2005 Kia Sorento: loss of power steering

Filed Jul 18, 2023 · Engine · MA

When driving there was a clunking noise and then the steering was hard to steer and the battery light came on & had to have it towed to find out that the harmonic balancer bolt broke. There are hundreds of complaints online about this same issue happening with these engines as this is a poor design. This is a safety hazard and very dangerous since you loose the steering and should be recalled.

Filed Nov 24, 2018 · 3 miles · PA

Battery and brake light came on and lost power steering control, power steering belt came off and AC belt had to get towed home. When I went under the hood noticed the damper pulley was wobbly the bolt in the middle was still in place had this happen twice before issue was fixed and it happened again. Can't afford to take to a professional mechanic because I'm a single mother of 4 children and I need my car running. I was driving into a shopping plaza parking lot when it happened and as I turned in that's when this happened.

Filed Aug 20, 2018 · Engine · 27,000 miles · VA

Kia had a lawsuit involving the crankshaft bolt. The lawsuit is yvonne robinson vs kia. I bought the vehicle from someone with only 25,000 miles last year 2017. My children were driving back to college on 11 august 2018. The crankshaft bolt broke which causes the vehicle to lose steering. My children were almost in a terrible accident which could have cost them their lives. My sons go to school in atlanta and the crankshaft broke in north carolina. I had my children call our insurance company for roadside assistance and they couldn't fix it obviously because it was the crankshaft bolt. He got them safely to pepboys and they had to spend the night in north carolina and the next day pepboys confirmed it was the crankshaft bolt. I found out there was a lawsuit concerning the crankshaft bolt. Pepboys said it would be $2000 to fix. I called kia on 13 august 18 and they told me they would take care of it and would call in a couple days. They are still giving me the run around. This was something that was involved in a lawsuit and it concerns safety. Please help me hold kia accountable. They know this is a defective product. The vehicle is still in north carolina because I'm waiting to hear back from kia. I'm a retired navy veteran who deserves to be treated fair and not have my loved ones life at risk because of their defective products

Filed Nov 4, 2015 · Electrical, Engine · 107,000 miles · FL

I was turning onto a street and heard a big clunk only to find out the bolt on the crankshaft broke off again on 10/29/15 as well as 7/30/13. The power steering went out & battery light came on. Lost power and everything after a big clunk! This happens all the time: there are a multitude of these same complaints: this engine was replaced in may 2010 and the harmonic balancer and pulley have been worked on twice since 2010. There is a defective bolt that was replaced with a new defective bolt. This is happening numerous times to many kia sorento owners and they are left stranded. Kia knows about it and refuses to do anything! My car is sitting at country kia in charleston, sc because the extended- warranty will not cover this defective bolt and I can't pay $5000.00 on a car that is now only worth $3000.00. I had to stay in charleston, sc an extra 2 days at my expense $79.00 /night, pay $75.00 for the tow bill and an additional $55 or $65 for the kia dealership to check it out. I had to rent a car to come back to fl as I was stranded in charleston without transportation. I cannot afford the $5000.00 for repairs and the $1500.00 to pay it off just to get the title to send this to a junk yard. The mileage just turned to 107,000 or 108,000. This is the 4th time that there was an issue on this part of this car having to do with the same issues related to this defective bolt, harmonic balancer and pulley as a result of this defective bolt. (this is only on one car). You will see how many times this is occurring to many other owners of these kia sorentos. Please read through the complaints on the following link: http://gotaclassaction.com/kia-named-in-class-action-over-first-generation-2002-2009-equipped-with-a-hyundai-manufactured-3-5l-24-valve-dohc-v6-engine/

Filed Jul 9, 2015 · Transmission · 50,254 miles · MA

Wife was driving away from house, heard screaching sound, then lost power steering while driving nearly ending up on sidewalk. When I checked under hood, I saw a bolt sitting on lower part of engine compartment, crankshaft pulley not moving, but bolt that holds it on spinning. None of the belts were moving. Most of the warning lights were also lit up. Apparently, there is a class action lawsuit involving this issue.

Filed Apr 25, 2015 · Engine, Steering · 87,000 miles · OH

At a stop light, I heard and felt a shudder throughout the vehicle. The brake and battery light came on immediately after the shudder. The engine continued to run normally. Proceeding through the intersection, I experienced the loss of power steering making the car very difficult to control. Managed to get the vehicle to a nearby parking lot where I called for a tow to the kia dealer. Dealer confirmed a sheared crank shaft bolt. Incident occurred on a busy state highway during rush hour. Speed limit is 45 MPH on this stretch of road and very busy at rush hour. Had the vehicle been in motion at the time of the part failure there would have been an accident.

