Kia Sephia Sporty

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Reporting from Costa Rica, once again!

 

 

Taking advantage of the nine days of vacation for Easter, we have been driving from half Honduras to Costa-Rica, through all Nicaragua; and I am very pleased to report that the "KiaStein" has behaved outstandingly, performing as a champion; despite of all the Luggage weight plus our little family on it.

The Moderators here, can attest my location, through the I.P. address.

Photos to come soon... in case someone is interested.

Kind Regards.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

According to the odometer on the "KiaStein", the complete trip across three countries and coming back, plus all the tourism we did during the last Holy Week, took 1172 miles long (including long roads where we were lost, literally).

The small (and tall) sedan has performed outstandingly; the suspension modifications are giving much better results than what I thought.

 

Here's a brief idea of the basic route that we followed:

Kind Regards.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Camber Correction Strut Mount Tops

 

 

Yes, I know that my drawing looks more like a sound equipment with a pair of Speakers ...or a Monster's face, or even like an old cassette somehow... but not; it is self-explanatory; not all the people know this and how the Camber Correction works on those Kias:

 

 

I exaggerated the proportions on my drawing with the purpose to let you understand easier how it works; same system is found in many other vehicles as well.

The Lifting Blocks that I installed, permits the use of the Camber Correction.

Prior to install the Lifting Blocks, I used to have both top mounts, with the center facing towards the fenders (outward), now with the Blocks installed, I rotated the top mounts 180º and both have the center facing the Engine (inwards), as it looks on my drawing above, to compensate the extra tallness; the alignment is within specs.

Kind Regards.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

During all these years, besides worn coil springs after sixteen years of use; the only trouble I've had with the Suspension parts of this Sephia, is not the vehicle's fault, but the crappy aftermarket parts' quality; the links for the rear Sway Bar had a bolt that pops out from its rubber base, as you can see in the following photo:

 

The simple and permanent solution to that,
is to use an Oversized Washer on each side's link:



And the thing Never pops out again. Kind Regards.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Recently I decided to change the rubber bushings from the Rear stabilizer Bar; because they became a little Noisy somehow; here I share a Photo of them, with their part number clearly shown on the Bag; which strangely, was written in Spanish:
 

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Long ago, the plastic pieces that hangs up the sun visors, got broken; so I used this electrical wiring holders, made of Metal but insulated with black rubber (found at the local Napa store), they doesn't allow the side movement, which almost never was used by us; but they looks good, fits perfectly, and works awesome.

 

 
The new metallic ones are up, while the Old plastic ones are down.

Edited May 28, 2016 by Loyale 2.7 Turbo

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

The thing works Flawlessly!

 

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Well, I've been on all the seven Central American Countries...




...Recently I did a 1172 Miles long trip to Costa-Rica, Driving the "KiaStein"...



...which performed Flawlessly for a car of its Age and Mileage.

 

Please follow the web link below to see some Photos of said trip:

 

~► http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/87725-an-open-request-to-loyale-27-turbo/page-17

 

Kind Regards.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

The "KiaStein" has a Roomy interior, despite its small exterior size

 

Even the back seat has generous space, which made our long voyage, confortable; and the Suspension improvements + Lifting I made, really improved a Lot the overall vehicle's performance at Handling; especially under heavy load conditions; no matter the kind of road of offroading that we are doing; it outperforms most of the cars on its segment and size. 

 

So, I'm glad to tell that the Suspension improvements are really a Huge Success. 

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

We came back home, Safely; thanks to God, after that 1172 miles long trip.

(photos on the link above)

The "KiaStein" is always ready to go on its Next Adventure!

Kind Regards.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Well, after Decades (Literally) of using only Mineral 20W~50 motor oil on the EA82 engine of my beloved Subaru "BumbleBeast", I decided to try Synthetic on same number, with Valvoline's High Mileage motor oil, a couple of years ago; Also I went synthetic 15W~40 on the T8D engine of my Wife's car, the "KiaStein"; and both cars suddenly developed an oil Leakage; due to the extra detergents on the Synthetic oil, that removes age old varnish deposits that -somehow- helps the Seals to do their Job.

