Loving the gold brick, but on long run uphill at 80mph on French motorway with 7 aboard plus luggage and a packed roof box, the "check" warning light came on. Fortunately, there was a service station half a mile further on and after stopping to fill up, the light went off and did not come on again for the rest of the trip.

The manual suggests that it is an emissions issue and that the car can still be driven, but the assistance of a Kia garage should be sought in reasonably short order.

Well, out of sight and all that, so a couple of weeks later, we were returning along the M4 from the Cotswolds (just 2 up with no luggage and going about 70) on Saturday and the light came on again. As before, I turned the ignition off and on again, and it went out, but this time came on again about half an hour later. After "resetting" it again it remained off the rest of the hour or so home.
I should add that it seems to make no obvious difference to how the car drives.

This time I thought I'd do a bit of looking and it seems it is not uncommon on Sedonas with the 2.9 Crdi motor at around the 90k miles mark. Ours is on 99. However, some seem to think it's the fuel pump and some the injectors, whilst some out-there people said it's the cat. It usually seems to be accompanied by a reluctance to start, which we don't have at all - so far.

Do any of the panel have any experience of this kind of thing or any advice on what if anything to do next? As usual, we have zero money to throw at it, so if it is going to be 4 injectors at £100 a pop plus £500 in labour, plus a £900 fuel pump, I may have to sob uncontrollably and beat the ground with my fists.

What do you think?

There may be a fault code stored even for a temporary fault so first step would be to get that checked with a code reader.

Any cheap universal code reader from fleabay should do it, or there's free PC software to use with a cable.

eg. I've used the free version of http://www.easyobdii.com/ with a £10 ebay ELM327 OBD cable to check/clear basic codes in my Grande punto, though I have a better stand alone universal tool now.

Many thanks for the reply, Graham. My research indicates that often the fault codes are not "visible" using basic readers, so it may need something a bit more sophisiticated (and therefore beyond me either financially or technologically!), but I'll look into it.
How does one interpret the codes once the gizmo has revealed them...?

The above software and basic code readers have the result text built in, so will reveal what the actual error means so long as it's a general error (eg. injectors, a common sensor etc.) and not a manufacturer specific device problem (eg. airbag suspension on a Range Rover).

As most engines and ECU's from the last decade are surprisingly similar the basic, universal error reporting really is very good and covers 1000's of problems.

If you don't have a laptop to use with a USB/OBD cable I can send you my stand alone code reader to see if it finds anything.

I think I should have a good enough laptop; I also downloaded all the Kia workshop manuals for the vehicle, so I should be able to get some clues from there. I'll look at the cables on fleabay.
Thanks, Graham.

An ELM327 should do it, but have a look at :

http://forum.multiecuscan.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1493

it seems there are problems with some of the cheap interfaces.

Maybe ebay # 321191834403 would be OK, about double the price of some on ebay but it specifically says it works with multiecuscan.

(Not that you'll be using multiecuscan as it's for Fiat/Alfa, but you get the idea)

Or I could send you my old ELM327 V1.3 to try, which I know worked fine with my Grande Punto.

I have an elm327 that works fine on my bravo OBD, so if you want me to schlep it across to Cambridge, you're welcome, Jim.

Well, I just bought the cheapest one available in the UK, before I saw your further advice...! Hopefully it won't be £7.80 wasted.

Thanks for the offers of help, both of you. So, when the cable arrives, do I download the software you linked to, Graham, or will the bundled one do the job?

Maybe too late, but if you have a blue tooth enabled android device you can download 'torque' from the market place and use a cheap blue tooth adapter. It works very well on most newer vehicles.

If it doesn't work due to the termination resistor problem mentioned on the MES site it's an easy fix and myself or barnacle could remove the offending resistor no problem.



Probably the bundled software will work fine, but the EasyOBD is one I've used on a few different cars and found it works well, so it's always there as a backup if needed.

I took one of my cars into the local garage I used a lot and they used a Snap-On code reader. They would only take £5 for their trouble.

I'll see what transpires once the cable arrives. Too late for the Bluetooth option, I'm afraid. Plus I think my old original Galaxy S has more problems than the Kia...
Thanks for the advice, though.

