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  • #639918
    TexarkanaTexarkana
    Participant

      Hey all, haven’t been on in a while. My girlfriend and I are planning on moving in together, but she wants a car first. I talked to a buddy of mine who has an 2003 Kia Rio that’s been sitting for a while. He’s willing to sell it to me for $400.

      It has been acting funny which is why he won’t drive it. I borrowed a simple scan tool from a friend of mine and came up with a #2 cylinder misfire and a knock sensor code.

      The knock sensor was replaced and the car still acted up so I’m under the impression that the misfire caused a false knock sensor reading. The trans fluid is also reading really high and there are bubbles on the stick so I’m assuming there is a low fluid level. It also bogs down in first and second gear, also a howling bearing on the driver front.

      I was wondering if my assumptions are correct before I jump on this thing. The last thing I’ll do is check around the transmission to see if seals are bad, but given that it sat for so long and it’s been ran pretty hard I’m thinking the trans may need to be flushed out or rebuilt.

      160XXXk miles.

      Oh and as for my Buick that was blowing cold air while on heat, I believe the problem is a cinnamon stick I hung on the vent to get rid of the smell of cigs in the car. Me thinks when it fell in the vent it ended up blocking the blend door. However I haven’t encountered the issue in a while so the stick may have dislodged itself.

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    • #639921
      NickNick
      Participant

        Do you hear a knock with the engine running? Does the car overheat? I would start by checking spark on cylinder 2 and go from there. I would also probably run a compression check overall.

        Do you have the space, knowledge and tools to do a transmission swap? If not it will run you at minimum $1500.0 for a new trans. Seems to me that the car needs more work than its worth if you can’t do the work yourself. Even then it may not be worth it.

        #641002
        TexarkanaTexarkana
        Participant

          No knock but the engine vibrates loudly, and won’t go over 2k rpm’s under full throttle. Given that the transmission still shifts and starts out in 1st gear I’m guessing all it needs is a fluid change. For some reason Kia has never used filters, just a screen over the pump inlet. Needs special kia fluid as well, found some on Amazon.

          Went on rock auto and price out premium parts, tune up and trans fluid change will run me about $150.

          #641004
          IngvarIngvar
          Participant

            Soooo…. If I understood ur Q correct, you soliciting advice on to buy, or not to buy?

            Don’t. Just like forget it. Get a beater Civic or Corolla. Will cost you about same as that car – PLUS all the repairs. Current and future to be.

            #641014
            BillBill
            Participant

              I don’t know what you can afford but I’m sure you can do better than a “throw away car” that’s ready to throw away.

              #641774
              TexarkanaTexarkana
              Participant

                Now my buddy decides to tell me the trans won’t shift above 2nd gear.

                Passing on this one.

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