Filed Nov 14, 2014 · Brakes, Engine · 110,000 miles · VA

First incident-on august 16, 2014 while on vacation and driving from virginia to chicago ill, the vehicle start making a rattling noise coming from the front of the vehicle and warning lights came on the dash (battery, brake) and the power steering went out making the vehicle very hard to maneuver, I immediately pulled over into a fast food parking lot to check the noise and found that the harmonic balancer was loose and belts were not turning, I had the vehicle towed to a mechanic after inspection I was informed that the crank shaft gear pin had broke off to the harmonic balancer. I purchase the parts (harmonic balancer, bolt and crank shaft gear) and had the mechanic repair the vehicle and drove back to virginia. Second incident-october 2014 while my wife was driving the vehicle, she encountered the same problems the warning lights, rattling in the front of vehicle, power steering locked unable to turn vehicle, I inspected the vehicle and saw that the harmonic balancer was loose and belts were not turning, the pin in the crank shaft gear has broken again, I had the vehicle towed to the kia dealership in richmond, and they stated that I needed a new motor. After investigating complaints about this vehicle on line I found out that this problem is well documented with this make and year vehicle. If I or my wife had been on the highway at the time of this fault it could have been catastrophic. I also found that their is a class action suit against kia motors addressing the exact same fault.(civil action no. 13-006 united states district court, district of new jersey) essentially, plaintiffs claimed their vehicles were designed with a ?defective crankshaft pulley bold and balancer,? Which could result in ?breaking off the spring guide pin,? Causing ?catastrophic engine failure.? This vehicle is unsafe, a recall is warranted and kia motors needs to correct the defect.

Filed Nov 5, 2014 · Engine · 69,586 miles · IA

While leaving our home to run errands, I lost power steering and several dashboard lights came on. We purchased the kia sorento in 2005 new and have had very few problems with it until now. It has less than 70k miles and has been serviced by the dealer every 3k miles. I had the vehicle towed to the dealer, who rather quickly diagnosed the problem as a broken crank bolt and estimated repairs would cost about $1300. The dealer checked with kia on whether our 100k warranty would cover the repairs. Kia said this problem was not covered. At the time I didn't realize this is a fairly common problem with the kia sorento's. Checking the comments from other sorento owners, I have concluded this certainly appears to be a design defect. Our concern is that this could have happened in traffic at 70 MPH and the loss of the ability to steer could certainly become a very serious problem, with potential fatal consequences. I am especially concerned about the number of situations that the bolt failed a second and sometimes a third time after the initial repair was made. Request serious consideration of kia issuing a recall to remedy this design defect. Updated 01/14/15

Filed Oct 8, 2014 · Engine, Steering · 104,900 miles · VA

On 8/23/2014 my family a I were in chicago we traveled there on friday 8/22/2014 from virginia in the 2005 kia sorento that I just purchased in july 2014 from pearson hyundai. While driving to my family reunion in the forest reserves the vehicle brake light and other warning lights came on, and a rattle could be heard coming from the engine, the vehicle became hard to steer and the noise from the engine became louder. I stopped the vehicle and had it towed to my families mechanic, after checking the vehicle it was found to have the pin on the crank gear broken off, and the crank bolt came loose, replaced the sprocket (crank gear), the harmonic balancer, and the bolt. I drove the vehicle back to virginia with no problem, then on october 3, 2014 while my wife was driving in richmond, va the exact same thing happened again, (warning lights, no power steering and rattling from the harmonic balancer, I had the car towed to the kia dealership on friday, they finally got back with me wed, october 8, 2014 and told me that I needed a motor cause the crank shaft is blown, prior to having it towed, I saw that the harmonic balancer was doing the exact same thing it had did in chicago and turning it I can tell that the same pin has came off the sprocket. The kia dealership wants to sell me a used engine, same as the one that is in the kia I have, I am reluctant to pay $5000.00 to replace the engine to have the same problem, that I and after further investigation a lot of kia sorento owners have suffered.

Filed Sep 22, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 101,000 miles · GA · crash

Driving approximately 55mph 22 nov 2013, heard a thump from engine compartment, and lost all power to vehicle, ending up in a ditch. Engine stopped, no steering, no brakes. Dash lights illuminated. Vehicle would not re-start. Crank pulley bolt broke off. Over 5 hours to extract remainder of bolt to repair engine. $1359 in repairs. Now, 22 sept 2014, 10 months later, had same happen on highway at 70mph in heavy traffic. Thankful I was in a lane at the edge of the roadway. Current mileage slightly under 114,000. Yeah. 10 months and 13000 miles and another huge repair bill. No recall, kia claims no liability. Other issue: interior lighting turns itself off and on at whim. Headlights burn out every 45-90 days.

Filed Sep 7, 2014 · Steering · 94,565 miles · PA

While driving at 50 MPH the power steering failed on my 2005 kia sorento making it extremely difficult to control. When I finally pulled into a parking lot there was a loud noise coming from the engine. I turned off the engine immediately. When I tried to restart the vehicle the battery appeared to be dead. I finally had to have it towed around 11 p.m. Upon further inspection by a mechanic it was determined that the cam shaft bold broke off.causing the pulleys to stop which affected everything that was driven by the pulleys. There was also damage to the radiator that needs to be replaced. Initial estimate to repair the vehicle was $1550.

Filed Sep 2, 2014 · Engine, Steering · 117,000 miles · CO

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 kia sorento. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the power steering failed without warning and the vehicle became increasingly difficult to control. The dealer stated that the camshaft needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 117,000.