Hello all,
I hope I am posting this in the correct place. This is a repair/maintenance question I hope someone will be able to answer. First off, I have a 2013 Kia Forte EX sedan. I bought the car from one previous (leased) owner and it had 52,800 miles then. I’ve had the car for two years now and my odometer is at 89,650, I drive a lot. Throughout the past two years, I have not had any major issues with the vehicle. I’ve been super strict with timely oil and filter changes, fluids, tire balancing/rotations, and other general maintenance. Yet, there are two issues that keep occurring in what seems like every few months that can’t keep the car out of the mechanic. Over a year ago, my passenger sway bar link (front) busted and I had it repaired. Six months or so later, my driver side front link went out, and I fixed it. Then, last month, I noticed the same clunking noise I was all too familiar with when I was at residential speed over small bumps and crevices in the road, which sounds exactly like a broken link. My mechanic, however, inspected my suspension once I told him and said all four front and back links were intact and the overall suspension was in good shape. Yet, that noise sounds very familiar. Should I get another opinion?
My second recurring issue which is driving me up the walls is the serpentine belt. I had it replaced once at around 65000 miles (which would be standard maintenance, no big deal), but then around 10-15,000 miles later, it started squeaking again, and I replaced it once more. 5,000 more miles after that, I again heard the noise, and my mechanic tried replacing the belt with a new OEM Kia belt the car originally had instead of dayco. It worked great, until I got out of work today and started the car, when I was greeted with the same old squeaking. It seems to occur only on cold startups and goes away after 2-5 minutes of driving.
My mechanic inspected the idler pulley and tensioner, and said they did not need replacement. Yet, there is no reason an 800 mile old belt should be bad yet again.
I do love this car, but these two issues have been driving me crazy. I can’t seem to lock them down for good. I apologize for the super long post, but if anyone bothers to read the whole thing, I would be in great gratitude for advice.
thank you!
That would seem to suggest a problem with the bearings in an idler pulley. At this point, I think you should question the expertise of your mechanic, but my suggestion is that you ask him to look at the idler pulleys before he needlessly replaces the belt again.
No issues with 80k bearings? Describe inspection? He looked at it? He removed SERP belt and spun bearing? A pulley/bearing is $25. Replace the idler and tensioner wheels. And tensioner assy if you feel bold. Since it keeps tension on belt and greatly affects noise issues.
Tell the mechanic to use his chassis ears and engine ears
He needs to stop guessing
If he doesn’t know what that is, find another mechanic
Both chassis ears and engine ears have come in handy . . . for me, anyways . . . many times over the years
There are many components driven by that serp belt. Any one of them could have excessive drag or wobble, or not have its pulley in the same plane as all the others.