2007 Kia Sorento: sudden loss of power

Filed Oct 25, 2020 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 92,500 miles · TN

I was driving on the highway when my steering wheel became really stiff like I lost power steering. I looked at my dash and had a check engine light, oil light, ABS light, and ESC off light illuminated. I pressed the gas to try to switch lanes as I was in the far left lane and needed to reach the shoulder to figure out what was going on, and the car would not accelerate. I turned my flashers on and was luckily able to make it to the shoulder without causing an accident. When I was on the shoulder I turned the key off and then back on. The check engine light and oil light went away, but the ABS light and the ESC light remained on. I started to drive back towards my house and felt the car idling roughly when at a stop. At home my husband disconnected the battery for a few minutes which solved the rough idling issue but the ABS and ESC lights are still on. I am now scared to drive my daughter to school and have the car shift off again. I have read similar reviews about this vehicle. Something needs to be done by kia to solve this. They recalled some vehicles for this issue but mine is not listed and clearly needs to be!

Filed Sep 11, 2016 · Driver assistance, Engine · 87,000 miles · WI

My ESC light will come on and my car will lose all power,step on gas and nothing happens, have to pull over, stop engine and restart, then car runs normal, this seems to be very dangerous if happens on freeway

Filed Sep 10, 2014 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 47,760 miles · CO

I own a 2007 kia sorento lx with 47,760 miles on it currently (today's date 09/10/2014). The first symptoms happened a few months ago where my car would hesitate upon acceleration and/or I would be traveling between 30-45 MPH and the car would begin bucking/jerking for a few seconds. This was very intermittent and random. If I took my foot off the gas pedal, then reapplied the gas the car would be fine. Then that symptom went away and I gained a new symptom. I was driving approximately 30 MPH, when all of the sudden my ecs off light and check engine light came on simultaneously, and I instantly lost power/acceleration. It appears that when this happens the car goes into "limp home" mode? It has happened twice to me in the past 3 days. This is very dangerous because the loss of power/acceleration is instant, it happens without warning, and it does not matter how fast you are going. This could cause loss of life if it happens on a highway at a high rate of speed. All of these symptoms began to appear right after I had the recalls done on my vehicle (I.e. Brake switch and ECM upgrade). My car was fine before I had the recalls done.

Filed Mar 21, 2013 · Driver assistance · 52,870 miles · WY

In february of 2012 I took my 2007 kia sorento into the local kia dealership because my "ESC off" light kept coming on when I would make a right hand turn. The steering sounded like it was groaning as I was in these turns. When they read the code it came up as "p1739 encode fault", which on my paperwork states can signal a communication error. Further inspection showed that the transfer case motor was seizing up and causing the issue. The motor was replaced at that time. On march 11th as I was driving on the highway at 75 MPH, the light came on again and the engine sort of lost power. I drove on, tried to turn the light off to no avail. When I was able to exit the interstate, I shut off the engine and waited a few minutes. I turned the engine back on and the light went off. This happened again six days later, once again at highway speed. Both times I had cruise control on. Both times the engine reacted strangely when the light came on. As before, when the car was turned off and then back on, the light went off. I took the vehicle into the dealership again on 3/21/13 and once again the transfer case motor was the issue. This time it had an internal open circuit. Transfer case motor has been replaced once again. Part has a 12 mos or 12,000 mile warranty. First incident happened at 52,870 miles and second incident at 62,173 miles. This part failed at less than 10,000 miles, but over 12 months. From what I have read, I am one of the lucky ones that has not ended up in a crash. Definitely scary when this happens at 75-80 MPH.

Filed Apr 24, 2012 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 121,000 miles · NC

Sunday morning, I was driving my vehicle at a speed of less than 45 MPH. The "check engine" light and "ESC off" light came on simultaneously. At the same time, my vehicle lost power and would not change out of 2nd gear. I pulled into a nearby parking lot, turned off the vehicle, and waited for one minute. I restarted the vehicle and it cranked just fine. I pulled out of the parking lot and went no more than 30 yards when the lights came back on and my vehicle lost power completely - no response when pressing the gas pedal. I coasted into a loading area where I was forced to call aaa to have my vehicle towed to the nearest car repair center. I communicated with them throughout the day monday, and the end result was this: my vehicle was taken to the charlotte kia dealership and a test was done to read and determine the error. The diagnosis was a faulty "transfer case decoder motor", something I had never even heard of. The repair is going to cost approximately $1,000 because of associated diagnostic tests and the part itself costing $570. According to what I read on the internet, there is a "service" for this component that is to be done around 45,000 miles. My vehicle has been to the same kia dealer numerous times and this component has never been addressed. Not once was the "service" mentioned to me by the service team. This is a serious issue that could result in injury or death if it occurred on an interstate or in an intersection. Thankfully, I was in a safe area and no one was at risk of accident or injury. This problem is widespread among kia vehicles - the service manager at aaa stated he has a 2007 kia sedan in there right now with the same problem. I feel kia is at fault and negligent for this malfunction.

Filed Sep 13, 2011 · Engine · 75,000 miles · IN

During acceleration, the "ESC off" light comes on, the "check engine" light comes on, and I lose power simultaneously. When I turn the car off and restart it, the ESC off light does not come back but the check engine light stays on. This happened 3 times on during my hour commute to work. If I was in a passing situation or were in the middle of crossing traffic, this would have been a serious safety concern.

Filed Sep 26, 2010 · Engine · 94,000 miles · OH

2007 kia sorento engine blown up. No warning signs had occurred. No check engine light came on. While driving the car lost all power. Upon an inspection the oil had turned to sludge. Oil only had approx. 900 miles. Needed to have new engine installed.

Filed Feb 24, 2008 · Transmission · 4,400 miles · TX

I was driving my 2 month old 2007 kia optima ex 6 cyc with 4,000 miles on feb 16 about 10:45 pm when it lost power steering and other car functions. I had just exit an expressway (ih 35) to reach my home when I heard a large clunk and warning lights appeared re: loss of electrical power from to the battery. I was unable to initial steer the vehicle b/c the power steering was not working with significant difficultly I gained control for the short mile distance to my home. This car is being used under normal driving conditions. I looked under the hood and saw that the main engine belt had come off and a large round metal circular gear was laying against the engine block. The engine belt had come off all the pulleys which runs many major engine functions. I had the kia towed it the following monday (2/18/08) at 8am to kia in georgetown, tx . Kia service mgr., matt, around 5pm said that the harmonic balancer "broke and it wasn't supposed to do that". When asked how this could happen with a brand new car, he said it just happens. Kia customer service rep, eddy, told me this was a major part and repair. Both kia reps remained very vague on explaining if this part was a result of an optima defect that caused the harmonic balancer to fail early and easily. This was a serious safety hazard that may/could have ruin my crankshaft, engine, and caused serious injury to many drivers present. I realized that I was very lucky this did not happen while on the expressway at 70 MPH else you would never hear this story. This reason and kia's suspiciously vague explanations is why I feel this needs to be reported to you and investigated.