Kia Picanto problem.

[L.S.D.]

I recently bought an 05 Kia Picanto 1.1. I have driven around 200 miles with no problem, however I had to accelerate fast for about 4 seconds & after that the 'Engine' light lit up on the dash. The engine seemed to lose some power & once I got home it was running lumpy, almost as if it was running on 3 cylinders & the exhaust was 'puffy' & not smooth. The Kia book says something to do with a cataleptic converter problem. However the next morning all was well & I have driven it about 15 miles without any problems. I'm sure it is something that needs sorting out, any ideas what it may be? Thanks for any help.

[chris175]

If the "engine" light came on there will be a fault code stored in the ECU, which will point you in the right direction. To get this read you'll need to either pay a garage to do it, or find someone friendly who has a reader who can do it for you.

If the engine light is now off again and the car is running fine i would honestly be tempted to leave it and put it down as a 1 off. Modern engines have all sorts of sensors all over the place and it can only take 1 to read out of spec for a few seconds to throw the entire system.

If however it starts not running right again, get it in for diagnostics asap otherwise further damage and expense can occur.

[Outpost]

One of my cars kicked itself into so called 'limp home mode' once - it detected a problem and basically shut off the engine's turbo and was running extremely roughly with the engine management light on. Left it a day or two and it was fine.

[blue_monkey]

Our Kia Rio did the exact same when the oil needed changing. Oops. I remember we was on our way to the Renault Free Day that they were doing at Silverstone when it happened.

When was the last time it was serviced? Sometimes people do not bother once the warranty time is up and for us, it was 2 years since the last service when it started running like a slug and the light came on. An oil change sorted everything out and the engine management light went out on it's own and we did not have a problem with it again.

[L.S.D.]

Thanks chris175, outpost & blue_monkey. I will run it longer & see what happens. It had a service & an oil + filter change recently by a main dealer.

[L.S.D.]

The Kia ran for 9 days & around 200 miles. Mostly short journeys a couple of 20 mile journeys then it started running lumpy again. The engine light didn't come on until 5 minutes after it started running lumpy. I suppose it's time for a diagnostic test?
I wanted to take a look at the spark plugs but it looks like you need a special socket to get at them?

[sillygoose]

Originally Posted by L.S.D.

The Kia ran for 9 days & around 200 miles. Mostly short journeys a couple of 20 mile journeys then it started running lumpy again. The engine light didn't come on until 5 minutes after it started running lumpy. I suppose it's time for a diagnostic test?
I wanted to take a look at the spark plugs but it looks like you need a special socket to get at them?

Very likely the catalytic converter with that driving pattern, it needs a weekly run at sustained speed/revs, long enough for the computer to decide its a suitable journey, make the engine run hotter, burn off the waste build up in the converter with the hotter gases then ease off.

Your pattern is probably not letting it complete a cycle so it gives an error. The expensive catalytic could be damaged if this goes on.

I know its not very moneysaving, but in some cases people need to do specific journeys just to achieve this if their normal driving pattern doesn't cover it. Thats why many people hate them, it can seem crazy on a city car!!!

Try to weekly do a journey that after a while on the road ends on quiet dual carriage way, do say 50 but avoid 6th if you have one, use 5th or 4th so the revs sit steady above halfway or into top 3rd of the rev counter. Try to keep this up for at least 15 minutes (do a few loops up and down if needed)

A 20 minute blast on the motorway should do it too, can you route a regular trip to go long way round via a motorway?

[atrixblue.-MFR-.]

Originally Posted by sillygoose

Very likely the catalytic converter with that driving pattern, it needs a weekly run at sustained speed/revs, long enough for the computer to decide its a suitable journey, make the engine run hotter, burn off the waste build up in the converter with the hotter gases then ease off.

Your pattern is probably not letting it complete a cycle so it gives an error. The expensive catalytic could be damaged if this goes on.

I know its not very moneysaving, but in some cases people need to do specific journeys just to achieve this if their normal driving pattern doesn't cover it. Thats why many people hate them, it can seem crazy on a city car!!!

Try to weekly do a journey that after a while on the road ends on quiet dual carriage way, do say 50 but avoid 6th if you have one, use 5th or 4th so the revs sit steady above halfway or into top 3rd of the rev counter. Try to keep this up for at least 15 minutes (do a few loops up and down if needed)

A 20 minute blast on the motorway should do it too, can you route a regular trip to go long way round via a motorway?

15 mins at 50 on the duals is quite impossible, he need to have the fault read if its the cat a "simulated burn" would be the first thing i'd try on rolling road attched the their machine.

diy burn offs can cause frustration to other road users (50 in a possible 70 zone!) he would have to factor in congestion roundabouts and also the OP would not know if the cycle has completed where dont in simulation at a garage their machine will tell them when its done.

[sysiphus]

dad's 55 plate 1.1 picanto had same problem -Local garage charged £20 to diagnose - cause: lambda sensors.
Sourced 2 Bosch replacements at £80 each delivered from euro car parts. You can get non branded ones at £30 each from eBay. Elsewhere they seem to be over £100 each.

I think the lumpy running is caused by the emu trying to fix the fuel air and exhaust gas (imbalances?) being reported by faulty sensors.

I'm not saying that this is def the problem, however the symptoms are identical.

Good luck

[L.S.D.]

Thanks Silly Goose,atrixblue,-MFR & Sysiphus.

