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Kia Sephia Sporty


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Meanwhile I came across this post in another forum:
 

how many miles are on it? i've seen the differentials go out on the automatics a little after 100,000 miles. i have a 99 sephia in my yard awaiting a new differential and my 2000 sephia that i drive on a daily basis was showing signs of a bad differential when i pulled the transmission and swapped in an manual trans. there was a lot of play in the gears and if you jack the front of the car up to where both wheels are off the ground and rock the wheel forward and and backward, you can feel to see if there's too much play in the gears. i heard a small clicking sound in mine, not loud but you could hear it. ...

 
At least the Transaxle on the "KiaStein" reached 170,000 Miles and the transmission itself seems to be alright, still shifting smoothly and flawlessly; the problem seemed to be the mere Differential, but couldn't be Sure 'till I Drop the Transmission and open it to carefully check its internal parts.

Kind Regards.

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So, after I finished the Transmission Removal from the Car... and I started to do the "Autopsy" to that transmission; seemed like the main gear on the Differential and / or the Differential itself is alright; seemed like the Broken Parts were the small Gears that couples the Axle with the Differential.

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People at the Local Junk Yards wanted to sell me the Whole Transmission, and despite that it was used, the price was expensive; and I consider that to buy a whole transmission having one in good shape, would be a Waste; so I continued searchin' for the Differential Side Gears only.

The Local Dealer does not have them here, but could bring them brand new, for Lps. 900.ºº Lempiras, our Currency, equals to ~ $ 45.ºº US Dollars Each. But I had to wait around two months for them to come...

After searchin' among many aftermarket stores and junk yards, I found one, only ONE junk yard that had a Damaged 2000 Kia Sephia Automatic Transmission, and I convinced the junk yard's manager to sell me the Differential + its side Gears.

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Those gears are enough heavy to let me think that they should be made of some sort of Iron Alloy, not alluminium; the Colour could be due to the Heat / Oil contact for fifteen years.

Do you believe that the fact that we Climb on our cars, super steep hills daily; could made those gears to wear like that? ... We need to climb such hills in our route from / to Home; several times per day.

The Transmission Never has been Low on Oil, as far as the car has been with us.

Kind Regards.

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Soon, I will be doing all this to my Wife's car, the "KiaStein"
.

  • Cleansing all the Transmission's internals,
  • Reassembly and resealing it,
  • Pouring Fresh Valvoline ATF for High Mileage Vehicles,
  • Changin' the old, worn Hoses,
  • After that, I will do the Timin' Belt Job,
  • Changin' the worn plastic Covers, Tensioners, etc...
  • Finally, Changin' the Motor Oil & Filter...
  • Among many other things inbetween...
  • Kind Regards.
Edited by Loyale 2.7 Turbo
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When I first received this Kia, I noticed immediately that the Previous Owner used it for Racing Purposes, how do I know? ... Easy, the engine was acting like wanting to Race all the Time, also it was burning around a Quart of Oil per Week and Blowing a Cloud of Smoke; and I found some other damages on the Engine, such like this:
 

 

... an unholy Surprise I Found!!! :eek:


HPIM7676.jpg
...

 

So, I ended doing an Engine Swap, using a 2003 Spectra T8D engine, coupled to the 2000 Sephia's T8D intake and exhaust.
 

When I serviced the Transmission, and after pouring a can of seafoam's: "TransTune" driving the Kia with it, I poured all the ATF and removed the Transmission's oil pan, to find this:

 

 

 

...
The Followin' Picture shows you the Metal Chunks that came
of the Flushed 4EAT along more dirt, gum, barnish and mud:



HPIM1244.jpg

 
 

I didn't knew then from where those metal chunks came of, until now... Now I Understand that those are small chunks of metal that came from the Differential Side Gears.

So, I Bet that the Previous Owner, beside flooring the Gas Pedal, never left it while the Transmission changed Gears, so the Differential Side Gears received the impacts and must be the Weakest part on the Transaxle.


 
Since the car came like that already when we purchased it used; and is a Miracle that it lasted without issues all these years with us.

Kind Regards.

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Previously to reassemble the Transmission, I removed almost everything in it to do a Deep Cleansing of everything and avoid that metal chunks from the broken gears could remain inside.

 

Then, after I opened the other side's cover, I found this:

BrokenTooth2.jpg


I bet that a metal chunk from the Other gears, got there

BrokenTooth1.jpg

 

 

So, I went to the Junk Yard where I purchased the Differential's Side Gears and asked for this other part to the Salesman, who happily sold me the Whole Thing, (behind is the Broken one):

 

 

SidebySide.jpg

 


BrokenTooth3.jpg

Now I Hope everything will be Alright, in the Name of God.

Kind Regards.

Edited by Loyale 2.7 Turbo
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To Disassemble / Reassemble the Transmission is not the hardest part of this, the worse part is Getting there to Remove it from the Car and then putting it back in its place.

