Baffling Critical Engine Failure Experience

[G-596274]

Have your car towed immediately to another Kia dealer, use Google or Yelp reviews to figure out the best one.

 

[StingertimeNC]

in for updates. good luck getting it sorted.

 

[Lloydh22]

Hey all,

First post and it will be fairly long. I leased my GT-Line 2020 Stinger in September of 2021 and have liked the car a lot more than I anticipated. Up until Monday I have had no issues with the vehicle other than a persistent windshield sealant strip that pops out of the front dash since I took delivery.

On Monday I had a job over in Brooklyn which I had been to every week day during the past week. It’s a 49 mile trip each way mostly highway. Monday was rainy with a little snow in the morning so roads were wet but it was light with no significant water accumulation on roadways and no storm drain back ups. I was on my return trip driving in traffic about 20 miles from home when all of a sudden I noticed the vehicle cut all engine power, a huge cloud of smoke was behind me on the highway and the oil and check engine lights were on (no shuddering, shaking or jerking proceeded the shutdown). I was understandably shaken, going about 60 in the fast lane and managed to coast across four lanes of traffic to safely get to the side of the road and into a parking lot. Smoke was still coming from under the hood so I popped it and saw a steady stream of oil flowing from the engine block side of the turbo (below the heat shield) to hit the turbo housing and burn up (source of smoke). After it cooled and pressure dropped no additional oil was seen leaking and when I checked the dipstick there was still oil in the crankcase (and viscosity felt normal). I waited 3 hours for Kia roadside to come and tow to the dealer.

When I arrived to the dealer we checked everything in and I explained what had occurred thinking it was a blown oil seal, turbo or oil feed line and the engine must have cut out when the pressure dropped catastrophically. The next day around midday, after hearing nothing, I called and was informed that I had somehow pulled water through the stock air box and into the intake manifold which hydrolocked the engine. I am currently waiting to have this resolved but based on the bare minimum of inspection performed by the dealer I’m skeptical of the diagnosis and concerned how something like this could have happened without driving through a 10”+ puddle. So now it comes down to a he said she said situation and I am still awaiting any response from Kia Corporate or the dealer.

I have not seen anything in these forums about a similar situation but as someone who worked in a dealer as a mechanic and on the parts counter I cannot come up with a reasonable sensible explanation as to how this could have happened without me noticing, especially with the vehicle operating continuously for an hour prior to the incident with no indicators of any issue until the car died.

Very curious to see what the collective mind here thinks. I think I am going to get screwed and end up having to eat an engine replacement (hopefully through insurance) but I am convinced it is not hydrolocked and the bound motor is due to some other critical failure related to the oil loss.

 

[Lloydh22]

Hey all,

First post and it will be fairly long. I leased my GT-Line 2020 Stinger in September of 2021 and have liked the car a lot more than I anticipated. Up until Monday I have had no issues with the vehicle other than a persistent windshield sealant strip that pops out of the front dash since I took delivery.

On Monday I had a job over in Brooklyn which I had been to every week day during the past week. It’s a 49 mile trip each way mostly highway. Monday was rainy with a little snow in the morning so roads were wet but it was light with no significant water accumulation on roadways and no storm drain back ups. I was on my return trip driving in traffic about 20 miles from home when all of a sudden I noticed the vehicle cut all engine power, a huge cloud of smoke was behind me on the highway and the oil and check engine lights were on (no shuddering, shaking or jerking proceeded the shutdown). I was understandably shaken, going about 60 in the fast lane and managed to coast across four lanes of traffic to safely get to the side of the road and into a parking lot. Smoke was still coming from under the hood so I popped it and saw a steady stream of oil flowing from the engine block side of the turbo (below the heat shield) to hit the turbo housing and burn up (source of smoke). After it cooled and pressure dropped no additional oil was seen leaking and when I checked the dipstick there was still oil in the crankcase (and viscosity felt normal). I waited 3 hours for Kia roadside to come and tow to the dealer.

When I arrived to the dealer we checked everything in and I explained what had occurred thinking it was a blown oil seal, turbo or oil feed line and the engine must have cut out when the pressure dropped catastrophically. The next day around midday, after hearing nothing, I called and was informed that I had somehow pulled water through the stock air box and into the intake manifold which hydrolocked the engine. I am currently waiting to have this resolved but based on the bare minimum of inspection performed by the dealer I’m skeptical of the diagnosis and concerned how something like this could have happened without driving through a 10”+ puddle. So now it comes down to a he said she said situation and I am still awaiting any response from Kia Corporate or the dealer.

I have not seen anything in these forums about a similar situation but as someone who worked in a dealer as a mechanic and on the parts counter I cannot come up with a reasonable sensible explanation as to how this could have happened without me noticing, especially with the vehicle operating continuously for an hour prior to the incident with no indicators of any issue until the car died.

Very curious to see what the collective mind here thinks. I think I am going to get screwed and end up having to eat an engine replacement (hopefully through insurance) but I am convinced it is not hydrolocked and the bound motor is due to some other critical failure related to the oil loss.

