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Kia Sephia Sporty


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Since the whole assembly was damaged like that, beyond any possible repair, frankly I consider that it was a Miracle how this car was still working, with all those loose parts and exposed wires under Gasoline; the whole assembly was about to crumble and disperse the internals inside the Gas Tank. 

 

So I decided to search for a New Fuel Pump Assembly, but the one offered by the Local Kia Dealer, and the Aftermarket units I found, only had one plug instead of three, also they lack the Float Level and the Low Level sensors; seems like the LADM (Latin American Domestic Market) specs Sephias, came like the ones for the State of California, with a 1.6L engine, instead of the 1.8L and the other two sensors comes individual in the Fuel Tank.

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Somehow, local Aftermarket stores asked Crazy prices for that Fuel Pump Assemblies, which are different from the one I needed, their prices went up to ~ L. 9,000.ºº Lempiras, our currency, which equals to ~ $ 400.ºº US Dollars, and the cheaper one was around the half of that price, but still they're different parts that does Not work on our USDM Specs second gen Sephia.

In fact there are Two different Fuel Pump assemblies' designs for the second gen Kia Sephia, and according to the Local Kia Dealer's Salesman who decoded the VIN, our "KiaStein" uses the Newer style one that was also used on the Kia Spectra lineup.

I bet that the Fuel Pump assemblies shown on the above posted photos, belongs to the Older style Specs. and / or belongs to the 1.6L engine models.

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The only thing I purchased at the Local Kia Dealer, was a brand new Fuel Filter, the ones that says "Kia" on red Boxes has twice the Price than the ones that says "Product line 2" on grey boxes instead; but according to the Kia Dealer parts' store CEO, both parts are exactly the Same, the difference is that since the "Product Line 2" does not use the Kia Logo nor the related Copyrights, they can sell those parts on Half Price...

 

Fuel%20Pump%20-%2013%20-%20New%20Fuel%20


Do you have such "Product Line 2" parts available in USA? ... The Box says:

"Part Supplied by Mobis - Not to be used for Warranty repairs"

Fuel%20Pump%2010%20-%20New%20Fuel%20Filt

I installed the New Fuel Filter in the Meantime...

It has one inlet, one outlet, and the Return line built-in.

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By the way, the "Product Line 2" parts really has competitive prices, lower than Aftermarket ones, but being sold at the Local Kia Dealer as same original parts from factory, on alternative Boxes. So instead of buying the Kia Oil Filters...

 

Filtro%20de%20Aceite.jpg

...I purchase at Half the price, the "Product Line 2" oil Filters...

Oil%20Filter%20Line%202.jpg

...the same happens with other parts, such like Air Filters...

Product%20Line%202%20-%20Air%20Filter.jp

...etc...

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Back to the Fuel Pump Assembly subject:

 

Since I could not find a brand new Fuel Pump Assembly locally, I was thinking about repairing the Cracked Housing, with great quality JB Weld, but after some tests I found that the Check Valve...

 

Fuel%20Pump%207%20-%20Check%20Valve.jpg

 

...Besides of the awful loose fit on the cracked Housing, it has its internal gate stuck in the Middle, So it was restricting the Fuel Pump's pressure, and at the same time it doesn't retain any pressure after the engine was shut off ... in fact it was equally hard to blow / suck any air in either way thru both openings, and that was exactly what the Fuel Pressure gauge showed me during the Tests I performed.

 

Fuel%20Pump%2011%20-%20Testing%20Pressur

So definitely I Needed to obtain another complete Fuel Pump Assembly, as soon as Possible.

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I went driving my Subaru "BumbleBeast" around the town, searching among all the Local Junk Yards for an used but in good conditions, fuel pump assembly; but I only found the older Sephia Models' Style, (and other assemblies from much newer Spectra style, plus lots from other makes / models), which uses the different / simpler Fuel Pump Assembly with a single plug and lacking the Float Level and the Low Fuel Sensors, identical to the assemblies I shown on the photos I shared on a previous post.

When I was very tired at the end of the Day, I did some phone calls to the Junk Yards that are located farther from the town, and one salesgirl who answered the phone in one of those Junk Yards, assured me that they have only one of the Fuel Pump Assemblies that came with three plugs' wiring, also with the Float Level and the Low Fuel sensors, built-in.

I went there and... yes, they had it, but the Junk Yard employee mistakenly had cut the wirings with a Knife before the Plugs!
... :o ... That was the reason why no one wanted to buy it; and the thing looked very nice, in way better shape than the worn out one that came from our 2000 Kia Sephia.

 

Fuel%20Pump%208%20-%20Newer%20One.jpg

 

 

Edited by Loyale 2.7 Turbo
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FTPS and DMTL Fuel Pumps!
 

 

This Fuel Pump Assembly design is almost the same for all the two different editions of the second gen Kia Sephia that came with the T8D (1.8L) engine, But the early editions, which were made from late 1997 up to May 1999, came with an FTPS (Fuel Tank Pressure Sensor), While the newer editions, made from June / 1999 Kia Sephia up to march / 2004 on the first gen Kia Spectra lineup, came instead with a DMTL (Diagnostic Module Tank Leakage), which is located under the vehicle, behind the Tank.