 

The Leakage on both cars, requires an engine reseal; but due to the Lack of time / money \ spare parts (for the Subie), I only kept refilling the oil as necessary, while I could do the Job; however the Leakage on the Subie is pretty small; maybe because I've used Motor Flushes on its engine, every two or three years; but the Kia's leakage became worse each month; leaking from the rear main seal, where the engine mates to the automatic Transmission.

 

The Kia's leakage went to the point of requiring half quart of oil, weekly, leaving an awful mark on the pavement where it is parked daily... and prior to the recently past Holy Week, I finished to install a Lift Kit that I designed and made, on my Wife's car, and she refused to drive it, until it will be fully Tested, I did many test on it, but didn't suffice to fully convince her, somehow.

 

So, I decided to use the nine days of Vacation from said Holy Week, to do a Trip across three countries of Central America, with my family (Photos here), Testing the Lifted "KiaStein" on the Road, with them; I was completely confident that the small Lift I did, kept the Car's alignment and suspension geometry under Specs, keeping its Handling Behaviour; so I convinced them to do this Trip; however, the Oil Leakage was worrying me, and I we were running out of Time to fix it properly, prior to the Trip...

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

I've never believed too much on oil additives, designed to Stop Leaks on engines; almost all of them have failed, except the QMi but for Manual Transmissions, which still, after many years, has stopped the seals on my Subie's trans, from continuing leaking, somehow.

 

But I needed a fast and reliable solution, to avoid leaking too much motor oil during the above mentioned Trip; so I asked some of my Friends who are old Local Mechanics with vast experience, and two of them told me wonderful stories about a German product, called: "Motor Oil Saver" which is sold in Honduras under two different brands from the same makers; Lubro-Moly and Liqui-Moly:

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

 

Since I was running out of time; I chose to Try one can of this Product on the T8D engine

 

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

The thing isn't "Magical" for sure, the leakage continued identically for the first two days of the trip; then it started to decrease in a notably way, to the point that by the end of the 1172 miles long trip; the car almost stopped leaking; it only needs a couple of ounces of motor oil, weekly... Far different from the Half Quart it was leaking weekly, prior to this Treatment.

 

However, I changed the motor oil on the car, and poured fresh 15W~40 Valvoline's high mileage synthetic motor oil, without using any more of that treatment, and despite that the "Motor Oil Saver" treatment only stayed for 1172 miles, the car continues to Not drip oil on the Floor, and is only using two ounces of oil per week.

 

So, this Product is really Outstanding, at least in my own experience, which I decided to share here, in order to Help other drivers that might be in need of this kind of Help. I know I will need to do the seals job in the Future, but I'll do that untill the Leakage becomes worse.

 

For now, it seems to be almost not leaking a drop, and keeps like that without further use of the additive. As ancient chinese wisdom says: "Do not fix what is not broken" ... I'll keep the things going like that, as long as possible.

 

My wife drives her lifted car, fully confident now.

 

Kind Regards.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

The only other thing I did, prior that trip, was to use a full can of

 

"SeaFoam Spray" Treatment, on the "KiaStein" to clean the upper engine

 

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

The use of Seafoam spray on a Regular EFi engine, will clean up the excess of carbon Deposits, gum, varnish and other sludge buildup, from the upper engine and combustion chambers; while lubricates in the Process.

 

I did that, because the "KiaStein" has a problem with a Phantom P-0128 code on the ECU, that makes the ECU to think that the engine is running cooler than it should, making too much Carbon Deposits and if you let it idle for prolongated times, regularly, it will foul the Sparkplugs. 

 

The excess amount of carbon deposits had made a small but noticeable "Flat Spot" on the early acceleration of the T8D engine; when moving from a fully stop at idle, the car was making more noise than movement from idle speed to past 1400 RPM's; so this procedure was Necessary.

The results: No more rough idle, faster acceleration without flat spots, noticeably mainly while starting to move the car from low RPM's by recovering the low end torque; improved fuel consumption and less contamination; besides elongating the engine's lifespan. Search further information online. 

The total time to do this Cleansing, is around Half Hour, and the "KiaStein" really feels more peppy than before.   

