul 20, 2013 · Acceleration, Brakes · 70,000 miles · PA

The first time this incident happened, I was driving my 2008 kia sedona van on a level street at approximately 30mph. The van started accelerating at a fast speed and the brakes would not work. Fortunately, there were no cars coming the other way and no people out walking. I was not able to stop at the stop sign and I put on my emergency brake and turned off the van. The second incident occurred while I was driving up a hill. The van started accelerating and I was not able to use my brakes. This time I put the van in neutral and was able to regain control of the van. I took the van to my mechanic and they did not find any problem with the brakes or anything else. My friend also experienced a similar incident with her newer model kia sedona and uses my same mechanic and found nothing wrong. Her incident happened before my first episode in june. Today, I was driving my daughter to work and the same thing happened as I was driving up a slight elevated street. I was not able to use the brakes and shifted into neutral. I was able to slow the engine and get her to work. I have five children and I have had at least one of them with me when each of these incidences has occurred. I called the kia dealer today and they told me to call monday. This is a very scary situation and I fear serious injury may occur. I was on residential streets when all three episodes occurred and did not have my cruise control on as noted from other kia owners who have experienced this on the highway.

Filed Jun 19, 2012 · Engine · 42,300 miles · CO

Traveling at 70 MPH, cruise control on, the car decelerated rapidly and lost ability to accelerate. Check engine light illuminated. Was able to pull off to shoulder. Car was shut off and restarted, accelerator started to work but check engine light remained on. After driving another 50 miles the same thing happened. This is not the first time it has occurred, on this occasion we were able to safely pull over. On one occasion we were in kansas city rush hour traffic in the center lane, cars behind us came to a screeching stop to avoid hitting us. Very scary situation! After the car is shut off and sits for a few hours the check engine light turns off when started. With no check engine light there is no error code to diagnose the problem. This is a problem that needs to be addressed by kia. I have read articles that state this was a problem on previous model years and they were recalled.

Filed May 29, 2012 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 25,000 miles · TX

Traveling at 70 MPH, cruise control on, "ESC off" light and check engine light illuminated on the dashboard and the vehicle decelerated rapidly. Lost ability to accelerate past 20 MPH. Vehicle was stopped and restarted. Accelerator resumed working for about 50 miles and the same things happened again: ESC off light and check engine light illuminated and vehicle rapidly decelerated and lost all acceleration ability this time. Stopped vehicle again and restarted and accelerator resumed working. This happened at around 2am. In the morning the check engine light remained on and the vehicle was taken to a kia dealer. On the way to the dealer the "ESC" light began blinking (note: this is not the same as the ESC off light), the acceleration sputtered, but remained working. The dealer stated that they retrieved the throttle position sensor codes, but they cleared the computer history and could no longer duplicate the problem and therefore it could not be fixed. They retrieved the codes, cleared the memory and want to send me on my way. This is the second time a kia dealer has cleared the computer memory and the vehicle was not fixed. I was told, by my local dealer to make sure the dealer does not clear the codes/history or it can not be fixed. I have called kia consumer affairs and am awaiting a response.

Filed May 16, 2012 · Acceleration · 24,000 miles · TX

While traveling on the open highway at a high rate of speed, the vehicle rapidly decelerated and lost ability to maintain acceleration, as if in idle but without rpms. The cruise control was on at the time. The check engine light and the ESC off light illuminated on the dashboard. Once the vehicle was stopped and restarted it was drivable to the nearest kia dealer. The check engine light stayed on. The dealer (who was closing for the weekend and 200 miles away from home) ran a diagnostic scan which indicated that the throttle position sensor needed replacement and an ECM software upgrade was needed. He then cleared the computer and sent us on our way, telling us we should be able to make it home, but stated it was imperitive it get fixed. He stated that when it happened again to stop and restart the vehicle. Once home, the dealer said he could do nothing to repair the vehicle because the computer was no longer registering a problem and the check engine light was not on. I called back to the dealer that originally diagnosed the vehicle and he concurred that without a current code/check engine light on, the vehicle could not be fixed (he was the manager!). So now I am told to wait for it to happen again and come in immediately. This is the second time the check engine light has come on and the dealer was unable to diagnose the problem because it was off when taken in. The rapid deceleration was a very dangerous situation as there were many semi-trucks on the open highway and they can not stop/slow down quickly. One blasted his horn and was barely able to move over in time as we tried to coast to a safe area on the side of the road! Scary, with 2 children in the vehicle and completely helpless to do anything to quckly get to safety.

Filed Sep 3, 2010 · Acceleration, Electrical · 18,700 miles · OR

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 kia sedona. While traveling 55 MPH the contact noticed that the vehicle had suddenly accelerated without warning causing the contact to apply the brakes in order to stop the vehicle. The vehicle has not been diagnosed and there were no prior warnings. The current mileage is 18000 and the failure mileage was 17000. Updated 01/11/2011*lj updated 12/22/10*jb the consumer stated the vehicle suddenly began to accelerate and the vehicle would not stop until the brakes were forcefully applied. The cruise control was not activated. Also, the power doors stopped working. Updated 04/12/11

Filed Jun 14, 2010 · Acceleration · 27,000 miles · MO

While driving on interstate w/ cruise control on, driver tapped "accel" to increase speed by a mile or two per hour. A sudden acceleration occurred causing passengers to be "pushed" backward in seats. Braking hard ended the incident. Cruise control was turned off and not used again.

Filed Mar 17, 2010 · Acceleration · 14,534 miles · IL

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 kia sedona. The vehicle would sporadically accelerate without driver intent. When the failure would occur, the vehicle would feel similar to activating the cruise control mechanism but would not respond to the contact engaging the brakes. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on three separate occasions; however, the dealer could not duplicate the failure. No repairs were made to the vehicle. The failure mileage was 14,534 and the current mileage was 15,000. Updated 04/22/10 *bf updated 05/06/10

Filed Dec 29, 2009 · Engine · 59,000 miles · NC

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 kia sedona. While driving 70 MPH with the cruise control engaged he pressed on the accelerator pedal, and then the pedal fell completely to the floorboard. While attempting to pull to the side of the road , the vehicle stalled. He was able to restart the vehicle. A technician from the dealer repaired the tbs sensor and updated the ecu. The failure mileage was 59000. The current mileage was 59054.

Filed Jul 22, 2009 · Acceleration, Brakes · 6,900 miles · TN

Let me start by saying we loved the van up until this incident. I was driving on the interstate with my family in our 2008 kia sedona. I had the cruise control set to 75 MPH, I went to pass someone and when I pushed the accelerator to pass the car. I tried to disengage the cruise control by pressing the brake as well as doing it manually by pressing the cruise control button. I could not get the van to slow down even though I was pushing the brake to the floor. At one point I was doing between 90 and 100 MPH. I finally managed to get the van stopped and my brakes were smoking extremely bad. I took it to the dealer and they said it was a bad brake switch. The dealer acted like it was no big deal. I explained that we could have been injured or even killed.