Kia Sportage...MAJOR Stalling/Jerking Problems

Hi there,

We bought a Kia Sportage in October of 2000 brand spankin' new off the lot . The car now has 54,000 miles on it. We recently have had nothing but HUGE costly repairs done to this vehicle with no solution. The car stalls down to almost no power, starts jerking and jumping horribly, and then smoke from all angles. Very dangerous problem. It has been in the shop 6 times this month for this exact same problem.

We have had the timing belt replaced, both engine coils, full tune-up, and one converter changed. The mechanics over there are dumbfounded.

Somebody out there PLEASE HELP! We need to find out the answer to this problem before we are sunk into a deeper hole financially with all these "repairs". If you have answers, or you think you may have the answer please, please contact me at

[email protected]
or
[email protected]

We are desperate for an answer.

Hi there,

We bought a Kia Sportage in October of 2000 brand spankin' new off the lot . The car now has 54,000 miles on it. We recently have had nothing but HUGE costly repairs done to this vehicle with no solution. The car stalls down to almost no power, starts jerking and jumping horribly, and then smoke from all angles. Very dangerous problem. It has been in the shop 6 times this month for this exact same problem.

We have had the timing belt replaced, both engine coils, full tune-up, and one converter changed. The mechanics over there are dumbfounded.

Somebody out there PLEASE HELP! We need to find out the answer to this problem before we are sunk into a deeper hole financially with all these "repairs". If you have answers, or you think you may have the answer please, please contact me at

[email protected]


or
[email protected]

We are desperate for an answer.


Try checking the gas tank itself. My car had similar a problem of not starting prperly. Check it yourself behind the passenger side underneath the backseat there is a compartment lift it open to the top of the gas tank if is eroded bingo...mine was sealed temporarily with a cement compound seal by the dealershiop until i can purchase a new one. mine starts fine now. Maybe this will help, get the dealership to check for you if you feel more comfortable that way.

I'm curious about that "smoke"......any tell tale smell with it? And how did that begin? On a sudden, or getting worse with time...in how much time . I hope a simple fix like suggested could get rid of the problem, but otherwise, some details are needed to provide a path...

Hi there,

We bought a Kia Sportage in October of 2000 brand spankin' new off the lot . The car now has 54,000 miles on it. We recently have had nothing but HUGE costly repairs done to this vehicle with no solution. The car stalls down to almost no power, starts jerking and jumping horribly, and then smoke from all angles. Very dangerous problem. It has been in the shop 6 times this month for this exact same problem.

We have had the timing belt replaced, both engine coils, full tune-up, and one converter changed. The mechanics over there are dumbfounded.

Somebody out there PLEASE HELP! We need to find out the answer to this problem before we are sunk into a deeper hole financially with all these "repairs". If you have answers, or you think you may have the answer please, please contact me at

[email protected]
or
[email protected]

We are desperate for an answer.




:2cents: The symptoms you describe are caused by one of two problems. Fuel system or an air leak with the likelyhood of an air leak being the culprit. The air leak usually is at the intake manifold gasket, this can be checked by squirting oil along the gasket edge with the engine running. If the engine is running rough it will smooth out momentarily when the oil seals the air leak.