2004 Kia Sorento electrical problems

Filed Oct 26, 2019 · Electrical, Engine · 180,000 miles · MA · fire

I bought my 04 sorento from my aunt who was the only owner. It had a power steering issue at that time which took several attenpts to fix. About a month later we we visiting family and had to turn around. Upon stopping we noticed smoke from the engine compartment so I grabbed my 4 y/o daughter out of the car and by boyfriend opened the hood to find a small fire on opposite side fro where battery is. Once fire was put out we drove .5 miles on a city rd to family. The power steering was gone at that time as well. 10/13/19 - the directional worked all day and come night time when I came out from the store and started vehicle they did not work. The next day they worked finehowever, on 10/14/19 - I started the car in am and there was a squeaky belt. I hit the gas pedal quickly and noise went away. Then while driving, the battery and brake indicator lights came on the dash and stayed on so I pulled over and shut car off. Iwas driving my daughter to the park a mile away from home when the battery and brake indicator lights came on again. I turned car off for a few minutes and when I restarted it the lights were off. I went to turn around to go home and the steering completely failed so it was extremely difficult and dangerous. I have not driven it or started it since. My mechanic camt to my home 2 days in a row and was convinced it was crankshaft bolt that snapped. He got it into his shop the following week on friday 10/26/19 and called a short while later informing me that it was in fact the crankshaft bolt that snapped deep in the shaft and the crankshaft would need to be replaced for a cost of around $3000. I called a few other places and they said the engine would need replacing which would coat around the same. My daughter and I now have no vehicle and are walking her to school which will be difficult come winter months.

Filed Oct 17, 2019 · Body, Electrical · 140,000 miles · NC · fire

Oct, 2016 - I am the orignal owner of the vehicle and had maintained regular maintainence on the vehicle. I had just put $700 of new tires on vehicle and had a routine oil change and fluid check before we left for our vacation. I never had any issues with the vehicle and I still own. The vehicle does not run but I wanted to know what started the fire. My daughter and I were headed out of town for a week, about 200 miles into the commute the front of the vehicle began to smoke from under the hood, we were traveling at 55-60 MPH. As I was exiting the 421 highway flames began coming out from around hood and the paint on the hood began to bubble up due to heat. I immediately called the fire dept, as I was driving, pulled onto the shoulder and immediately removed my daughter and our belongings from the vehicle and distanced ourselves from the vehicle. When the fire dept arrived they put the flames out and the vehicle was transported to a local shop, I had the vehicle towed back to our home city upon departure from our vacation. Upon further observation I was able to see the fire started in the area closest to where the engine meets the dash on the drivers side and continued to spread from that point to the front of the vehicle and under on the drivers side.

Filed Feb 13, 2018 · Electrical · CA

The electrical system goes haywire. We will be driving along and the interior lights come on, the front doors open lights come on and starts buzzing and so does the the locking mechanism on the doors. We check to make sure the doors are closed properly but they always are. This is when the car is in motion usually but sometimes while stationary as well. Sometimes the doors unlock too. We have no idea what caused this but feel it is a safety hazard as well as a nuisance while driving. It never seems to matter if you are driving straight or turning.. We haven't taken it anywhere for repairs yet, because it seems to be electrical and know that it can be expensive.

Filed Mar 18, 2016 · Electrical, Engine · 107,000 miles · CA · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 kia sorento. Within less than 30 days of owning the vehicle, the contact stated that the fuel gauge on the instrument cluster continued to indicate full whether the contact refueled the vehicle or not. Also, when the air conditioner was turned off, smoke emitted into the interior of the vehicle and under the hood. The contact exited the vehicle and lifted the hood to fan away the smoke. The contact drove the vehicle to her job. Another consumer called the fire department because the vehicle erupted into flames. The fire department extinguished the flames. Neither a fire nor a police report was filed. The approximate failure mileage was 107,000. The manufacturer was notified of the failure.

