Kia Soul Forums :: Kia Soul Owners banner

2014 Battery - crappy?

32K views 129 replies 30 participants last post by  Oktavf 
#1 · (Edited)
My battery has gone dead two days in a row. They couldn't even get it jumped today... battery appears to be shot. Nothing has been plugged in drawing juice. Second tow truck on its way because they couldn't get to it with the flatbed. :( The first tow truck driver was almost pointing and laughing at the battery. He said it is crap. True?

Any other 2014 owners have battery issues yet? So bummed.
 
#6 ·
When I bought my new 2014 Soul in July, amongst the papers the dealer gave me was this battery test report, which caused me a bit of concern. But my husband said that was just because it had been sitting in a dealership and would recharge as I drove it, so not to be concerned.
Still, makes me a bit leery about the coming cold weather. May have to get myself a super dooper battery when the temps get down to zero. That's what I had to do with my last new car too- a Honda Civic. Or maybe it won't be a problem, will have to wait and see. Damn, everything is so cheaped-out these days!
View attachment 50009
 
#7 ·
Yeah I had a battery test report when I picked it up too. Was fine of course. The tow truck guy looked at a bunch of numbers on the battery and was surprised at how weak it was... he told me what each number means but it went in one ear and out the other.
 
#8 ·
I called the dealer and pleaded with them not to just get the battery charged and send it back to me again because we already went through that yesterday. They said they have a checklist of stuff Kia wants them to do which is fine, but please don't give me back the same battery... jeeze.
 
#9 ·
I had found one of those "recommend replacement" battery receipts in my glovebox which caused some consternation. Dealer said it's "normal", but to me, that's bad business. Had I found that sooner, I'd have had them charge or replace the battery before purchase.
Greg
 
#11 ·
I'm looking at the 7/9/2014 date on my battery test receipt. I bought the car on 8/8/2014, after the dealer drove it 2.5 hours up from Long Island to my dealer for me to get (I wanted the Yellow Plus, and it was brought in from the other dealer). Could well be that the low battery was after it was boated over here from Korea and had sat for a few weeks with only little test drives maybe. I'm assuming the battery was better charged after the drive from Long Island, when i picked it up a month later.
Still, it seems many new cars these days typically come with cheesy batteries. Our last two new hondas did as well, and we bought better batteries for both those cars after having a hard time starting at below zero temps. Had no problems after that. In an ideal world, all new cars would come with super awesome batteries. Alas.
For peace of mind, I'll buy a better battery if I have problems this winter with this one.
 
#12 ·
Dealer called... they said their equipment reported that the battery needed to charge for two hours and then they'd have more info. After two hours, they confirmed the battery was foul and will be replaced under warranty. Tomorrow they will be checking to make sure there is nothing strange that is drawing power unnecessarily.
 
#13 ·
Yup, battery victim! New car in September, 3,000 kilometers completed, leave in airport car park for eleven days, dead as a dodo. Fortunately had jump leads ready, so off we go to the dealer for a battery check. No problem they say. 'New batteries need to be run in as they have a memory', most of us know that, but didn't know it applied to car batteries as well. I was always suspicious of that battery warning message on the screen if all functions were not turned off with the engine not running. Never had a car where you couldn't listen to the radio whilst SWMBO did the shopping!
 
#15 ·
its rare, but it can happen, if it never happened we wouldn't need a warranty.

I owned a '08 Rondo EX for four years no battery problems whatsoever and never had any starting problems even in temperatures down to -35C and even worse with the windchill (and it did not have a block heater). On my Soul which is almost three years old, same thing not a single battery problem at all, starts every time. It's sat at compounds while I've been overseas up to over a month and started instantly when I got back.
 
#16 · (Edited)
The day, in 2009, that I bought my brand new Suzuki SX4, I drove from the dealership where I'd been most of the day, just up the street to the Olive Garden for a bite to eat.

When I came out to my brand new car, the car would not start. All indications were that it was a dead battery. I Cell Phoned the dealer and told them to bring a new battery and come and get me.

They showed up, jump started the car and I drove it back to the dealership. They sent me home in a brand new loaner car.
Five days later they called me and said I could come and get my NEW car, because they had found the problem, a loose connection in a cable UNDER the battery, preventing the alternator from charging the battery.
In the mean time they had put in a 1000 cca, full maintenance Interstate battery, which was a direct replacement for the OEM battery.

Three years later that battery failed, probably due to the rough roads that I have to drive over.
Where I live, three years is just about max for even the best battery.

I've not raised the hood on the 2014's or 2015's but I'm wondering if Kia ever fixed the problem with the wimpy little grounding cables, bolted down to a painted surface on the strut towers. ???
That one problem has killed many a Soul. It's the first thing I'd check.

