Hi,
2012 Kia sorento crdi 4 cyl diesel 2.2L, 6 speed automatic.
The car has odometer 519,000 KM on it and is used primarily for UBER.
The car has minor kick when shifting from gear 5 to gear 6, and when dropping gears from 3 to 1.
There is minor slipping when shifting while driving up steep hills or especially when car is loaded.
There is also a minor rattle noise when decelerating from gear 5 to 4 (in automatic mode) when decelerating from 65km/hour speed.
Earlier i suspected the issue could be a torque converter problem. Recently i had a gearbox specialist do an inspection, and they were unable to find any rattle noise or fault codes with gearbox torque converter. However, they told me that the transmission is 'Flaring' on gear 6 from 5 shifting - and they believe it is caused by Transmission Valve Body assembly having minor wear and tear.
The KIA car dealer refused to diagnose the problem unless i pay them $560 to $900. They were also proposing to remove whole gearbox during the diagnosis to tell me what could be causing the problem. I got angry and refused to take the car to them.
Symptoms list:
1. There is kick/or bang when shifting from 5th gear to 6th unless i put moderate-to-hard acceleration while doing it
2. Putting gear on Reverse also causes hard shifting/or kick/or bang. When putting gear to Drive mode, it is smooth with no hard shifting or kick
3. When driving down or up steep hills, there is minor reluctance in shifting gears. There is also the hard down shifting that can be felt.
4. Minor slipping when car is under load, especially when climbing up hills
5. Rattle noise when decelerating from 65 km/h, or from gear 5 to gear 4 or 3 (in automatic mode)
Gearbox has been serviced every 20,000 km to 30,000 km.
I am based in Canberra, Australia.
There is no fault codes for any symptoms mentioned above. And I don't want to blindly go shopping for parts and realize it's not the problem.
What could be the problem?
Can i get a remanufactured valve body assembly?
Brand new valve body cost $1500.
Remanufactured valve body cost between $400 to $800 - shipped from Florida and other listing from China. (Ebay)
Dealership quote minimum $2,200 for parts, and between 1 to 4 months wait time.
Mechanic labor approximately $720.
What are your thoughts and what do you suggest?
The car has odometer 519,000 KM on it
I think the transmission is done. Finito. Amazing it lasted this long.
Putting a new $2000 valve body on an old worn out transmission would be monumental waste of money. The rest of it could fall apart the next day.
What are your thoughts and what do you suggest?
WHEN your current transmission eventually fails,
Get a used transmission on warranty from a junkyard.
If you want to reduce symptoms, reset the adaptations and perform the learning procedure.
To perform adaptation, shift from N to D and back waiting (in each gear!) at 5 seconds, do this for 5 times. Afterwards, accelerate slowly at a 15%-20% throttle opening until if shifts through all gears, and then let it coast down, repeat 5 times. Afterwards, stop, turn off the car, turn it back on and now it should have adapted to wear.
This can also worsen them if your transmission is far gone.
Can i get a remanufactured valve body assembly?
No at that millage, don't bother with this transmission - get used, warrantied, from a junkyard.
practically a miracle in a Kia
I Remember OP, he actually has 330,000 km on his transmission. (200k miles)
Given that it's a diesel, it's not much of a miracle.
A lot of these Kia Euro-Diesels are used by military / police / border patrol and I've seen these at auction with 150k-200k miles all with the original engine and most with the original transmission and still shift reasonably well.
Hyundai's 6 speed is decently durable, as in slow soft shifts on models made before 2017, later ones have annoying software that locks up the torque convertor at any speed above 5mph (still durable, just not slow or seamless)
You could try Lucas but I'm doubtful if it will help
Transmission is toast. I think in real miles that's something like 340,000. That's a pretty good run for any automatic transmission and practically a miracle in a Kia. Probably time to start looking for a replacement vehicle before the trans in this one gives out entirely.
