working on a friends kia soul because it is out of warrantee and they cant afford a $5000 bill. The number three cylinder rod bearing spun. the crankshaft and rod is ruined. all other bearings and journals are so good that I can still read the bearing code letters on the bearings. I am guessing the oil didn’t have enough pressure to reach the #3 connecting rod journal. The oil level was not low. What could have caused this?
• Power Train Coverage
For Original Owners (defined below), the Power
Train Limited Warranty begins upon expiration of the
60 month/60,000 mile Basic Limited Warranty
Coverage, and will continue to cover the following
components up to 120 months or 100,000 miles from
the Date of First Service, whichever comes first. It
does not cover normal wear and tear, maintenance, or
those items excluded elsewhere in this manual. See
“Exceptions” and “What is Not Covered.”
The items covered by the Power Train Limited
Warranty include:
- In the Engine: Cylinder block, cylinder head and
all internal parts, timing gear, seals and gaskets,
valve cover, flywheel, oil pump, water pump and
turbo charger. - In the Transaxle: Transmission case and all
internal parts, torque converter, drive shafts,
universal joints, front hubs, bearings, seals and
gaskets. - In the Axles: Axle shafts and C-V joints
New Vehicle Limited Warranty
(couplings), seals, hub and wheel bearings. - In the Transmission: Transmission case, transfer
case, torque converter and all internal parts, seals,
and gaskets. - In the Differentials: Front and rear differential
assemblies, cases, all internal parts, seals and
gaskets. - In the Propeller Shafts: Drive shafts, universal
joints.
• Original Owner
An Original Owner is defined as the first retail
purchaser or lessee of the Kia Vehicle who takes
delivery of the Kia Vehicle on its Date of First
Service. If the Kia Vehicle was first placed in service
as a lease vehicle, and the lessee purchases the
vehicle at the end of the lease, the 120
month/100,000 mile Power Train Limited Warranty
remains in effect.
The owner is the second owner. I believe the second owner warrantee drops to a 60 month 60000 mi. for power train. the owner has 70000 mi. on the odometer.
1 Like
Kia has had a lot of problems with there engines. there have been recalls and class action lawsuits.
I found this but it is only up to 2016 but maybe the 2017 needed the software update too. I am sure there will be a recall for the one your working on at some point but that does not help you now. sorry. they should call corporate and complain and see what happens. and save all bills for future in case of a recall. maybe they can get money they lay out back.
1 Like
Thanks for your research and information. I greatly appreciate it. Yes I will be saving the reciepts for parts and hope there is a recall.
Just because the oil level is not low does not mean that the oil pressure is good.
How have you determined the other 3 are good? Eyeball method does not mean that much and the bearing shell stamps are on the side of the bearing that does not see wear. A spun bearing takes out both sides.
I do not know the oil clearance spec for this car but it’s generally around .002ish. If wear takes it to say .010 then brute force can make a bearing change its allegiance…
There is the possibility of the oil feed on that crank journal being sludged up and restricting the oil flow whereas the others may not be that bad. Generally speaking, when warranty steps in they want to see maintenance records of any and all oil changes.
The bearing code letters I was referring to are on the face of the bearings, Not the shell, indicating the bearings had very little wear. I don’t believe the owner can get warranty work due to being the second owner and it is 10000 miles out of warranty. I’m thinking that the only way to get any assistance from the manufacturer a recall.
I will be going through the oil passages to determine if there is a blockage. Thanks for your input.
Was the oil and filter changed according to the manufacturer’s recommendations? Was the oil pressure ever assessed? Was the vehicle driven like normal work-a-day car, and not a hot rod? If all that’s good, even a well maintained, gently driven engine can have a bearing failure due to problems that occurred back when it was manufactured. Perhaps a sliver of steel from the machining process got stuck in an oil passage. Or the original bearing didn’t have the correct amount of oil-clearance.
Ok, I have a story … lol … I worked in a high tech company, and one time one of our products failed in the field, for no apparent reason. About the size of a big refrigerator. Nobody in the field service dept could figure it out. It was an important customer, so the company CEO sent 3 engineers to assess the problem. Several days of working, they discovered a sliver of solder had gotten underneath a connector where it was invisible, and with the shaking of moving the equipment around, it shorted out two of the pins.
Which engine? 1.6? 1.6 Turbo? 2.0?
The engine is a 2.0 nu. It is a great feeling when you figure out the cause of a problem and, once corrected, it never occurs again. the car was never driven as a hot rod. It was used back and forth to work(35-40mi), errand running, and for a few trips across country. Around a thousand miles at a time. I do not know about the oil changes or pressure. I’m just going on what I see in the disassembled engine. Would love to post pictures to show the crankshaft main and rod journals. all except one are beautiful. a blockage to the bad journal would explain it. however i haven’t found it.
My guess the blockage material was let free when the bearing cap was taken off.
One of the narrowest oil passages is right there where the journal ends at the bearing.
Kia has issued a TSB regarding excessive oil consumption on the 2.0L (non-turbo) engine apparently, and the importance of following the recommended change intervals, and maintaining the proper engine oil level; probably not from what you say, but still worth a read. Suggest to Google Kia tsb ENG 222. Do you notice sludge formations when you remove the valve cover?