Filed Aug 17, 2015 · Electrical, Engine · 92,400 miles · MI

I was driving approximately 35-40 MPH and my car suddenly lost power with all the dash lights briefly coming on (battery, oil, etc.). Fortunately I was close to a side street and was able to make a hard turn and coast to the curb. I waited a minute and was able to restart the vehicle. I drove home and there was one more incident when the car started to lose power (lights dimmed) however I pushed on the gas and it powered up again. I have had the lights dim and the car seemingly lose power several times. Just prior to this the car typically hesitates when you are going full speed and then the dimming occurs. I've had my car idle at stop signs and at train crossings and have not experienced any power loss. It always seems to happen while driving 35-40 MPH or more. I've had it happen while driving 60-70 MPH on the highway. I had a diagnostic run on the car at the dealership with no concerning results. I've had a mechanic I trust check the alternator, the spark plugs, flush the coolant, put in fuel cleaner, etc. And he cannot locate the problem.

Filed Mar 8, 2015 · Electrical, Engine · 120,000 miles · NY

Was driving down the road at 55 power steering went car lost power lights went crazy car shut down. I almost wrecked harmonic balancer fell into pieces all pulley belts and pin have to be replaced. I just got this car I have a payment on it. Going to cost 1200 to fix. This is on top of it sputtering and spottying. Replace head lights the radio glitches the air bag light is on all the time and if u turn the interior dash lights up it turns the interior lights on.over drive button does not work and transmission lags... I have read al these complaints over and over again why isn't anyone forcing a recall? These are serious issues I almost got rear ended and the electrical problem could cause fire.... Someone is going to end up very hurt if kia is not forced to fix these. Could u imagine this happening on a thru way?

Filed Mar 6, 2015 · Electrical, Transmission · 159,600 miles · MN

I was on my way to work on tuesday, march 3, 2015. It was about 7:30/7:40 a.m. I was driving my 2004 kia sorento ex. I had just driven through st. Peter, mn on hwy 169 south on my way to mankato and was starting to pick up my speed as the speed limit increases as you leave town. All of a sudden, without warning, my vehicle just shut down. The "dummy lights" all lit up. I had no power steering, no brakes, no accelerator - nothing was working. Thank goodness the vehicle, because there was no power, slowed to a stop within a short period of time. I was able to pull over without a collision and no one was hurt. I put it in park and turned the key to the off position. I tried to see if it would start again and absolutely nothing happened when I turned the key. I called aaa and the sorento was towed to the nearest mechanic shop. Without investing too much time in it because I didn't want a huge bill, the mechanic told me that it has electrical power - has good power to the starter, but the engine does not rotate. They could not even physically rotate the engine. He told me that regardless of what it was, it would be very expensive to repair it because, at this point, they have no idea what is wrong with it. That's when I got on facebook and started asking if anyone had any ideas of what could be wrong and a friend told me about the kia sorento engine defect class action lawsuit. I believe my 2004 kia sorento ex is affected by this engine defect. It was dangerous to be driving and I am thankful I was not on a busy freeway. As this just happened 3 days ago, I do not know what I am going to do with this sorento. I would like to have it fixed, but cannot afford to do it. It is still sitting in the parking lot at the mechanics in st. Peter where aaa towed it to.

Filed Feb 16, 2015 · Electrical · 59,000 miles · OR

Fan relay sensor is faulty. All the electrical system is is questionable, from headlights always needing replacement to dash lights that turn on or off at any given time. My newest issue is with the heater, it will only blow warmed air if the motor is being rev'd..temp is warm on engine but if I am driving down hill, it will feel like air conditioner instead. For a few months my driver side door would open from inside only. Magically it has resolved that one and only issue...

Filed Dec 16, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 160,000 miles · CA

My 2004 kia sorento has an intermittent check engine light that displays error code p0446. The light comes on and off as it pleases. There is a tsb for this particular problem, but there are no details. This intermittent light is causing my vehicle to fail it's smog inspection. I have replaced the gas cap as indicated but this did not fix the problem.

Filed Aug 11, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 161,000 miles · WI · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 kia sorento. The contact noticed smoke and flames underneath the vehicle. The fire department extinguished the fire. There were no injuries. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 161,000.