[hastetday]

Hi all! I started having an issue about a year ago where my 2013 Kia Soul (!) would stutter at the lower end of a gear when accelerating or cruise control. Example, the 6th gear engages around 40mph; if I slowly accelerated at around 41-42mph, then the car would stutter and RPMs would dip for about 2-3 seconds before the car would either shift down to 5th gear or raise the RPMs in 6th to get power. I had the battery and alternator both replaced about a month ago, which helped the issue, but did not fix it. Additionally, I started the car up yesterday and it took about 10 seconds to actually crank up, and once it did, the tachometer (RPM gauge) stayed at zero after ignition; driving it around the parking lot revealed that the car wouldn't downshift at all and only shift up into 4th gear. I had to put it in neutral to get the gear to go back down. At no point has a check engine light or battery light turned on.

Any advice or ideas would be helpful as I've already spent a ton in diagnostics and repairs.

 

[Fishteach]

Check the recall at https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/kia/soul/2012/reliability.

 

[hastetday]

Check the recall at https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/kia/soul/2012/reliability.

I wish that applied to my model, but unfortunately the recall only applies to 1.6L engines, and the exclaim is a 2.0L.

 

[Buzz]

Howdy and welcome to the forums!
It's also good to check the grounding location of your negative battery cable to the chassis. Mine had paint under it so I removed it to make a good connection.

Frequently Asked Questions

The following topics have some help. Click on the link and read the included material. The material cannot be edited. If you have any suggestions/questions/additional topics leave those in a reply posts below. HELP INDEX FAQ INDEX FAQ BACKGROUND INFORMATION FAQ CONVERSATIONS FAQ REPLIES &...

www.kiasoulforums.com

 

[Black Sheep]

My 2012 ! would sputter at idle. It ended up being a coil pack but it never threw up the check engine light. I did a throttle body clean up with seafoam and changed the plugs too. Runs like new.

 

[hastetday]

My 2012 ! would sputter at idle. It ended up being a coil pack but it never threw up the check engine light. I did a throttle body clean up with seafoam and changed the plugs too. Runs like new.

You, sir, are a genius! I missed this message when it was posted, but I finally heard back that they found that the ignition coil on Cylinder #2 had a carbon tracker on it that had punctured a small hole through the plastic. As a result, any spark in that cylinder would arc out and ground itself to the engine, but only if the RPMs were low enough to warrant the time for the ground to happen. After all the money, I definitely have a new understanding for my car and the intricacies of modern vehicles. Now to save up to replace the other 3 as a proactive measure and replace the spark plugs since I'm at 90k miles...

Thank you to everyone!