Has anyone experienced a broken timing belt? Mine slipped time and broke 8 out of sixteen valves and punched a hole in a piston. I'm rebuilding it myself and wanted to know if anyone had the torque specs and timing settings. MFG recommends changing the belt at 40K. DON'T let it go much over that. Quite the painful ordeal getting parts from Kia.
It cannot be said enough on this forum about the importance of keeping the timing belt changed, especially since most all Kia's are interference engines (meaning if they break you get... well pretty close to what happened to you).
Although this is a Kia website (I own a Sedona), I just purchased an '02 Hyundai Elantra. It had 73,000 miles on it. I would not allow it off the dealer lot until it had its timing belt replaced.
I guess you just have to accept this as part of the cost of owning the vehicle. And you either do it now...or do it later.
Sorry this happened to you.
Tom Wenndt
re: getting parts for Korean vehicle difficult
I'm trying to sell a 1998 Daewoo which apparently has a faulty trans-axel.
I'd like to sell it to a salvager.
There is a seeming demand/need for Korean car junkyards (Hyundai, Kia, Daewoo, Focus (?), etal)
My daughters 2002 Rio belt broke a few weeks ago, with 78,000 km on the car. Oh yes it is covered under warranty, but it will take min 3 weeks before they will even look at. Then how long to order parts. The dealer wants to just reinstall a new belt.
Now on to my 2004 Rio. Rear wheel bearing is howling. Take it in, 2 hours it is ready to be picked up. Customer service then informs that it will take at least 2 weeks to get the bearing and race ordered in. What a bunch of crap. Not even stocking wheel bearings? The dealer claims that Kia whats all the dealers to reduce parts inventory. So for us that is a 180 mile round trip twice for repairs!! I installed the wheel bearing myself and saved alot of time.
Now I can tell you, based on the service we have here in Alberta, Canada. I would never buy another Kia and would never recommend then to anyone out here.
Anyone have a good contact email or phone number where I can complain to Kia Canada?
Well, here it is Dec 23/06 and the car is still in the shop. That is a
47 days. What disgusting service!! or should I say lack of service.The dealer also has 2 other Rios in the shop with the same problem. All broken timing belts and all the vehicles are well under the 100,000 km mileage. Thats approx 60,000 miles for you who do not know the metric system.
The service manager says that he would like to have all the Rios in and have the timing belt changed before the car has 80,000 Km (50,000 miles) Also something about updated timing gears. Of course the customer will have to pay for this.
To boot, Kia Canada will not respond to emails. Tried the phone number, but cannot stay on hold forever.
Now I can tell you, based on the service we have here in Alberta, Canada. I would never buy another Kia and would never recommend them to anyone out here. For those of you who have had good luck with your Kia, I am happy for you. For those of you who have received piss poor service from the Kia dealer, especially here in Canada, I would love to hear from you.
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