This is a brief idea of what I did, Prior to Remove the Transmission:


Lift the whole front end of the Car, and secure it in place,
Remove the Front Wheels,
Remove the Calipers and Rotors,
Remove the Axles...
Remove the Air Filter Box,
Remove the Wirings and its Plugs,
Drain the ATF,
Remove the Hoses to the Radiator,
Carefully Secure it, and...
Remove the Mounts.

Among more steps which doesn't need to be detailed here... but all this needs to be done in reverse order after the Transmission is Repaired. Since a picture worth 1,000 words, let me share here a picture of the  "KiaSteinwith a TransLess Engine Bay:

 

 

TransLessEngineBay.jpg

Edited by Loyale 2.7 Turbo
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Jeszek,

 

As always, excellent work and pictures.  Those spider gears in the differential should be made out of hardened steel.  Even with abuse, they "shouldn't" have failed, but if the abuse was severe enough I suppose anything is possible.  I also think that the wrong fluid may have been used and/or that the metal flakes/particles in the oil could have cause premature wear on the gears, which lead to their premature failure.

 

Does the differential and transmission share the same oil?  Typically the inner workings of an automatic transmission requires a different type of oil than a differential with hypoid type gears.

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Dear Josh,

 

Thank you for your Kind Words, which are Really Appreciated.

 

This Transmission was Originally Designed by JATCO (Japan Automatic Transmissions Company) in the Late 1980's decade, first was used by Subaru on their GL-10 EA82 Turbo, known then as the 4EAT, also it was used on the same era's Nissan Pathfinder, but in that case, it was coupled to a transfer with Dual Range. Then it was Modified to suit the needs of Ford, and renamed as the F-4EAT, which then was used in Mazda and Kia Products due to their ford assosiation... so this Transmission is the Kia Version of the 4EAT.

 

More info, here: ~► http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Subaru_transmissions#4EAT

 

This one use the Same ATF Oil for the Differential; I talked to the repairmen at the Local Kia Dealer, in order to find out more information regarding the Premature Wear / Grinding of the Differential's side Gears, and they told me that the car must be not only very abused, but also a chunk of metal + bad oil must be the cause of the general disaster I found inside, so you're Right.

 

Kind Regards.

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I Placed the Transmission back onto the "KiaStein" a couple of days ago; after I finished the Timing Belt Job; and the car has been Working Absolutely Flawlessly since then.
 
 

I Obtained new Timin' belt Covers and New Hoses for the Transmission Cooling.
 
TapadeBandayMangueras.jpg
 
 
 

Let me show you how a Timin' Belt with 100K miles looks like:
 
100KMilesTimingBelt.jpg

 
 
It is amazing that this transmission has survived a grinded differential's side gears and 170,000 miles, and does shift so smooth and holds on gear so good, that seems to be ready for the next 170,000 miles! thumbsup-1.jpg

Edited by Loyale 2.7 Turbo
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In fact, the transmission completely cleansed, with fresh Valvoline's High Mileage ATF oil and New -to me- Differential's side gears; has developed a new feature that I never experienced before in the Car; let me elaborate further.

In the Past, since we obtained this car, on every single Semaphore
(Red Light / Traffic Light) Stopping with the Shifter at "D" (Drive) position, the car shaked in a high pitch frequency, doing the hood and the dashboard plus its contents to rattle along; so we always shifted to "N" (Neutral) during small stoppings, and in downhill traffic jams, we had it on "N" (Neutral) and only used the Brake pedal to let it go / hold it in place, in that way we avoided that annoying rattle.

Now things have Changed Dramatically; now we can leave the car in "D"
(Drive) and it works like if there is some sort of "Clutch" that we never felt before; now the car stays stopped in "D" (Drive) so tranquil that you hardly believe it is not in Neutral.

Also, when I first accelerate from the Stopping Point, where the car has been stopped in "D"
(Drive) for a while, it takes a very small but noticeable delay in engage it on gear, so it starts moving very smooth, while in the past, the car wanted to Race all the Time, because with pretty little acceleration, it moved faster from Zero speed.

That makes the Parking / Reversing maneuvers to be safer, because the driver knows it will not "Jump" with little acceleration, so the Driver feels more confident of this car.

The rest of the Transmission's Performance is almost identical to what it used to be, the only minor difference is that it now downshifts a little quicker on steep hills.

I've been driving the
"KiaStein" for two days, doing many errands, and it feels way Better than Never, like a brand new Car.

Kind Regards.

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I took advantage of my "new" free time, since I was fired from my job where I was the last 14 years, I was fired for political reasons and I am completely apolitical.

After I finished the Timin' Belt Job + Transmission's Repair to my Wife's car, the
"KIaStein" and being working at the direct caribbean sunlight, I got very ill, now I have fever with flying numbers, so I'll stay in Bed for a While... At least the car is working Flawlessly once again, thanks to God.

Kind Regards.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Don't forget to pour the Proper ATF for your Transmission as indicates the manual, remember that not all the ATF has the same properties, and using the wrong one might lead to improper lubrication, and even shearing of internal parts.

In my Case, I filled the F-4EAT Automatic Transmission on the
  "KiaSteinwith Valvoline's "High Mileage" ATF, plus one quart of Lucas "Transmission Fix" Additive; and that mix does work Awesome.

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