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

The Phantom P-0128 Code and its Real fix ☼
 

 
During all these years and thousands of miles with the "KiaStein" on the Family, I've noticed that the "Check Engine" light on the instrument cluster, randomly comes On and Goes Off without any apparent reason.

I've used my Scanner to check the Codes via the OBDII system, and the results always points to a bad reading of the Engine's coolant Temperature, giving the Phantom code P-0128 which means that the ECU believes that the Temperature on the engine is Below where it should be; however replacing the Sensor never changed a thing, nor changing thermostats.

You must be aware that the Earlier versions of the T8D engine, had Two different temperature sensors, one for the Gauge at the instrument cluster, the other for the ECU, while newer versions of same engine, only shares One sensor for both functions, see:
 

 

Single Coolant Temperature Sensor, Setup:




Dual Coolant Temperature Sensors, Setup:

 

 

Also I found lots of information regarding such code, online; this is an example:

 

KMA has since received reports of DTC P-0128. they found the production start dates change the thermostats, interchangability codes (ITC) and the ECM and thermostat "set" part numbers. Previous information in the 2001 parts catalog may have caused inadvertant use of incorrect parts.

ok here goes.

1. Determine if the vehicle falls in the production date range for THERMOSTAT MONITORING. Vehicles built before 09/18/00 (4DR) or built before 10/02/00(2DR) were NOT equipped with thermostat monitoring. If you have a Kia with a P-0128 code built before those dates wrong parts may have been installed. Rather then chasing the other codes it will generate, first check the following.

2. Check installed thermostat and P/N. Vehicles built before 06/17/00 it should be equipped with thermostat P/N OK9FC15 171, KE5D3 15 171, or 0k01C 15 17Y. Vehicles built AFTER 06/17/00 should use P/N 0K013 15 171 or set P/N 0k01C 1517Y.
The earlier ones are distinguished by a secondary thermostatic valve on them, the newer ones have a little rivit floating in a hole on them, also the newer one is a 195 degree thermostat.

3. Check the Engine Control Module P/N on label on module. The P/N for the ECM without Thermostat Monitoring is: OK07A 18 1881 for both the 2dr and 4dr models. The P/N for ECM's with Thermostat Monitoring are: 39100 3X100 (4dr) and OK07A 18 1881A(2dr). use the right set with the right ECM. This is why the P0128 code pops up.

so you have to have the right thermostat with the right engine module. I also changed the intake air monitor sensor. Be sure to use a new gasket, as the gasket material also changed from paper to a rubber/paper type , add a little Permatex blue gel. seems to working now.

theres more;

The intake Air temperature rationality check (we all need one of those don't we) monitors the sensors circuit as well as informs the ECM weather the signal matches the expected value or range for the circumstances. For example if the IAT signal reads extremely high or low, the ECM would conclude that the signal is incorrect and would store a DTC PO111. The ECM can also determine the faulty sensor by comparing the IAT sensor signal to changes in coolant temperature over a certain period of time.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

In my personal case, our "KiaStein" which is a 2000 Sephia that runs with a 2003 Spectra engine and has only one temperature sensor; the Check Engine light comes and goes randomly due to that Temperature being reported as Below specs; since we acquired this car, used; (same behaviour with older engine) and the OBDII shows that infamous P-0128 code. However, the temperature gauge at the instrument cluster, shows a completely normal temperature behaviour, on all circumstances.
 
Despite of having everything great on the cooling system, and despite of trying with different thermostats from 170º F passing to 180 Fº and up to 195 Fº, the check engine light randomly came On and went Off; sometimes it went away for a whole month, sometimes it stayed like forever, and suddenly went Off for a week... and so on... there are days where it goes Off in the morning, and comes back On on the night of the same day.
 
I never liked the idea of having a Thermostat that has an increased temperature than the Thermoswitch on the Radiator; the downsides of using an increased temperature Thermostat, are:
 
► The radiator's Main Fan could be "On" for more time, because the Thermostat's Temperature will not match the Thermoswitch's Temperature.
 
► The engine will keep working Hotter for prolongated periods, wich has its downsides, you know.
 
What I did (Which I do Not recommend) is to completely Remove the Thermostat for testing purposes.
 
