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Kia Sephia Sporty


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Enough time has passed since the Rear Disc Brakes' Swap and after some Highway Travels and many city daily driving, including some unintentional Panic Braking to avoid accidents; I could assure that the "KiaStein" featuring all the Brake parts updated as I explained in previous posts of this Thread, now has an Outstanding braking Behaviour, using way less Space to Stop, and Without Lockin' the Wheels too Hard.

As I explained, the car needed these parts:

Improved "Groveless" Proportioning Valves.
to avoid air getting onto the system / leaking brake fluid.

Increased Bore Master Cylinder + Dual Diaphragm Booster.
to solve the "Deep Traveling" brake pedal, which goes even Deeper with Rear Disc Brakes, due to the increased Brake Fluid Chamber on the Calipers.

Rear Disc Brakes.
to get rid from the noisy rear drums and their useless self adjusters, that lead the drums to do almost nothing, letting the front discs to bear almost alone with the vehicle's braking, with the consequent premature wear / warp of the front brakes.


Unlike the useless rear drum brakes, the Rear Disc Brakes' setup on these Sephias is Awesome; the only drawback is that the Parking Brake on the Drums is Stronger than the Parking Brake on the Discs. After the install I also cleansed and painted the front Calipers with same High Temp anti-rust ceramic paint; let me share a couple of Photos:

 

 

The Front Calipers:

FrontCalipersMounted.jpg

(By the Way, here you can see the '03 Spectra T8D engine)



the Rear Calipers:

RearCalipersMounted.jpg

 

So now I can Assure that the Weak Brakes problem on my Wife's Kia Sephia, the "KiaStein" has been completely Solved, and if you review carefully this thread, you'll notice that the Kia Engineers did almost the same upgrades I did, on their Sephias that featured Rear Disc Brakes from Factory.

Disclaimer: Use all the information I post, at your own Risk.

Kind Regards.

Edited by Loyale 2.7 Turbo
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Let me share here a small story: Yesterday my wife was Drivin' the "KiaStein" when some douchebag driving a motorcycle, decided to cross a street without respecting the Stop signal, cutting in front of her too close; that happened nearby her office, which is in a residential area; at the time all employees are going home after work; obviously my wife wasn't expecting that, and as she told me, the car was doing around 25 MPH... She Stomped at the Brake Pedal, closed her eyes and the car stopped so immediately, like never before, that the Driver behind her almost hit the "KiaStein".

The driver behind her, who saw the motorcycle doing that and going away without caring on the mess he left behind; is a co-worker who told to my wife a Common Honduran Joke, in Spanish:
¡Que Brecazo!, Hasta la llanta de Repuesto agarró. That means: What a Braking!, even the Spare tire Locked. :lol:

My wife told me that with the older brakes, she would hit that motorbike for sure. Thanks to God that everything ended being only a scary moment without consequences, and she even feel more confident to drive her car now.

Kind Regards.

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I was thinking to do soon a Timing Belt Job on the "KiaStein" as the Timing belt on it seems to be the Original one... The Engine is a 2003 Spectra T8D, which I purchased with only ~ 67,000 Miles, the Car had around Twice that Mile count; (~136K) now I've added around 26,000 Miles and I know it is Time to do that Timing Belt Change... but I've been too short on Money due to many expenses.

In Honduras there are by Law, two especial bonus payments per year, one at the middle year which is known as the "Fourteenth" payment, The other bonus is the Christmas Box, or "Thirteenth" in December; so I plan to use that money to buy the Timing Belt kit and I want to ask you a Question:

Do you believe that it will be Good Idea to Change the Oil Pump along the Timing Kit?

Kind Regards.

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I did a quick search and for the North American markets it's suggested to replace the timing belt every 60k miles.  Kia may do this for warranty purposes, but based on the miles you've put on it, I'd suggest replacing it whenever you have the appropriate funds.

 

Regarding the oil pump, unless it's a known problem on those motors, it should be alright and not needed to be replaced.  You may want to search online to see if others with the same engine/car have had oil pump issues.  If not, I wouldn't bother replacing it.

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Thank you Josh for your kind reply.

There is no known problem with the Oil Pump on these T8D engines, as far as I know.

In the case of my Subaru, the Oil Pump is located outside the engine and it is designed to last pumping within specs, for ~ 100,000 Miles, then it looses pressure a little as it wears ... but continue working; but EA82 Subaru engines has Hydraulic Lifters that makes noise when they works with lower oil pressure, and that lets you know that is time for a new oil pump.

Since the 2003 T8D Kia Spectra engine I installed onto the "KiaStein" has a Similar Oil Pump, Designed to be outside the Engine, and it is nearby the 100K Miles; and since that T8D doesn't has Hydraulic Lifters that gets noisy on lower oil pressures; I was thinking that it will be Good Idea to change the oil pump along the timing kit as well, before the lower pressure starts to wear the internals faster.

The compression and overal engine conditions are pristine; I want to keep this T8D engine pristine the longer time I could ... but please let me know if you consider that I'm doing a wrong thing by changing the Oil Pump, along the Timin' Belt Kit.

 

In another subject, the Waterpump had to be changed around a year ago, so I will not touch it.

Kind Regards.