So, the Fuel Pump Assembly that was at the Junk Yard, have the
FTPS built-in at the top, and had attached its own three wire plug; and thus means that it belongs to an Early edition of the second gen Kia Sephia, while the "KiaStein" is from the Late editions of the second gen Kia Sephia.

Edited by Loyale 2.7 Turbo
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Since automotive electrics & electronics are not a mystery nor a problem for me, I dared to purchase that Fuel Pump Assembly, which in fact was in way better shape and cleaner, than the worn out one, that came from the "KiaStein"

I cut off the wiring with the three plugs from the worn out one, and I Soldered each wire to the junk yard one, isolating each wire individually, with lots of turns of good quality electrical tape; finally I wrapped all the individually isolated wires, with more turns of said electrical tape:

 

Fuel%20Pump%209%20-%20Wiring%20Transplan

 

The green stains were painted by the Junk Yard Salesgirl ... that along the sales receipt, is the way the Junk Yard People ensures that any returned part for warranty, was really purchased at their place, and was not opened, for subtracting any internal parts.

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So, after the fuel tank was clean and dry, I placed this Fuel Pump Assembly that came from the Junk Yard, on it; then the three plugs were connected and the FTPS was simply ignored; I removed its plug to avoid having unused wires hanging around that area; and I used a Zip Tie to fix the DMTL plugs in place.

Placed the metal plate cover and the seat back in their places, finally poured a gallon of fresh, high octane Gasoline... and went to start the Car.

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The very first try took a couple of turns from the Starter Motor, because the fuel system was empty and obviously, unpressurized; however, according to the Fuel Pressure meter, it pumped the Fuel way faster and developed much more pressure, more than 55 P.S.i. and also, the pressure stayed there rock solid at almost the same numbers, after the engine was shut off!

 

That happened a Week Ago, and every single time we need to start the engine, it only takes around a complete turn of the Crank to catch up, which mean Fast Startings, all of them at the very first try :brow: 

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So, the hard start issue was there due to a failing Fuel Pump and a stuck check valve.

 

Also we noticed that since the fuel pump's assembly swap, the car has much more Guts to climb uphills and it accelerates much Faster ... Now it needs only a slight touch on the gas pedal to fly away!  :burnout: 

 

Kind Regards.

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Could it be Possible that Kia placed a Blank Fuel Pump in there:confused: 

 

I mean, the old one does not have a single Letter or Number anywhere.

 

I was thinking that the Old Fuel Pump Assembly, failed due to the Age & Mileage,

 

But maybe this was an Aftermarket unit, placed by the previous Owner.

 

Maybe it failed and they placed the Cheapest Junk they could bargain for...

 

Kind Regards.

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Glad to hear that the new fuel pump assembly fixed the starting issues, that's good news :)

 

Thank you Josh, yes the "KiaStein" is now working Flawlessly, thanks to God!

 

Lil%20KiaStein.jpg

 

So, we went to test it on a small family Weekend travel, as usual to the Rural areas of Honduras, to a nice Restaurant located on a Mountain, they rents Pony horses, my li'l daughter loves 'em ... the "KiaStein" looks small among those Huge SUV's...

 

Kind Regards.

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Better Understanding the Situation

 


Want to know the reason Why, when the engine Cooled overnight, it Seemed to start normally, and only Failed at Normal operating Temperatures?

The engine's ECU has a different fuel / air mixture settings for Cold Starts, that recreates the function of the "Choke" found on Carburetors; so the engine start easier; then the ECU reset those settings back to normal, once the engine reaches normal operating temperatures.

That perfectly explains why it always started at the first try while it was Cold, then failed at Normal Operating Temperatures: That was the failing check valve's behaviour.

 

Everything has been resolved with the whole Fuel Pump's assembly change.

Kind Regards.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I did the instrument Cluster Swap on the "KiaStein" long time ago, because I wanted to have Tachometer, the thing has been working great, and recently I received a message asking about the procedure to Remove the instrument cluster, so let me share the written procedure here, maybe more users might find it, useful:

 


 

For those who needs to remove the instrument clusters, on their second gen Kia Sephia, let me explain how to do that, step by step:

Not all the Dashboard needs to be removed to gain access to the instrument cluster, but you'll need to remove the 
centerpiece, that covers the Stereo, and has the A/C vents, plus is a "Frame" for the instrument Cluster.

To remove that, FIRST you need to remove the top part of the plastic cover that wraps the Steering Column, behind the steering wheel; it comes off easily, just by pulling it up with your Hands.

Then in order to remove the Dashboard's Centerpiece, you'll need to Unscrew the two mini bolts that it has on its inner side, above the instrument cluster's opening, then said Centerpiece comes off by pulling it CAREFULLY, to avoid breaking the plastic tabs; after that, you must unplug the wirings for the switches that it has, prior to pulling that Centerpiece completely.

Once the Centerpiece has been removed, you gain access to the instrument cluster, which is held in place by four Screws, unscrew the two above and the two below, then carefully remove it, but you'll need to unplug the Three wiring plugs that it has behind, prior to take out it completely from the Dashboard. 

Be Careful while extracting the instrument cluster, otherwise you can scratch it with the Dashboard and the Steering column parts.

 

Kind Regards.

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