# '03 Kia Rio Engine Cuttng Out



## DeSlug (Oct 18, 2007)

Hello all, 

This is my first post to the board. I apologize that it is asking for a question rather than providing help.

I have an '03 Rio w/ 5sp manual. The car has 97,000 miles on it, and has just recently began having the following problem:

While driving down the road (various speeds) the engine will momentarily cut out. The speedo goes to zero despite the fact I am still moving down the road at what ever speed I was going. The engine the cuts back in if its in gear and moving. I am assuming its cuts back in due to a "push start". The Engine off time is very short; usually its only a few seconds before cutting back in.

None of the other electrics seem to be affected. Lights stay on, radio stays on, dash lights stay on. Only the speedo goes to zero. The Tach seems to begin descending, but then the engine cuts back in. Once I noticed whe airbag light came on after the engine cut back in. The light went out shortly after reminiscent of when one starts the car up and the dash lights come on.

I took it to a kia dealer for diagnosis but they cannot find the problem. The service advisor says the problem is not throwing a code they can read, and they think its a wiring issue. 

If anyone has any suggestions I'd be elated. ray: I Googled "Kia engine cuts out" and didn't find anything that seemed to fit my problem.

Thank you, 

MIKE


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## manic (Aug 2, 2005)

That type of problem can be tricky to find. Im not to familiar with
kia's, but am somewhat knowledgeable of autos. It does sound like
a short. Check the obvious things plug wires grounding out on 
motor. Could be a coil pack going bad. Could be coil wire. Wait
until it gets dark, or pull into a dark garage. Pop the hood. Turn 
motor on, and look for any type of wayward spark coming from the
motor or surrounding area,. Have someone rev the motor for you
while you check for flashes of light, or spark. Even look under vehicle
for anything out of the ordinary. You should not be seeing spark or
flashes of light anywhere, if you see one or some you have narrowed
down the area from which the problem is. Has worked for me in the 
past. You need to get it do stall. If you want it to happen it wont,
lol.....


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## jaggerwild (May 21, 2007)

It sound like it could be in the ignitions harness, like if you have an alarm in it. They may have loosened an electrical plug in it and now when you driving it comes lose and momentarily shuts off, then returns back. Else I'd look in the ignition harness area as this is where it seems to be coming from, witch are the wires coming from the key in the dashboard area. Also it could be the ignition is just going bad too. Best thing is to go to someone who can take there time to fix it and do it right also(good luck!). Witch you won't find at a dealer ship, more like a mom and pop auto repair place.
Hope We helped you, let us know if so........


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## qldit (Mar 26, 2007)

Good Evening DeSlug, this is an interesting fault, you didn't mention if the battery light came on but it would be expected that it would in that situation.

In that the lights and other accessories appear to be unaffected it would appear you are momentarily losing ingition.

Having no codes would possible confirm this would be the case.

The speedo going to zero is probably the key to what might be happening, it is obviously an electronic speedo.

I would suggest to try driving up to a reasonable speed and turning the ignition off momentarily but be extremely careful doing this because you may lock your steering.

Observe if the speedo also drops to zero and if the battery ligh illuminates.

If this actually occurs it is most likely that the ignition switch secondary contacts, or the ign fuse has a problem.

I have seen this kind of problem exacerbated by a bunch of keys on the ignition key swinging and producing just enough momentary motion to produce this effect, so you might try seeing if the problem happens when just the ignition key is used alone, take all the other keys and stuff off that keyring, use the key singularly.

If the problem is not apparent with just one key, it may be an idea to replace that ignition switch.

If the problem remains apparent you could try checking and moving the loom from the ignition switch down the steering column to the fuse panel to see if there are any intermittencies while the engine is running. 

If the vehicle has steering tilt adjustment carefully inspect for chafing or oddities in the loom at the flexing point or and disconnect plug that may be in that area.

I feel the key to analysing what is happening is the speedo going to zero.

Others will have different ideas.

Cheers, qldit.


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## atomsoft (Jul 16, 2008)

Try moving the thing that moves the wheels (im spanish), you know that theres (possible if avalible in that version) a metal thing that when you push it it allows you to move the thing that moves the wheels left or right, well try for a few secs, it works great ! try doing it again to see if it makes it turn off again, if it does then horray you are having the same problem I had 2 months ago, try going to a dealer cause i forgot how to fix it, but know you know how to resolve it (if it worked)ray:


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