2013 Kia Sportage: sudden loss of power

Filed Aug 14, 2025 · Brakes, Engine · 50,000 miles · AZ

The contact owns a 2013 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that while coming to a gas station rest stop, making a left turn to the fuel pump, the vehicle lost power and coasted to the fuel pump. There were no warning lights illuminated. The VIN was included in the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 23V652000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic), which had a warranty extension for the engine to be repaired or replaced. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the engine had failed and needed to be replaced. The dealer was unable to replace the engine and referred the contact to another mechanic to repair the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer referred the contact to the manufacturer for assistance. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The manufacturer informed the contact that the timeframe for the engine coverage extension had been exceeded, and the HECU not been replaced under the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 23V652000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic). The manufacturer opened a case regarding the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

Filed May 21, 2023 · Engine · TN

I was stopped at a red light, once the light turned green I was accelerating when I lost power and the engine stalled, pumping the gas did nothing. I was able to coast to the side of the road but my car never did start back. There is only 125278 miles on the car and I have only had it 2 months.

Filed Apr 23, 2023 · Engine · ID

Was driving on the interstate at approximately 80 MPH went to slow down for a slow car in the fast lane and lost power in the middle of traffic. Check engine light began flashing. Upon a check of the check engine code it gave a known recall with a number of kias in this model and year range covered with lifetime engine replacement. Error code P-1326 glow relay stuck on. Considering my fuel combustion engine does not have a glow relay this should fall under the already known covered issues and be extended to my vehicle

Filed Sep 18, 2022 · Engine · CA

I was driving home from work on 08/29/2022 in lane #4 at 60 mph during 5:00 o'clock traffic .a I heard a small pop and lost all power. Smoke came from under the hood and the car was dead. Luckily there was no on in the HOV lane and I immediately pulled to the left. Oil was all over the road and the car. An oils slick like that is dangerous not only to the driver of the car but other motorists or motorcycle riders. Thank god my wife wasn't driving it. I had it towed to the KIA dealer and they notified me there was a known issue with this engine and I I didn't have the KSDS sensor updated and Kia would not do any repairs. I had never received any notifications about safety issues or a recall. Since this has happened I found out there was a class action lawsuit which I never knew about either. I now have a car that has a blown engine and Kia will do nothing to repair it even though it is a known common problem. I believe KIA should provide more support for their engine failures and the lack of notification to their consumers.

Filed Sep 15, 2022 · Engine, Transmission · CA

I was traveling at approx. 65 miles an hour in the #3 lane in traffic, when I lost power suddenly as if the engine died. I was able to immediately exit the freeway at the first exit and pulled into a gas station. (Approx. 2 blocks from the freeway exit) I noticed a light on the dash was lit in the shape of an engine that wasn't lit before. At this time, I heard an unusual loud knocking noise coming from the engine compartment. I had just come from the store and had frozen food in the car. I didn't know what was causing the noise it didn't sound good and decided to just have AAA tow it to my house. Once the car was at home in my driveway and I had unloaded the frozen food, I plugged in my OBDII reader which gave me a p1326 code. I checked to see what it meant and found out my year Sportage was prone to some kind of Premature bearing wear. The car has been serviced by the book by Kia of Alhambra since we have owned it. It was just in for an oil change, transmission flush, and brakes on the 19th of August 2022. We have never received any notice via email, mail, or from the dealership regarding any recall or potential problem at any time. This car is primarily driven by my wife. I'm glad she wasn't driving when this happened. I will be contacting Kia of Alhambra tomorrow and possibly having the vehicle towed there.

Filed Aug 29, 2022 · Engine · NC

My engine started making a tik-tik noise in June of 2022. I drive very little as I work from home, took it to get an oil change and for a service check, was advised nothing was wrong that they could identify on the vehicle. Ticking continued, Kia advised they were over a month out for service call appointments, got on the list and had my oil changed again after only 300 miles. Ticking noise got louder while waiting on service call appointment, then as I was driving home on a back road (thankfully), there was a loud banging noise from under my hood, spluttering, some whining noises, my instrument panel lit up with all engine-related lights, and the car shut off while driving. I lost power steering and brakes, and had to coast into a neighborhood and down a hill to safely move my car out of traffic's way. I had my 7 year old with me in the vehicle and have since had it towed to Kia, and was advised there was a 'voluntary maintenence' KSDS sensor I was supposed to have had installed in order to extend my currently-intact 100K/10 year factory warranty, and because they did not update my contact information correctly when i moved I never received the notification. My car is currently sitting at the Kia dealership, undriveable, and I am having to fight Kia to cover the engine replacement.

