Loyale 2.7 Turbo

I will explain this procedure to be easy to understand. Inside the "Relay & Fuse Box" two parts controls the Power sent to the Blower: A Fuse and a Relay. The idea is that the Fuse provides Safety to the Circuit, and the Relay assures that the Blower will Not function with the engine OFF, so it only provides Power with the ignition; thus prevents battery drains.

Solving a specific and common problem: The Blower The Blower in the dashboard, for the Air Conditioner, draws more current from the electrical system than the average, and is one of things that fails the most on these Sephias; mainly because it keeps pretty Hot the wiring and the plugs during usage... ...and as I described before, the materials on the Box and the plugs are not intended for such situation during prolongated periods of time; so firstly, the plug melts, causing intermitent fails of the Blower... ...finally, the end of the Wire at the plug, gets burnt and stops conducting electricity as it should. So, the blower stops working, despite that the rest of the Air Conditioner system, continues working flawlessly, as it should.

Second Part: The Problems and their Solutions As you have seen in the previous Photos, the wiring is tiny and works pretty Hot, there are many metallic parts that easily gets loose, might get humid and / or corroded, and some parts might get burnt, etc... ...causing electrical false contacts, which are the root of the electrical problems and fails that these Kias suffers, with age and usage, on their different accesories and parts.

Others might want to swap Boxes, the old used one from the Sephia with another used one from another Sephia, out from a Junk Yard's car... but who knows if the used one is Good? The first generation of Kia Spectra, shares a lot with the second generation of the Kia Sephia, even their "Relay & Fuse" Boxes, looks alike, but they're Different; not only in the fact that the Sephia ones have a center bolt to hold the cover on, while the Spectra ones have plastic tabs... ...they are Wired Differently ... ... so, Dismiss the idea of using a Spectra Box.

Kia sells brand new Boxes, for these models: And that could be the route to follow, for those lucky ones who has their cars with the wiring and plugs intact, where the electrical problem lies inside the mere Box. It comes without the plugs as they are part of the Car's wiring, but it is Plug and Play. However, to find a Sephia with intact wires and plugs is pretty Rare, because the main cause of electrical problems, is the Wiring that gets Hot and usually Melts the Plugs, then Burns the Wires...

Everything that was Pictured above, is on this collage Photo: The parts are aligned here, in the way they goes assembled.

After all the above, comes the eight layer: the Lower Cover:

After the three layers that are the "intermediate connections" complex, comes the seventh layer, which is the Lower Base (or under base), it consists in a plastic plate where the aforementioned complex, sits above; and also it is where the four different Plugs with the car's wiring, comes to be attached below, on its underside. Here you can see the Lower Base (or under base) with some Plugs still attached: (The tiny pins comes thru it, from the "intermediate connections" Complex, these screws are holding everything together; needs a 7mm socket wrench) Here's the same Lower Base, without the four main Plugs: (The remaining two plugs, comes directly from the "B+" terminal, and delivers non-switched, fused Power from the main -big- fuses' line.) Here you can see in detail, one of the wiring Plugs: The wires and the metal contacts are tiny.

I really felt Dissapointed by DELPHI, the makers of these Boxes, because such level of Complexity, requires Better materials and Safer construction... I bet they wanted not only to save space, but also money, with these Boxes that always are working at High temperatures for prolongated periods of time, sometimes in hot humid weathers, and using A/C, Headlamps, Horn, etc... it is a Miracle that these old Kias are still on the Road... and the culprit of their electrical Gremlins, usually are these "Relay & Fuse" Boxes. I've seen various Kia Sephias that already had lost their headlamp's Low beam, or the A/C's Blower, because the tiny Wiring working, heated the plastics enough to Melt he plugs and / or the plastic that holds the connecting pins, from the "intermediate connections" Complex; causing electrical false contacts and / or burning the connected ends of the Wires, making them to loose their hability to transfer the electrical current in the proper way... Continue reading, I'll explain how to Fix those electrical issues, later.

The non-insulated copper wires hiding underneath the "intermediate connections" complex, are held in place by the plastic layer, sandwiched in place, and they makes the complex interconnections by placing its ends pressed in small "V" shaped openings at the base of each metal pin. So, if any of these copper wires that are only "touching" the metal pins on the complex, gets dirty, gets moisture, or gets loose and develops an electrical false contact; you Must change the Whole Box, because once you open this, it becomes terribly damaged, and thus means that it is designed from factory to be unrepairable.

Here it gets... "interesting" The "intermediate connections" complex, is a three layer plate, that unites the connections that comes and goes from the car's wiring, with the different Relays and Fuses; it has three plastic layers. The center one has a bunch of metal pins that goes up and down thru the other two plastic layers; but also, there is a group of various, Non-insulated copper wires hiding on it; that delivers Power 12V (+) to the Relays and Fuses, from the B+ terminal. Also, said copper wires, delivers switching signals among relays:

The "intermediate connections" complex... ...goes between the inner surface (or upper base), and... ...the lower Base, where the wiring plugs goes.

