Poll-How many Sedonas with wobbly crank pulleys?

"pheasant" wrote in news:c5gh2p$1bpus$ snipped-for-privacy@ID-99508.news.uni-berlin.de:

I've had the idler pulley and another pulley replaced in my 2002 sedona. They would squeak and make awful noise whenever it rained or was excessively humid out. It took the dealer forever to get the right part in. This was the summer of last year the first pulley was changed out. Then it started squeaking again around Jan this year. I'll see what happens when rainy season arrives again in Florida.

It would help if you let us know what a "crank pully" was.

I'm pretty sure it's the pulley on the front of the crankshaft.

Drop the hood and step away from the van sir

I worked on a 3.5L Santa Fe today, and checked this since it is the same powertrain as the Sedona. The crank pulley couldn't have been smoother. Depending on the angle, it sometimes looked to not be turning.

The dealer should be happy to let you view other Sedonas to see if this is occurring on them.

I live 200 miles away from the nearest dealer. Told the dumb asses I'm gonna buy one from some junkyard and do it myself. They got a bit defensive, and are going to "evaluate" the situation again. Yeah; I asked them to go out to the lot and pop the hoods of some others; but they are t"oo busy" to check this simple step out. Only thing I wonder is the timing belt sprocket keyed to the crank and the pulley bolted up to it or keyed also?

Would you mind if I forward your last response to them?

Mark

I believe the pulley is bolted onto the sprocket, (I've only removed one of these pulleys and it's difficult to remember) so if there is not a problem with the pulley itself, it's possible the sprocket could be worn. I worked on a Sportage with a worn sprocket that caused a severe wobbling issue and knocking noise, but that's an entirely different animal. "Too busy" to walk over to the new car department, start one, and look at the crank pulley? Were they too busy to pull your car into the shop? I wonder. You make me wonder whether at 200 miles they don't care because they're the only game in (or out of) town. I can't imagine not taking this step if necessary. Especially if a customer requested it. And most of our stock is not even at the building where I work. Management here would be happy to send a lot attendant to bring one over. If you don't get satisfaction there, you can call Kia Customer assistance, but your complaint may be redirected back to the dealer. Forward away. If they're 200 miles away from you, they can't be close enough to me to hunt me down.

Here's some more ammo. I found this info from a Kia publication which you might find interesting. It's from Volume 5, Issue 4 of Kia Technician Times, a publication for Kia service technicians in the United States. It may not apply outside the U.S., as there may be differences in the engines/vehicles.

"Some Sedona models produced before 1/28/02 may experience drive belt squeal noise at engine start-up. To reduce incidence of this noise, the v-grooves on the crankshaft pulley and the drive belt were revised." New Pulley 23123-39504 beginning 12/20/01. New Belt 1K52Y-15-909A beginning 1/28/02.

While this makes no mention of a wobbling, it does mention squeal on start-up. I'm not sure if this is your specific condition and I don't want to imply that it will address anything more than exactly what the above states. If this is what you are experiencing, I'd be sure to check your van's production date.

Also, I'm curious. Where are you that the nearest dealer is 200 miles away? And does Kia give you the opportunity to have the vehicle serviced at a closer approved facility?

Oops. The pulley part number should be 23124-39504. I also checked the Hyundai p/n for the crank pulley on the Santa Fe I checked. Guess what. It's 23134-39504. Go figure. I suppose this should eliminate any speculation that the pulleys are different.

We live in Bismarck, ND. Only state in the Union without a dealer. Closest is Moorhead, MN, 200 miles. Next is Sioux Falls SD about 450 miles. Next closest is Billings, MT just a tad under 500 miles. There is an alternate service location at a Hyundai dealer about 110 miles away, but after visiting with him, he only will do things to get you back on the road, not any warranty stuff that should be done by a dealer. We have a Hyundai dealer here in town, but I've been told that they don't do the computer the same as Kia so nope, no dice. If you'd care to email, I'll send you the vin if that would tell the production date.

If you find any more ammo, I'd greatly appreciate it, and if you want to send email uinstead of posting here, the snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com is valid.

Thanks for the TSB.

Mark

Your production date will be on the vin plate at the driver's door. I won't be able to tell anything by vin#, but Kia can look it up that way.

The information was not from a TSB. I had thought there was one on your condition, but I couldn't find any. What I eventually found and posted was an article from Kia Technician Times, a publication of "information" for Kia technicians. Kia is under no obligation to release this information to anyone.

Update: They replaced it! Darn; that crow ain't tasty without some ketchup! Told 'em to order the new one, put it on, and if true warranty it, if the same I'd pay restock and labor to do it. The tech said it sure ran a lot smoother, the service advisor said he couldn't tell any difference, my dad was my eyes and he said the difference was VERY noticable. Gotta wonder where some of these guys in decision making jobs get there.