Had it checked & it said there is a problem on Cylinders 1 or 2. Short story, changed points put in Injector cleaner ran it for 50 klm & the light went out. So far touch wood it has been OK for the last 2 days.

[L.S.D.]

Well just after posting the last message, back came the problem. Since then it has run lumpy then stopped running lumpy, had the light on then the light goes off & all is well again. The mechanic says the last thing to do is to put on a coil pack. He says that generally you should replace both coil packs. Is this so? what would happen if only the problem coil pack was replaced. I am in Spain at the moment & the car will stay in Spain. In the UK a Coil pack after a brief search is around £78-00, however in Spain they are about €110-00, so quite a bit more, especially for 2. Having said that I just want it sorted once & for all. Any more help welcomed.

Edit the mechanic replaced the HT lead to the number one cylinder just in case it is that, but would still like to know if I can replace one coil pack only, just in case.

[rodenal]

Don't go replacing bits of the car without proper diagnostics - if a fault reader says coil pack then fair enough buy one and plug it in. Personally I wouldn't be buying more than one, just replace the faulty unit, if you can't identify which one is at fault just swap the new one in starting from left to right until your issue disappears.

[Horizon81]

Ask him what the code is. Not P0420 by any chance is it?

[L.S.D.]

The fault diagnosis said cylinder number 1. We are using a mechanic over here & he seems to be very good & fair, however it seems it is a process of elimination. We replaced the plugs first, then put injector fluid in, then replaced the HT lead. All these worked for a few days but the problem came back. If we disconnect the battery it resets the computer & it works perfectly until the engine light comes back on. The engine light has also gone off on it's own & the engine has returned to normal a couple of times. When the engine is working it really is good & sounds good. NOW the next problem....
...we went to the Kia dealer to buy the coil packs, long story short the guy from the dealership took us to the service dept & our car was put on the diagnosis machine. This came up cylinder number 1, however the guy thought first it was injector then he said it may be a screw lose that could cause the crankshaft to !!!! up the piston & said it would cost a lot to put right ie anything from €400-00 to €2000-00. This seemed to be the same as a problem on this site here so at the moment we are not sure what to do. We went back to our local mechanic & he thinks it is not the crankshaft as when the engine runs with no light it runs well.

[vax2002]

It needs to be run on a live scan, taken for a spin whilst on obdii diagnostics and catch the first code, they throw several once it starts, does sound like the Lambada sensor, usually its the wiring that overheats on them

[L.S.D.]

Originally Posted by vax2002

It needs to be run on a live scan, taken for a spin whilst on obdii diagnostics and catch the first code, they throw several once it starts, does sound like the Lambada sensor, usually its the wiring that overheats on them

I know the guy at the Kia garage had some meter wired to under the drivers side LHD whilst it was running, he also had the electronic computer also wired to the car & whilst it was running did tests. I mentioned what was said to my mechanic & he thought about it over night & took advice & checked the pulley bolt etc & all was fine. So hopefully it is either a coil pack or the sensor. He thinks it is a coil pack so one should be fitted tomorrow, fingers crossed.

[Strider590]

Originally Posted by L.S.D.

...we went to the Kia dealer to buy the coil packs, long story short the guy from the dealership took us to the service dept & our car was put on the diagnosis machine. This came up cylinder number 1, however the guy thought first it was injector then he said it may be a screw lose that could cause the crankshaft to !!!! up the piston & said it would cost a lot to put right ie anything from €400-00 to €2000-00.

Never trust a monkey with a laptop.

[L.S.D.]

We fitted a new Coil Pack. This cured the problem but only after a 20 mile run in the car????? Everything was fine for just over 2 weeks then.....

I went to drive the car one day & when I released the clutch peddle nothing seemed to happen (as though there was no pressure & the peddle was loose). I pushed the peddle down again and slowly released it (loose again) and after it was almost out there was a big jolt (I guess the clutch had stuck & suddenly released). This immediately put the Engine Management Light back on & the car into 'get home mode'. Although this seemed like 3 cylinders again it was not as bad as before, but still not good. We took the car on a 20 mile run the EML went out & the car ran better but next day Both the bad running & the EML were back. Unfortunately we had to come back to the UK that day so that's how it's left. The clutch was replaced in the UK just before we had the car shipped over to Spain. Questions going round in my head. Is the car now OK but this clutch problem has upset the EML for now or do I have the problem back?

[L.S.D.]

Still have the Engine light problem. We have put injector fluid into the petrol, fitted a new coil pack, fitted a number one injector, fitted new spark plugs & HT leads. The mechanic has run out of ideas. We have not changed the Lambda sensor, mainly as the mechanic says the diagnostic points to the number one cylinder. Could the lambda sensor show up as a number one cylinder problem? If you think it is the lambda sensor, there seem to be two. One pre cat & one after cat. Which one might it be? Any ideas, as this is driving us crazy?

[forgotmyname]

Had any flat batteries or car starting a bit slowly? FIL had a Rio 2006 had the engine light on and off for a while
fault code pointed to a coil pack issue, 2 coil packs on his.

Had the code cleared and said he will need to book it in later, Next day the battery was dead, He thought this
was because it was winter and the car would sit for days unused.

New battery and the engine light has not come back on since. Must have been a voltage issue causing the one
coil pack to misfire slightly.

Dodgy cell in the battery, It would hold charge fine then suddenly the voltage would drop rapidly.