Problems with 2008 Kia Sorento ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 kia sorento. when starting the vehicle, a loud abnormal noise was heard. the contact scheduled a diagnostic appointment with bob moore kia northwest (7340 northwest expy, oklahoma city, ok 73132, (405) 720-3800) where it was diagnosed that the ignition switch needed to be repaired. the manufacturer was not notified. the failure mileage was 200,000.

On 01/24/2019 at approximately around 6:00 i was attempting to make a u turn on e. bearess ave in front of mort elem school in tampa fla when my 2008 kia sorento cut off then could nt get it to come as i was turning the key so i had and officer behind help me push it out the road as got it let the hood up we notice it was on fire on the driver side fire department was dispatched they came out assess the damage took pictures and ruled out fjre due to electrical problems they unhooked the battery to prevent further fire vin# is. (xxxx) can provide fire report bur not at the moment parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)

Sunday sept 9th at around 9 - 9:30 am i smelled smoke and walked around the house and smelled that it was coming from the garage. when i opened the door i saw flames underneath the car and smoke and fire on top of the hood. i called the palm bay fire department when they got there they put the hose on the car until the fire was out they had to cut the hood in order to finish putting out the fire. they fire marshall came and inspected the vehicle it could have been an electrical problem. when i called kia customer service they gave me a claim number and they told me what would you like kia do for you . the customer service agent said they will give the claim to the right department and they will get back to me in 3 to 5 business days. this happened while the car was parked in the garage and it hadn't been turned on since friday . this vehicle was a 2008 sorento with less than 90,000 miles it was in great condition also.

The electronical parts of the ignition switch went out at the same time the battery and the starter did . then on top of my esc randomly coming on and every time this has happened it made it to where i couldn't go above 5 miles have to turn the car off and then restart it multiple times just so i can dive home this has been happening since i have had he vehicle november 2016

I drove my 08 kia sorento home at about 730 am. i work night shift and went to sleep and was woken up at 945 by ems to my car up in flames. it was showing no signs of any problems, not running hot, nothing. it was parked for about an hour when it went up in flames. the fire chief was on the truck that day as he had orientee's, and said the fire started behind the steering wheel/dash and that it was an electrical engine fire which is stated on my fire report. i contacted kia they told me it was no way it was their problem and had to be a user error. i have photos but my computer would not let me upload them for a reason.

Every 6 months the engine light and ecs off lights come on and the car loses power intermittently. this is dangerous when it happens on the freeway. i bought the car from carmax in july 2014. by november, it started to have the issue, it progressed at i checked it on the internet and saw a recall and brought it in to city kia in orlando. the mechanic could not find an issue why the engine light was on and there was no clear code. however, when he replaced the recall lamp switch part it went away until now (oct 2015). it is clear to me that there is an issue with the electrical system that can cause the loss of power. there are numerous comments from others with the same issue and the same symptoms. i expect carmax and kia understand there is an issue. i bought the car with 32k miles on it from carmax and it already had 2 previous owners. the average kia mechanic seems incapable of diagnosing and resolving this issue. they will just change out parts every 6 months and hopefully reset the electronics somehow. i am a licensed mechanical engineer and safety engineer working in the ride industry for 30 years. i believe this is a safety issue and i would like kia to either fix it or take my car back or carmax to take the car back. the loss of power can occur when you start or when you are driving. the engine light and ecs light come on and always accompany this issue. typical posts on internet jun 30, 2014 - cheektowaga, ny - power train tl* the contact owns a 2008 kia sorento. while driving approximately 40 mph, the vehicle decelerated. the contact depressed the accelerator pedal and the vehicle slowly decelerated to 20 mph. the service engine and esc sensors illuminated intermittently. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified. the vin was unavailable. the approximate failure mileage was 50,000.

Exiting a strip center to cross 2 lanes of traffic and make a left to merge into traffic, i accelerated in a safe gap only to find my vehicle had almost no acceleration. i was nearly in a side impact collision if not for the excellent awareness and reaction of the others on the road. i pulled immediately into a parking lot to try to find out what had happen. at this time my check engine light and the esc off light were on. they were not went i started the trip from my house about 1 mile away. i shut the car off and restarted and the esc off light was no longer there, but the check engine was. the normal power had been restored back to my car. i drove to an auto parts shop and had them pull codes on the vehicle. it returned 2 codes: 1. p2138 (throttle/pedal position sensor/switch "d"/"e" voltage correlation, 2. p2106 (throttle actuator control system - forced limited power). i asked them to clear the codes and they did. my drive home triggered no lights. after a month the same issue happened and i cleared the codes once again. it now happens 6 months to year mostly when the temperature get really war (usually july). i got on the internet to research the issue and was amazed to find how many people were having the exact same issue. all were the same story of sudden and unexpected loss of power, both lights on, near accidents, fear for one's safety. literally hundreds and hundreds. there were many posts of those that went to dealer or called kia with either exorbitant repair costs, lack of concern, and no knowledge of the issue. for most, the problem was never completely solved with dealer repairs and intermittently happens. this is a dangerous problem and people will die, or most likely already have. too many people with the same problem not to have a recall for kia owners and their children's safety. please help.