I own a Kia Stinger 2021 that I just purchased. The same thing happened to me. The Kia service guy told my insurance company that it could be a defect but he told me a completely different story. Kia knows their engines are bad.

I'm pursuing legal actions as the warranty want cover the cost. Keep us updated on your case.

 

[Lloydh22]

One more thing, I called Kia Consumer Affairs several times regarding my engine failure & they refuse to call me back. The first Kia dealer lied on my diagnosis as well. I found out after having the car towed to another dealer that Kia had previously replaced the engine at 4K miles under warranty. This information wasn't disclosed at the time of purchase - granted, I bought the car right after the engine replacement.

I think the service reps are being told to disguise the engine failure as something else so they want be responsible for the cost.

 

[7Andrei7]

@Lloydh22 Do you have the same 2.5 engine on the car?

 

[G-569412]

Hey all,

First post and it will be fairly long. I leased my GT-Line 2020 Stinger in September of 2021 and have liked the car a lot more than I anticipated. Up until Monday I have had no issues with the vehicle other than a persistent windshield sealant strip that pops out of the front dash since I took delivery.

On Monday I had a job over in Brooklyn which I had been to every week day during the past week. It’s a 49 mile trip each way mostly highway. Monday was rainy with a little snow in the morning so roads were wet but it was light with no significant water accumulation on roadways and no storm drain back ups. I was on my return trip driving in traffic about 20 miles from home when all of a sudden I noticed the vehicle cut all engine power, a huge cloud of smoke was behind me on the highway and the oil and check engine lights were on (no shuddering, shaking or jerking proceeded the shutdown). I was understandably shaken, going about 60 in the fast lane and managed to coast across four lanes of traffic to safely get to the side of the road and into a parking lot. Smoke was still coming from under the hood so I popped it and saw a steady stream of oil flowing from the engine block side of the turbo (below the heat shield) to hit the turbo housing and burn up (source of smoke). After it cooled and pressure dropped no additional oil was seen leaking and when I checked the dipstick there was still oil in the crankcase (and viscosity felt normal). I waited 3 hours for Kia roadside to come and tow to the dealer.

When I arrived to the dealer we checked everything in and I explained what had occurred thinking it was a blown oil seal, turbo or oil feed line and the engine must have cut out when the pressure dropped catastrophically. The next day around midday, after hearing nothing, I called and was informed that I had somehow pulled water through the stock air box and into the intake manifold which hydrolocked the engine. I am currently waiting to have this resolved but based on the bare minimum of inspection performed by the dealer I’m skeptical of the diagnosis and concerned how something like this could have happened without driving through a 10”+ puddle. So now it comes down to a he said she said situation and I am still awaiting any response from Kia Corporate or the dealer.

I have not seen anything in these forums about a similar situation but as someone who worked in a dealer as a mechanic and on the parts counter I cannot come up with a reasonable sensible explanation as to how this could have happened without me noticing, especially with the vehicle operating continuously for an hour prior to the incident with no indicators of any issue until the car died.

Very curious to see what the collective mind here thinks. I think I am going to get screwed and end up having to eat an engine replacement (hopefully through insurance) but I am convinced it is not hydrolocked and the bound motor is due to some other critical failure related to the oil loss.

From what you stated concerning the windshield weather stripping? The possibility exist in a rainstorm, water entered inside of the engine bay and pooled down and into a critical area due to the weather stripping not fastened properly and drained downward

 

[Lloydh22]

@Lloydh22 Do you have the same 2.5 engine on the car?

Yes, that's correct.

 

[Lloydh22]

@Lloydh22 Do you have the same 2.5 engine on the car?

Yes

 

[General_Vodka]

I wonder what the dealer will say when they see my car with a vented hood, aftermarket intakes and intake snorkels. I drove through rain and snow. Went through an actual whiteout snowstorm. Went through high pressure car washes (yeah I know) and have ZERO issues. There was water in the actual intake heat shields. I could see my intake filters trough the hood, so I have no doubt that the water could get in. You would have to had soaked your filters in a bath for water to get in ..

 

[ht_addict]

There is no way you could get enough water into the sealed are good unless you submerged the front of the car in water. I replaced my stock boxes with Fellowes Tech Scoops, have driven in rain, with cars and trucks spraying mist and my AEM CAI filters were bone dry after a 3hr drive.

From the picture I have attached you can see the location of the air box inlets under the front bumper. Unless you car was leaking in a way that the water ran underneath and into the inlet opening which does face up, there is no way water can get in.

 

[rpoffen]

There is no way you could get enough water into the sealed are good unless you submerged the front of the car in water. I replaced my stock boxes with Fellowes Tech Scoops, have driven in rain, with cars and trucks spraying mist and my AEM CAIn filters were bone dry after a 3hr drive.

From the picture I have attached you can see the location of the air box inlets under the front bumper. Unless you car was leaking in a way that the water ran underneath and into the inlet opening which does face upView attachment 69414, there is no way water can get in.

Same here. Never a problem with my JA scoops and stock air boxes.