Filed Jun 1, 2022 · Engine · NM

While driving on highway, heard loud noise from engine and car lost power. Was able to safely make it to the side of the road where I noticed a lot of oil under the car. Called for a tow, while the tow truck driver was hooking up the vehicle he found a piece of the connecting rod under the car. Had the car tow home and called Kia, there seems to be a recall for the 2.4l engine but not on the Sportage. The car has 104500 miles on it and I have e owned it since it was new.

Filed May 4, 2022 · Engine · CA

Was driving home at 11pm on freeway 2nd lane from right side, and engine started making a subtle knocking noise that gradually got louder. Vehicle began to lose power, and as the vehicle stalled, the check engine light came on at that moment. I shut power off to the vehicle and turned it back on, no check engine light however engine was knocking and shaking. I made it slowly and safely off freeway at that point.

Filed Apr 3, 2022 · Engine · GA

While driving down the Interstate, the engine started knocking, lost power, and came to a stop on the Interstate. I was almost run over by a Tractor-Trailer. A Hero unit showed to push it of the Interstate and transport me and my children to safety. The engine did finally restart, but didn’t have enough power to move and knocked very loudly. Called local KIA Dealer, who told me this is a common problem with 2013 KIA Sportage and it would need a new engine at my expense. It was not included in engine recall. The cost to repair is more than the vehicle is worth. I purchased the vehicle new and was never told this would happen. I am on SSDI and now without a vehicle and can’t afford to buy another car, I can barely afford food for my children.

Filed Oct 18, 2021 · Engine · NV

Driving at 75 mph, took foot off accelerator, and when placing foot back on accelerator, started losing power and had started to have a strong knocking sound then stalled. Was able to get started with the loud knock and get to a "safer" location. NO check engine lights. Car was running smooth prior to this with all current maintenance upkeep. Full daily driver. Will still start and will drive under 1500 rpm but shakes and stalls above 1500 rpm. Approx 122k miles

Filed Oct 13, 2021 · Engine · VT

While driving the car in local traffic at approximately 50 miles per hour the car started losing power and immediately started to have a strong knocking sound and then stalled. Fortunately no other vehicles were present. I believe the battery light came on but it happened so quickly. The car was running fine up to that point with no issue. The car has approximately 73000 miles so as anyone can see it has not been driven hard over 8 years. It was towed to Midas where the car was started and immediately a very loud knocking sound occurred. On further inspection it was documented as catastrophic engine failure. It was towed to my home where it sits with a broken engine. It is available for inspection from the manufacturer. I just had my brakes changed and the general inspection of the overall vehicle was said to be very good and the rest of the car interior and exterior is in near excellent condition.

Filed Jun 10, 2021 · Engine · OK

Traveling at highway speeds, the following happened. 2013 KIA Sportage purchased July 2019 -Started to lose power and loud knocking noise from engine (No check engine light and coolant temps average to make me aware of a problem). The lack and loss of power in any situation with other vehicle at high rates of speed has the possibility of cause severe accidents, casualties, and endangering large groups of individuals. -Pulled off to the shoulder of the highway due to lack of power and car shaking (Very high risk of getting hit). -Had car towed to AAA approved (Kwik Kar). -Mechanic called and mentioned that this specific engine (2.0L and 2.4L) is that the oil pump has defects and will starve the engine of oil with no signs (Such as check engine light). -Estimated cost of repair $8000. -I called KIA and the response was "since I did not take my vehicle in when there was a product improvement campaign that KIA would not repair/replace the engine due to my negligence" (I was never contacted about this "Campaign") and when I would check the KIA website (I checked every 3 months) there were and still are no recalls specific for my VIN.