It's definitely NOT typical for new batteries to just go bad. Most OEM batteries, will live for at least three to four years.

Just a thought

TechnoMage :cool:
 
#20 ·
Kitty I'm sorry to hear you are having battery problems, and you're right, it ain't right so soon. I only drive mine about twice a week & haven't had any problems, but we've had a very mild winter in the NW this year, like no freezing.

If you want to post the brand/model of your battery, maybe we can start to see if it's brand, model or weather specific. From what User said it doesn't sound like the car is drawing down the power or not charging either. Techno made a great point about grounding. It would be nice to figure out what the heck is going on with these mysterious dead batteries!
 
#18 · (Edited)
Kitty, please explain how the battery failed and what you did to get the car started. ???

I just wonder how many batteries have been replaced, when all that was wrong was those wimpy little grounding cables. ???

:cool:

PS: I can see, that I need to get to my Kia dealership and take a good look under the hood of the 2014's and 2015's.
I'm curious to see if they've addressed that grounding problem.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Buzz
#19 ·
Kitty, please explain how the battery failed and what you did to get the car started. ???

I just wonder how many batteries have been replaced, when all that was wrong was those wimpy little grounding cables. ???

:cool:
I don't know about Kitty's, but mine failed actual battery tests after it could no longer hold a charge from any source. They kept it for 24 hours to make sure there were no dark draws or anything else like that. No problems with the replacement so far... it's been over 3 months.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Recap:
Yesterday battery was dead and car wouldn't start- wouldnt even turn over.
Jumped started successfully, let it idle and also ran around the neighborhood a bit to charge things back up.
This morning it started ok and I took car to the dealer.
They tested and said battery was almost dead and indicated it needed replacing. (this right after driving for 50 minutes on the highway at 65-70mph)

Well, they charged the battery back up to check it out and found it could not hold a charge at all. This did concur with my little paper showing the low battery reading when I took my new car home in August. (the paper i discovered left [accidentally?] in the glove compartment days after I already had the new car)
They knew I was concerned about the charging rate, wiring, and the starter connection, etc, so they did test the starter and said they checked all the connections. They showed and gave me copies of all the test result printouts.

Regardless of the cause, I needed a new battery obviously, so they put in the same strength one new (600 cold-amp-whatever). Got my free oil change and they washed the car...sort of. I made them do the wash over again because it was so crappy I couldn't see how it was washed at all. Then the washing guys had me sit in the car while they washed it again, I guess so I could give it my stamp of approval. lol We were all laughing so it was ok.

They gave me the keys but then I insisted they run the same tests on the NEW battery before I went out the door. Which they did, after pulling the car back into the bays. So now I have the printouts from all the new battery charging tests too, as a baseline for if I have more trouble. They were probably thrilled when I finally left. ;D
I'll be covered if it happens again of course, and there was no charge for any of this...except the several hours i had to take off from work, and the gas there and back.

Funniest part was when I was looking around in the customer waiting area and couldn't find the nice donut/pastry section I remembered, only coffee. I asked them "Where are the donuts??" and they said there weren't any and I said "Well there USED to be donuts!" When I got back home i realized I was thinking of the donut station over at the Honda Dealers where we go for my husband's Element. hahahahaha, they must have thought i was a total case!! =;-D
 
#26 ·
Funniest part was when I was looking around in the customer waiting area and couldn't find the nice donut/pastry section I remembered, only coffee. I asked them "Where are the donuts??" and they said there weren't any and I said "Well there USED to be donuts!" When I got back home i realized I was thinking of the donut station over at the Honda Dealers where we go for my husband's Element. hahahahaha, they must have thought i was a total case!! =;-D
I feel jypped my honda dealer that I used to go to, didn't even have coffee. My local kia dealer just has vending machines, but is always giving out free pop (soda)
 
#23 · (Edited)
Kitty, a very entertaining post....especially about the Donuts! lol

At my own dealership, it's usually cookies and coffee. As a diabetic, I do have to take it easy on the cookies. lol

But I'm concerned about the battery thing. I wonder if Kia got a bad batch of batteries, like from the lowest bidder.
As a test engineer at CAT, I tested batteries from all the companies that wanted to do business with CAT.
We gave them a really thorough test, with heat, cold and vibration. Some of the most expensive and highly advertised batteries were the first to FAIL our tests.
Where, brand names that no-one here ever heard of, passed our tests with flying colors. The so-called Maintenance Free batteries, like DieHard, were the worse of all.
We failed every one of them.

When I guy a new car, I pretty well have to take the battery they provide, but when that battery fails, I buy a Full Maintenance battery that I trust, as a replacement.
(I won't even waste my time and gasoline, going back to the dealer. Walmart is only 8 miles away!) :) :)

I prefer a Full Maintenance Battery.....That's a battery that I can open up every few months and check the fluid level, and add water if needed.
You can't check the fluid level on a Maintenance Free battery. If it runs low on electrolyte it will die and there isn't a dang thing you can do about it, but replace it. That's a huge Rip-Off !!!! But it does benefit the battery makers. They sell more batteries that way.