If you're ever anywhere near Oxford I can plug in my Gendan GRC25 for you Jim.

With the help of my friend Google, I am able to say thank you Nobby for your kind offer! The closest I generally get to Oxford is Cirencester, or maybe slightly closer on the M4!
I'll see how I get on with the cable I've bought. Anyone know offhand where the hell the diagnostic socket is...?!

Should be above the pedals Jim

Bad news.

The OBD II cable arrived yesterday, but before having the chance to even use it, disaster:

MrsC headed out to a photography job in Milton Keynes this afternoon and the "Check" light came on and stayed on.
When she tried to start the car to return, there was just a "click" and nothing more. It finally started (with much pumping of the gas pedal) and she is limping home as I type, but it's pretty clear that whatever the diagnostics reveal, there is something very and most upsettingly - very expensive - wrong.

I'm really not very chuffed.

Doesn't have to be bad news. It could be in limp mode for a number of relatively simple things.

True enough, but the Kia forums have a fair few tales of this sequence of events:

occasional "Check" light illumination with no other symptoms,

more frequent illumination, combined with difficulty starting,

finally failed injectors (allowing fuel back or something) or failed fuel pump.

Keep the faith, you never know.

Just did a quick search on eBay, and injectors don't look too bad. But what I did notice was a fair few injector wiring looms. I'd try the old wiggle test on a few wires.

Thanks, sxkom. Believe me, right now a little bit of good fortune would go a very long way.

OK, I've hooked it all up and used the free version of easyobdii as recommended above. However, even with the check light glowing away on the dash, it says check light is off and no faults stored. I can't afford to chuck any mor money at it. The bundled software won't work as I can't access the keygen to get the registration code...

The car will eventually start, but only after much pumping of the gas pedal flat to the floor and after much turning over. Runs fine once going...

FML

I'd highly recommend the torque app from the Android market and a blue tooth obd connector. I've never found free software that works.

Maybe someone local could help you out? If you were a tad closer I'd offer.

Have you tried priming the system with the hand pump when it won't start?

EasyOBD definitely works, I've used it to check and clear errors with no issues.

Is all the info in the top (green) window appearing OK?

PC communication ports OK?
Interface connected OK?
Vehicle data bus OK?
Valid vehicle response - online?
Vehicle OBD compliance OK?

If so and it's still saying the check light is off then there's something very strange going on!

There's something very strange going on then!

I'll try it again, but I'm sure that's what it gave me.

Well, my attempts at self-diagnosis have been given the "harumph" treatment; the car is booked in to be investigated tomorrow.

The nasty feeling in my guts that this could be a 4-figure bill (again, based on Kia owner experiences) is not going away. I know it could be something cheap, easy and permanent to fix and that if you believed every horror story about coupé cambelts, etc, but my optimism bank account is nearly as poor as my actual one.

Jim, I have a bluetooth adapter and torque if you're passing hemel and you want to try it

That's very kind whatmo', but the car is now safely delivered through the fog to the East End (My Missus knows someone who knows a geezer wiv a garage).

The aforementioned gentleman has already sucked air between his teeth and shaken his head, delivering the following verdict (for those who wish to read "in character", he's not a Cockney, he's South African):
"Kia's are cheap to buy and reliable, but when they go wrong, parts are expensive and they're a bastard to work on. If it's the fuel pump, it'll probably cost more to fix than the car is worth."

If you know the model, you'll remember that there's a big air intake on the bonnet. This is because they ran out of space for the mahoosive oil cooler, so they stuck it on the top of the engine. I couldn't take the advice above to wiggle test the injectors/leads, because I would need to remove half the engine to do so. I can only imagine how much labour this is going to take...

Oh joy.

Good luck, Jim - I hope it's not as bad as you fear.

It is one of the reasons I love Mercs. After most cars I've owned, Mercs are a joy to work on. Bizarrely, a friend's toddler posted 5 £1 coins into their CD player in a C-Class just days before it was being sold. I offered to sort it and disassmebling and reassembling the dash was a pleasure (there's not many cars you'd say that about). Same goes for the other mechanical jobs I've done. Even the one that had all the rust problems was great once they were all sorted. Even (most) parts aren't too bad if you source carefully.

Again - best of luck