I removed the Thermostat long years ago because here at the Caribbean Never snows; and I've noticed three things:
 
1) The same faulty code / same check engine light Behaviour persists identically. With or Without the Thermostat there are absolutely No changes at all.
 
2) The engine only needs five more minutes on early mornings, to reach its normal operating temperatures, and the Temp needle on the instrument cluster, stays rock solid where it should be during all day long; if the car gets parked for three hours then restarted, it only takes a couple of minutes to be back at normal operating temperatues again. Also it doesn't matter if it is driven on a Hot day on horrid traffic jams, or on freeways at high speeds on Cold days; with or without A/C, the temperature stays where it should be. Never goes too low nor too high... only goes an hair low with A/C during long downhills on cold rainy days... but still the temperature is good.
 
3) Since the car behaves identically with the standard Thermostat, the Higher temperature thermostat and without thermostat at all; I decided to leave it Without Thermostat since long years ago; the Check Engine Lights still comes and goes Randomly, always on same Temperature code, P-0128.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Finally, the issue was addressed by Kia, due to the repeated P-0128 "unfixable code" problem, reported on many second gen Sephias and first gen Spectras that shares the T8D engine and its ECU management.

The issue was addressed in the "Tech Times" section of the www.kiatechinfo.com website long time ago; But instead of a TSB or a regular recall, it was covered as a Newsletter article; however I have the number of the Document:

 

KT2005022826

 

 

The Kia Document KT2005022826 covers that temperature / code P-0128 issue, addressing the problem; and the solution they found is pretty simple: the fix was listed as a Flash of the car's ECM in order to load revised thermostat monitoring logic. That's it.

So, a simple Update of the ECU's software should solve this issue, permanently.   

I already asked for that ECU software update to the personnel at the local Kia dealer, I am still waiting for an answer from them; however during all this years I simply didn't care for the annoying check engine light that comes to visit and goes unexpectedly, like a boring visitor; because I know that nothing very harmful is going on...

But there are Two bad Consequences of having this P-0128 Phantom code issue, keep reading ...  ...

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Consequences of not fixing the P-0128 Phantom Code
 
 

Since the ECU believes that the engine has not reached its normal operating temperature, the Fuel / Air mixture is adjusted improperly almost all the time when the Check Engine light is lit due to this Code; which gives the first consequence: 
 
► Unnecessary waste of Fuel, due to the increased fuel usage; you'll notice it mainly if you drive frequently on Stop and Go traffic jam conditions; your small, four cylinder Kia will become a Gas Guzzler, and your fuel usage will be closer to a V6 or even a V8 car on same circumstances.
 
The Second consequence is directly derivated from that first one: 
 
► Too much carbon deposits on the combustion chamber; you'll notice that when you pull the Sparkplugs, and they comes pretty badly fouled...

 

(That's the reason why I did the Seafoam spray cleansing procedure, shown in the Video above)
 
The waste of fuel and the excess of carbon deposits on combustion chambers, have their own downsides, like damaged catalytic converters, hot spots on said chambers, oxygen sensors getting worn faster... etc.
 
So, I kindly suggest to all owners of the second gen Sephias and first gen Spectras, that are affected with this issue, to take their cars to their local Kia dealers, in order to get the ECM flashed and the necessary updates loaded, before throwing dollars on the money pit of different thermostats, thermoswitches and temperature sensors, unnecessarily.

 
I hope that you'll find this information, Useful. Kind Regards.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

In another subject, today I received a cellphone message, from my Wife:

 

She said: "Seems like I was speeding on the Highway"

 

I replied: Really? ... ... How much?

 

She replied: "Around 135, maybe a little more"

 

I replied: Say What?   !!!

 

Then, She sent me this Photo, on a message:

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

She scared me ... ... then, she replied again: 
 
"Seems like the Speedometer is reading triply Faster than the actual speed.
 
See you in the Evening"

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

As you might have read on previous posts of this Thread:

 

 

... I Went to the Local Kia Dealer and purchased a brand new...



... Vehicle Speed Sensor ...

 

I Changed the VSS on mid 2012.

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Also, the whole instrument Cluster was changed as well:

 

 

... Here you can see How Both instrument Clusters Looked Together: 

 

  
The Speedometer's New Design is Less Crowded than the Older one!
  

...