I have a 2002 Kia Sportage 4WD. It runs great from fall thru winter and spring. But when summer comes and the ambient temp gets into the 80’s it will run good for @ 5 to 10 miles then crap out. Sometimes it seems like it’s starving for fuel but others its more of a missfire like electrical. I’ve replaced the fuel pressure regulator, the intake air temp sensor and even the catalytic converter. Spring is coming soon and I really like this car. Can anyone help?
“I’ve replaced the fuel pressure regulator, the intake air temp sensor and even the catalytic converter.”
None of those parts would cause the symptoms you’re seeing.
Changing parts based on guesswork can get expensive.
I’m thinking an electrical part is failing when it gets hot.
Main suspects are ignition module (ignitor), ignition coil & crank position sensor.
A heat gun or blow dryer can be a useful diagnostic tool.
Heat those parts an see what happens.
Thanks. I’ll try the blow dryer. Never would have thought of that.
Has there been a check engine light on? Either way, put a scanner on it to look for error codes. If you come up with any you post them - the exact code(s) like “P0123”
When it “craps out” does it restart right away? If not, what does it do? And how long is it before it will restart?
If it won’t restart right away then you have an opportunity to narrow the problem down - because you can get a simple spark tester and find out if you’ve lost spark. And you can use some starting fluid to find out if you’ve lost fuel (if the starter fluid gets a little life out of it then you can infer a fuel issue).
Good comments above. It could also be the mixture is too rich. That would be consistent with it being ok when it is cold, but running poorly when it is hot. If you are getting worse mpg’s than you’d expect to get, consider that as a cause too. Most scan tools have a code for “rich operation is detected”.