My 2008 kia sorento has had numerous instances of the rear taillight/signallight failing to operate correctly. the vehicle does have a recall on this issue for which it was taken in for service and the dealership has since worked on the vehicle to remedy the situation a number of times. they have said and noted that in a prior visit they replaced the stoplight switch. however the problem continues and i have been cited a number of times with a warning for law enforcement. attached is one of the receipts from the dealership noting the recall and problem. now, the dealership is insisting that we should pay for the latest attempt to correct the problem, although the issue has never been fixed without a recurrence of the issue. the rear taillight/signal light fails to illuminate.

We were returning home from the store shut the vehicle off and the key would not come out . two hours later we were able to remove the key. if this would have been an emergency we would have been delayed because we could not get the key out. *js

Backed out of driveway, check engine & esc off light came on, wouldn't accelerate over 20mph. brought back home and parked. few hours later took granddaughter to dentist and only check engine light illuminated. didn't go off until took to auto zone on asheville hwy, knoxville, tn. after placing on diagnostic machine and giving a print out of probable causes, check engine light went off. took to dealership on 7/29 and wouldn't except diagnosis since they didn't perform. was showing electrical and valve problems. stated unable to repair due to lights not being on when car was at the kia dealership. stated replaced the problem with recall. however, now stating motor seals need replaced which is covered under warranty. unsure if other issue has been resolved due to no issues since friday. *tr

Current and ongoing problems began just a few days after receiving a notice of recall from kia regarding the faulty/defective brake light switch. the switch was faulty and there was a problem with no brake lights coming on upon braking as well as "esc off" and "check engine" malfunction indicator lights appearing and staying on the instrument cluster. the vehicle was promptly taken to a kia dealership where the recall service was performed. replacement of a failed brake light switch under the recall campaign did not eliminate the problems/codes that began when the brake light switch failed. shortly after the repair (less than a month afterward and very few miles driven) the "esc off" and "check engine" malfunction indicator lights appeared, stayed, then came on and off intermittently with engine not going over past approximately 2,000 rpms resulting in unpredictable vehicle behavior especially when it comes to merging onto a highway/interstate or getting through an intersection. the vehicle was taken to the dealership where the service advisors gave assurances that the new brake light switch is not defective. the problem is that the service advisors/technicians could not specifically diagnose what needs replacement to ultimately solve this ongoing problem or if it is related to the failure of the of the brake light switch. *tr

Jan.19,2013 my 2008 kia sorento started to loss power and the engine light turned on the car started to shake, the dealer found the vehicle shown code po300 ,vehicle misfire and it burned plug assy-spark and coil assy-ignition. repairs were done at city kia of greater orlando. services was great. march 7,2013 the same incident as above happened again the repair shop found camshaft sensor connection error, perform pin tension rechecked. i was treated badly, they stated at first they did not know what was going on and refused to offer any situation. repair were done where i had purchased the vehicle in 2/2011 with kia warranty. location orlando kia e.colonial drive.orl fl.32817. on may 4,2013 my vehicle appears to have the same issues as above incidents will take it back to dealer on e. colonial drive on monday 6,2013. hope they will help me.... *tr

For years now i have replaced lights on this vehicle. i have replaced headlights at least 15 times and brake lights about 20 times. on at least 5 occasions all lights burned out at once.. the fuses and relays have never been bad because when i replace the lights they work.something is wrong with the vehicle and i have known many other kia owners to have the same problem but the dealership says nothing is wrong. i can't afford another vehicle and this is a serious safety issue. *tr

The fuel gauge needle drops down from full to empty and the low/out of gas indicator light comes on, but goes off after needle moves from the low fuel gauge marking. this malfunction of the fuel gas needle happens at no specific time interval or speed rate. *tr

Dash lighting problem on 2008b kia sorento. when control knob on turn signal switch is rotated for night lighting of dash lights, the dash lights go out, blowing a fuse. possible short is system somewhere. unable to trace at canadian kia dealership without paying $90.00/hr fee which could take many hours. *tr

Interior lights have not worked for years. the light on ceiling of car is switched to off because the interior lights do not go out when you shut all of the doors