2018 Kia Sportage Power Train

I was riding on the highway at about 65 mph and then the check engine light came on, the car slowed down and lost power. Now when I take off I have to barely mash the gas to pick up speed, if I mash the gas pedal hard it barely moves and it loses speed and power going up a hill. I took the car to two different part store and had a reader hooked up and it said the power powertrain control module needs a reprogramming.

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the engine revved loudly, and the RPM was fluctuating. The contact also stated that after shifting into reverse(R), the vehicle was losing motive power. The contact shifted back into park(P) to restart the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic however, the failure could not be duplicated. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to a local dealer for an unknown recall repair and the mechanic was made aware of the failure; however, the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 37,000.

Driving at highway speeds the RPM would suddenly rev up very fast and the car would appear to be in neutral then soon go back to normal. On another occasion, taking a turn at 15 mph the car became as if in neutral, RPM would go very high, then shortly the RPM would drop and the car would be back in drive. The car was taken to the dealership, they checked it, noted that they could not duplicate the problem, and will not take any further action unless it repeats. The danger is if this occurs when driving into traffic, turning into traffic, driving on a freeway and the engine slips into the neutral mode, a collision can occur , risking injury, life and property. The only warning was the RPM going up very fast, and the car not reacting to pushing on the gas pedal. Attached is a PDF file that includes some summaries summaries of issues from web sites relating transmission problems of slipping into neutral.

Intermittently, the car’s transmission slips out of gear completely, around 30-40 MPH. It gets back into gear after a few seconds. At times, it has presented a safety risk especially when attempting to merge on a highway in a short merge lane. When the slipping occurs in this situation, the car no longer accelerates and merging into traffic becomes very problematic and increases the risk of a rear end collision, putting me and my passengers at risk as well as a risk to others The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by the dealer. It started occurring immediately after I purchased the car used while still under the manufacturers warranty. Because the dealer service department could not replicate the issue, no further attempt to diagnose the issue has been conducted, such as a transmission tear down. I’ve taken it to the dealer at least 3 times for this issue and have documentation. I elevated the issue to the manufacturer but they have offered no solution to the issue because it cannot be replicated by the dealer and there is no recall or other service issue with the model. Melissa from the KIA Escalation Department contacted me today offered no resolution to the matter. There were no warning lamps or other messages which indicated a problem. The Kia Forum website reveals that I am not the only one with this issue. https://www.kia-forums.com/threads/transmission-slipping.288137/page-5

I'VE BEEN EXPERIENCING AN TRANSMISSION ISSUE. I'LL BE DRIVING ALONG, STEADILY WITH SPEED CONTROL SET AT 70 AND ALL OF A SUDDEN MY ENGINE AND RPM GAUGE WILL REV UP DOWN SHIFT AND THEN GO BACK TO NORMAL. MY SPEED DOESN'T CHANGE, NO LIGHTS GO ON, JUST THE REV-ING SOUND AND THE GAUGE GOES UP IT ALSO HAPPENING AT LOW SPEEDS AS WELL, IT'S VERY ALARMING TO ME. I'VE CHECKED WITH KIA AND THEY'RE AWARE OF THE ISSUE BUT STATE THAT THERE IS CURRENTLY NO RECALL OR ALERT AS TO WHAT EXACTLY THE PROBLEM IS, IT ALSO ENTERMITTING WILL HAVE NO ACCELERATION ON TAKE OFF. HAS BEEN BACK TO THE KIA DEALER TWICE , THE LAST TIME WAS TOLD BY GENERAL MANAGER AND SERVICE MANAGER AND THEY HAVE NO CLUE , AND GENERAL MANAGER WAS VERY RUDE AND TRIED TO JUST SALE ME ANOTHER VEHICLE WHEN I DECLINE HE GOT VERY UNPROFESSIONAL AND SEEMED HE WAS NOT CONCERNED OF THE WARRANTY AND TO TAKE IT BACK TO DEALER THAT SOLD IT TO ME 600 MILES AWAY PLEASE HELP