Scotty
I recently bought a Kia Sorento and the engine shuts off when you stop and wait at traffic lights. To save the battery the heater blower shuts off too. It's 19 degrees out today so I called the dealer and asked if this feature could be disabled. They said no it can't. It violates NTSB EPA guidelines. 2 questions. 1. Does this ware out starters? 2. Is this where cars are all cars are headed?
Well crappy cars like Kia are headed that way.take Toyota they have cars that will shut themselves off at stop light but even the air conditioning will continue to run because the electronics are better than the garbage that kia is making
Just don't tell my wife. {black}:smile:
Scotty answered this question in a recent video. I must say he addressed in an a very sober and professional manor. His conclusion was there was something wrong and I should address it with the dealer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5-4gYRQAdA
What I found amusing were the stills that flashed while he addressed my issue. There was a picture of a Kia wrecked in a junkyard, A picture of a car frozen in a block of ice, a Canadian camping in his underwear and to top it all off a still from the movie "The Shining" with Jack Nicholson dead frozen in the snow. There's a perspective for ya! I was laughing hysterically. Keep up the good work! Oh yea my wife heard me laughing so now she knows.
Sorento with a start-stop system is surely something new. Make sure you have a good car battery and motor oil in it.
The car is one month old. While I have checked the oil and battery they are all brand new. The heater blower turning off is software. I have learned start/stop technology has been around a couple of years. It's required in the EU. Kia has not thought every thing through obviously. I am on my third Hyundai/Kia. Bought my first in 2008. Got 200K out of all of them. Think I changed one starter in all those years. This was $20K less than the closest stripped down Toyota. I can do a lot with $20k.
Oh, I see. Didn't know it's mandatory now. 🙁
I wonder if there's a way to modify the ECU firmware to disable this system. I know that it's possible to modify it on eastern European and Russian versions of Hyundai/Kia vehicles to restore the engine power H/K reduces to fit in lower tier of car tax here, so maybe it's possible too.
Cars now have to meet minimum mileage per gallon requirements depending on vehicle weight. That's why there is no V6's in the Sorento's any more. They needed a little more to get them over the threshold so they have the engines shut off when the car is not moving. There is a button to defeat this but it resets every time you use the car. The car monitors outdoor temperature. I can't see any reason why the heat could keep running when the temperature is below freezing.
You can disable this feature by removing the console cover, removing the circuit board and pushing the A button down, use some aggressive sitcky tape to hold the button in the down position. Put it back together. You won't have to push the A button ever again. Auto start/stop will be shut off.
While I like to tinker I don't know whether doing that will jeopardize my warranty. In addition this is a snap together car with lots of these "use once" plastic fasteners. I downloaded the procedure to remove some trim by the back seat and with the tool they recommended at the points they specified I attempted to pry up this trim piece. I shattered into a million little shards. I am reasonably mechanically savy but I am a little gun shy especially when it comes to the center console. I downloaded the portion of the manual that tells you how to disassemble the trim around the shift lever and I will leave well enough alone. I might look into where in the wiring hardness the button circuit can be tapped into and do it there but the switch is under what looks like some very delicate trim which is very visible. I will just learn to live with it and remember to push the button. The cold will remind me. Sort of like my mother in law buying the smoke alarm without the spot light feature to save money. No problem the flames will light your way.
https://www.kia-forums.com/threads/hood-struts-2021-sorento.349539/
All the trim required to do this job comes off by removing screws. It does not snap into place like a lot of other trim. See this: https://stingerforum.org/threads/how-to-permanently-turn-off-the-auto-start-stop-button.10853/
The pictures and text in the URL you refer to are of a different car. Possibly a different model year. Mine is a 2021. I downloaded the service manual off of the Kia web site.
Hey Scotti you answered this in three videos about my 2021 Kia Sorento. This is the latest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHCYjXNNBm4
All good answers the first being the best. The dealer is full of baloney.
I live on Long Island. We get usually 5 weeks of sub freezing weather this time of year. During these days where the temperature is 28F degrees or less the following happens. The scenario occurs in the morning on the way to work.
1. I start the car.
2. The Idle Stop and Go system is disabled. The A button (AUTO STOP) referred to in your video is illuminated and can not be changed by pressing the A button. This is due to the engine temperature. This means the car engine won't stop at lights.
3. I pull out of my driveway and proceed.
4. I encounter the 1st stop light about 20 minutes later. I stop and the car gets gets eerily quiet and cold inside. I look around and the tachometer reads zero RPM and the light on the "A" button is out. While I was driving the engine came up to temperature and the ISG system enabled the auto-stop. Now understand I am looking ahead where I am driving not at the center console so I missed it.
5. At this point I can let my foot off the brake or push the A button and the car will start and the heater blower starts.
7. I then pull into a 7/11 near work for my morning coffee. I shut off the engine and get out to get my 1st cup of Joe. Now the engine is warm.
8. I get back in,start her up and proceed out of the parking lot to the nearby intersection where you guessed it there is a light. If I am lucky the light is green and I am home free. About half the time it's red and now the haunting occurs once again. That eerie silence occurs like the car is possessed along with coldness.
9. I hit the A button and away I go.
Yes so if the engine is cold the AUTO-STOP is disabled but if the engine warm regardless of the outside temperature AUTO-STOP is enabled which includes stopping the heat. It can be defeated by hitting the A button and I am getting into the habit of glancing at the A button on the console to make sure it is on. It seems to me it should take the outside temperature into account. The outside temperature is on the display next to the speedometer.
To top it off I got a recall notice where by the gas peddle has a defect. It seems it is a fly by wire pedal that communicates via the can-buss. There is no mechanical connection just wires. It seems it has a minor defect that can make the car accelerate out of control. They call it a collision hazard. In addition the engine can race while in park. I have not experienced any of these things yet. I called the dealer and they have not gotten the replacement peddles in yet. Seems they should rename it the CAN'T-BUSS. Oh did I use the proper nomenclature? They called it an accelerator in the notice but the dealer said it was the gas pedal.
{black}:scared:
My wife started following these threads and saw the latest video. My nickname now is "stupid"in honor of the title of the last video.
{black}:sweaty:
Update: It's summer and the plastic is not so brittle so I followed the manual and took apart the console. I scoped out the ISG light and push button signals. I rigged up a transistor that if the ISG light is out the ISG button terminals are triggered turning it back on. I start up the car and the light turns on a second later. I turned the intelligent stop and go into the "intelligent stay going".