Then, after removing the inner Surface... (the white squares are nuts, the box unscrews from upside down using a 7 mm socket) ...you will reach the third layer, which is the "intermediate connections" complex. Here you can see it, to the left of the inner surface upside down:

The first layer is the upper Cover: Notice the B+ symbol on the lower right area, this will be our Guide. Then, it comes the second layer, which is the inner Surface: Here is where all the Relays & Fuses are Located. There is a Bolt that receives the Power input at the B+ location. An average Driver only will access these two layers.

Relay & Fuse Box Dissection → Repairing Electrical Gremlins The purposes of the following posts, are: to Help you understanding the Relay & Fuse Box that came on the second generation of the Kia Sephia; how to find problems in its electrical distribution, and how to repair them in a safe and reliable way. This is an informative and illustrative writeup and I do not assume any responsibility for anything you might do with this information. Always be Careful before attempting any repairs. If you don't have the Skills / Tools \ Knowledge, better let the professionals to do the repairs for you. First Part: The Relay & Fuse Box The Relay & Fuse Box on the second generation of the Kia Sephia, is made by DELPHI, is very compact and complex at the same time; an interesting characteristic of it, is that all the Power input 12V (+) is received on a single point of it, which is a bolt called the "B+" and then, the power is distributed inside the Box, from that point, using a short metal plate for the main outputs, and using a bunch of copper wires for the rest of Relays & Fuses. Prior to Repair anything, you need to Understand it and how it works; so I share here with you, Photos of the eight layers that compose the Relay & Fuse Box that I dissected, which belonged to a 2000 Kia Sephia, similar to our "KiaStein" so, let's Start!

After finding many threads in another websites, regarding same problem, all of them without the proper answer and lacking photos or explanations; like this threads: ~► http://www.kia-forums.com/2g-1998-2001-sephia/69948-2000-sephia-c-blower-motor-issues.html ~► http://www.kia-forums.com/2g-1998-2001-sephia/48073-blower-fan-does-not-work-01-a.html ~► http://www.kia-forums.com/2g-1998-2001-sephia/52048-blower-motor-issues-need-get-fuse.html I decided to fix that issue, doing my own investigation, reverse engineering and takin' Photos of the process, in order to properly doccument it, and Share the proper answer here, with all you; maybe it is useful. Also you shall note that the procedures I use, could be used to other cars as well; only being aware of their differences. So, let me share here with you, all the info regarding how to definitively Solve that issue, in the proper way. Continue reading...

Blower Motor Woes! The Blower on our "KiaStein" started to fail since a couple of months ago; sometimes it worked flawlessly, sometimes it didn't; always the rest of the A/C system worked as it should. Then one day, the Blower completely stopped working. There was a soft smell like burnt plastic, on the car everytime we used the A/C, since around six months ago... The A/C is a must here in the Caribbean; not due to the warm climate, but due to our huge downpours: It lets us drive safely, by keeping clear the windshield; so, I had to fix it.

No Comments? Well, I'll continue with my monologue here, Hoping that this information could be Helpful for other people...

Yes, I've stated that on my Writeup. Also the Coil Springs won't let you compress the Shocks any further than 4" This setup is working Flawlessly on my Subie, since many, many years ago... Yes, it Helps, thank you for Sharing. We're waitin' to see the Before / After pics. Kind Regards.

I changed it because we felt the Smell of Gasoline, despite that it leaked only a drop occasionally, but the car never Failed; however, the position of this thing is right above the alternator... you don't want any Fuel leaks, even less in that area, so I changed it immediately (only took me five minutes) and the car is working very well. Kind Regards.

Old Fuel Pressure Regulator: Vs the New one:

Back on the "KiaStein" topic. This 2000 Kia Sephia was built in June / 1999 so, the thing already reached its eighteen birthday, Long ago, I changed the engine with a more modern one, But I used the same intake and exhaust manifolds from the old engine, on it. Recently, the Fuel pressure regulator, that goes in the injector's Common Rail (which is the Fuel input from the Tank) started to Leak, just after reaching 18 years old, so I simply obtained another one, brand new from the Local Kia Dealer, and surprisingly, I found that the Old regulator was made with a yellowish metal, while the new Regulator came in a Shiny, silverish finish; the same happened with the Brake's proportioning valves, as you can see in previous posts. As far as I Know, Kia improved the quiality from certain parts after the production, and this unit should be one of the improved ones.

You're Welcome! Kind Regards.

Then, please share some Photos of your Dashboard / instrument Cluster, with us; on its Thread. ~► http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/69467-ea82-dashboard-backlights-upgrade-to-hid-white-led%C2%B4s/page-3?do=findComment&comment=1116188 Kind Regards.

Nice Subarus R2 on the road. ~► (I tried to embed a YouTube's video on a Post here, but Recently, their system doesn't allow that.) Kind Regards.