My reliable '01 Kia Rio, has 114,000 miles. I have maintained it very well since buying it with 15,000 miles in '02. In the past few months I have had problems starting the car. Often this occurs after driving great distances though sometimes it will occur just after I fill the tank. Sometimes it will start right up then I will drive 100 yards and it will die but it always starts up eventually. It might take a few cranks or10-minutes of sporadic cranks but it has always started and I won't have the problem again for a day, or a week, or if I am lucky, a month. This problem comes and goes. I have had it looked at by two reliable mechanics who are close friends of mine and neither could figure it out. They gave it a tune-up, tried to reenact the problem in the shop by running the car and trying to start it, etc. to no avail. Since the car would always start I decided to just keep driving it. I haven't had this problem for a month or so but today, it died about a hundred yards from my house. I sat with the car trying to start it every minute or so but after 20 minutes I realized it was a lost cause. It was the first cold day of the season (30's F). The oil level was fine and color was ok. I checked the coolant and it was empty! Could this be a gasket/radiator issue? I also noticed some other people having similar issues and a loose starter connection or timing belt could be to blame. Is today's issue different from the other issue or is this the culmination of the one underlying problem. I know very little about cars besides turn the key and drive so forgive my ignorance. I realize I run the car hard and have got a lot of use out of the car, so if it is a loss I definitely got my money's worth but I am hoping it is fixable. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
- posted
17 years ago