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I've never replaced an oil pump on an EJ series motor, only disassembled and reassembled because everything looked good.  The thing that happens on the EJ series motors is the screws on the backing plate can loosen, which can cause oil pressure to drop.  When I reassemble the pump, I put a small dab of locktite on those screws to help prevent them from backing out in the future.

 

So if the oil pump is a similar design to Subaru's you could remove the pump, inspect it and reinstall if everything looks good.  To be on the safe side you could get a new pump if it's not too expensive and rebuild/clean the old one as a spare.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Seems like this is the List of Parts that I'll need to Collect,
 
prior to do the Timin' Belt Service on the "KiaStein":

Part Nº: 24312 2Y000 = Timing Belt.

Part Nº: 24450 2Y000 = Tensioner.

Part Nº: 24810 2X700 = Idler.

Part Nº: 0K013 10602 = Camshaft Seals. (Two Needed)

Part Nº: 0B3C7 10602B = Crankshaft Seal.

Part Nº: 21310 2Y011 = Oil Pump.


Kind Regards.

Edited by Loyale 2.7 Turbo
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Weird Tachometer Behaviour under analysis:

I drove the "KiaStein" this past weekend, for a 200 Miles round trip, I wanted to see by myself the Tachometer's Behaviour; and what I've found is:

Sometimes when the Engine is Started, the Tachometer Works, and Sometimes when engine is Started it doesn't work. This seems to be Randomly happening.

If the Tachometer works when the Engine is Started, it remains working Flawlessly all the Trip, untill you shut down the Engine, or:

If the Tachometer works when the engine is Started, it stops working immediately, droppin' the needle to zero; if I switch On, a high power consumption device, such like the Headlamps and / or the Air Conditioner; and the Tachometer returns to Work normally a second after I shut those devices Off, and I accelerate the Engine.

So I bet that the "Random" fail must have something to do with the (in)famous weak wiring / weak Grounding on these Second Gen Sephias.

I'll investigate further and try to clean the Ground connections around the Fuse & Relay Box, and the ECU, to see if that solves the problem.

Beside that Tachometer needle dying and coming to life randomly, the whole car is working Flawlessly and does not developed any other problem, nor shifting related problems so far...

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Long years ago, I noticed that the Second Gen Sephia, only has one thick wire coming from the Battery's Negative (Ground) Terminal, directly to the Car's Body. I thought it was weak grounding which becomes weaker as car ages, and I decided to place a second negative wire, directly from said terminal, to the engine. The car has been running Flawlessly like that.

Now, I'm thinkin' of installing a Third Negative wire, this time from said terminal, to the Automatic Transmission's body, specifically to the same bolt where an incoming ground wire comes from the Body...

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Since the car is Shifting smoothly and has not developed any kind of fail, other than the Tachometer randomly working / non working, I bet that the old sensor was good.

Car's Tachometers may be like a Voltage reading device, or may have a servo motor that receives pulses from a sensor; since the TSS is named:
"Pulse Generator" by Kia, as you can read in its Box, pictured above, I believe it is not designed as an analog DC volt meter, I believe it reads the Pulses.

So, I am checking all the posibilities, one by One, until I find the Culprit.

I've done this so far:

.

  • Cleansing the Wires, Plugs & electrical connections: Done!
  • Changing the TSS with a Brand new unit: DONE!
  • Cleansing the Ground wire connections: DONE!
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Despite that I already cleansed the Ground wire's connections, and changed the old bolt with a new one, the random fail continued; so maybe the instrument cluster could be the problem.

But the Whole instrument cluster is newer than the Car, I changed it Years ago in order to obtain a Tachometer
(The original instrument cluster didn't had it) which is very important for me. You could read about the instrument cluster Swap, either in previous posts of this mere thread, or on this other one:

~► http://www.kia-forums.com/2g-1998-2001-sephia/84797-instrument-cluster-swap-tachometer.html

The newer instrument cluster worked completely Flawlessly for Years; So I believe that the issue could be caused by Electrical False contact on the wirings related to the Tachometer.

"Electrical False Contact"  = Means when a Fuse or Bridge wire is proven to be good / alright  (Passing current from one of its sides to the other)  but its ends / terminals are loose and \ or have enough corrosion to don't let the current to flow as it should, flowing intermittently or not flowing at all.

Kind Regards.

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Do you have a wiring diagram of the car?

 

On the newer cars with ECU's the tachometer signal is coming directly from the ECU.  If the car is running fine then the issue is either the wiring from the ECU/ground to the tachometer or something with the tachometer itself.

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Do you have a wiring diagram of the car?

 

No, I wish I had it.

 

Kia offers all the Diagrams and Repair Books for free at their "Kia Tech Info" Website, but it is IP sensitive and only works for people accesing that site from USA; so since I am in Honduras, I could not access the site:

 

~► https://www.kiatechinfo.com/

 

So I always have to guess how things are done, to fix them.

 

What I'm doing, is tracking all the possible causes, starting from the Outside of the cabin (Engine Bay, Wirings, Sensors, Grounds) and the Last step will be on the Inside of the Cabin. (internal wirings, grounds, instrument cluster itself.)

 

That is the usual way I solve all the problems, from the macro to the micro:) So, my next step will be to add the extra ground wire, to the transmission; I'll report back the results, here.

 

Kind Regards.

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