I do wish you all the best, with that new battery, but if it's the same brand, I wouldn't count on it too much.
And if there's a problem with the grounding cables, the battery won't charge properly and will fail pre-maturely.

If you were closer, I'd be glad to examine those cables for you and make dang sure they are making good connections.
Mine were terrible, till I worked on them and then added a heavy-duty battery cable from the NEG terminal on the battery to the top of the engine.

Good Luck Kitty!

:cool:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Buzz
#29 ·
Techno, you mentioned the wimpy NEG cable grounding to the strut tower. Your comment got me curious. I went and looked at mine and sure enough it's true. I went ahead and removed the ground from the strut tower and was shocked at what I saw. The area where the NEG cable connects was completely painted. Now, I know that the bolt isn't painted where it screws into the strut tower, but you'd think that you would be getting a poor ground the way its set up. Since the engine is mounted on rubber motor mounts, I started looking for a grounding strap from the frame to the engine. I found it, but it was loose where it attaches to the engine. I tightened it up and used some sand paper to wear away the paint on the strut tower to expose bare metal, applied some electrical grease, reattached the ground terminal coming from the NEG battery connection. I'll notice if I see any differences over the next few weeks.

The point of this post is to point out the slight possibility that with a poor ground, the alternator isn't able to deliver the correct charge rate to the battery, possibly leading to premature failure. It's extremely rare for a battery to fail so quickly as the OP and others are stating.
 
#25 ·
Kitty I am glad you got a new battery & sure hope that is the end of it. Of course now I am craving a donut....so there's that.

As a FYI, the battery that came in my car is a Solite (no kidding), by Sungwoo, made in Korea. Model CMF60L-BCI. Haven't had any problems in the first 10 months.
 
#28 ·
Ok, ok, I am seeing a "pattern" here. Are the batteries REALLY dead, or perhaps you guys are just looking for a reason to snack at the local Kia Dealer.

Dang it User, now I want some popcorn too!!
 
#30 ·
I found the same grounding issue on my 2010....so this nonsense has been going on for 5 years. I too replaced the negative cable with a larger diameter one also.

 
#31 ·
TechnoMage We did this to our RAV4s which also has a poor ground.
RAV4 has a weak ground and I always tell people with 4,1s to run extra grounds from battery to firewall and to motor. It is easy and cheap to do and all you need is 4 good connectors,2 pieces of wire a short metal screw to go into firewall after you clean a spot down to bare metal,do not use too long of a screw or drill too deep. Spray with clear paint after. Go to metal part of motor.
No you will not get 20ground but it is hard on it. extra HP but I and others have found it starts quicker and is more responsive.
Some even go with a ground to alt,starter too.
 
#33 ·
You're right, it never hurts to have a few extra grounds. Years ago, I was the not-so-proud owner of a Pontiac Fiero, one of the most poorly grounded cars on the road. I blew through 4 Ignition modules in a row only to find out that the only engine grounding was a single black wire the diameter of a Q-tip. The engine wasn't getting sufficient ground and began to melt the ground wire near the mounting spot on the firewall (which is what precisely caused all of the electrical fires that plagued these cars). I replaced it with a stainless steel flat ribbon ground strap and the problems disappeared.
 
#35 · (Edited)
Grounding was so bad on the Suzuki SX4, that at least one company made and sold a Grounding Kit, that included about seven new grounding cables in various bright colors.

Back to the Soul..... If a person is reluctant to take off the existing grounding cables and clean the paint off underneath them, then they can pick up a 24" cable, with eyelets on both ends, at Walmart or any Auto Parts store and connect it from the NEG terminal on the battery to any available bolt on top of the engine.

I know the old timers have seen these pic's before, but I re-post them here for the newcomers:



The short cable from the NEG terminal on the battery to the Strut Tower is big enough to do its job, if it's bolted down to bare metal and not a painted surface.
The cable that goes off to the left in this picture is the new cable that I added, to provide a good grounding path to the engine starter.



Here's the other end of that 24" cable, where it's bolted down to the engine.

I did all this as "Preventive Maintenance" after reading about the grounding problem on the UK Kia Soul forum. I've never had any starting problems or other electrical failures, since adding the new ground cable. These heavy duty ground cables are really cheap and should not tax anyone's budget.

If you're cleaning up the area under the little ground cable, don't forget the one on the passenger side Strut Tower. It's painted too.

May all your electrical problems be little ones, and not related to poor grounding.

Cheers Mate and Happy Motoring!
TechnoMage :cool:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top