The crankshaft bolt sheared off, causing the harmonic balancer to fail. The engine stalled and I coasted to safety. This happened on the interstate at 75mph. Kia is aware of this and should be held liable.

- Az City, AZ, USA

I have a 2006 Kia Sorento. My 16 year old daughter was driving her brothers to practice and the car totally locked up, the engine failed, she had loss of the power steering, loss of the cooling system, all together loss of control of the vehicle while she was driving and fortunately, for us, she was able to get it off the road safely. This was an extremely hazardous condition not only to her and her brothers but to other drivers on the road and that were around. We had the car towed to a mechanic and he said the bolt sheared off in the engine and he could not get to it and the whole engine would need to be replaced. He suggested we tow it to the local Kia mechanics. After having it towed to the Kia dealership, it was confirmed that the crankshaft bolt sheared off causing damage. I was further told this has been a recurring issue with Kia Sorentos and there was even a recall on this extremely dangerous issue. The dealership tells me my car is not included in the recall. I am at a complete loss as to how this is an on going documented problem with the bolt in models just prior to my Sorento being recalled and the same issue existing in my vehicle and it is not included when it is quite obvious that the problem is the same. Not only did they put my children in a dangerous situation by not disclosing or providing some solution to a problem that they are well aware of and is documented, they have now caused extreme distress. There is a flaw in the manufacturing of their vehicles and an obvious breakdown in their recall process and as a result their customers are suffering! this is a safety issue that should be resolved quickly. Thank goodness no one was hurt, this time! these are people's lives that they are putting at risk daily!

- Jonesboro, AR, USA

Vehicle's battery, brake, and check engine lights came on while parked at home, opened hood, noticed belt was slipping, and crankshaft pulley was spinning almost free. Contacted mechanic who performed most recent maintenance, he attempted to repair work under assumption was faulty. Problem reoccurred 3 months later, mechanic now convinced he is not the cause of this. Research shows common issue with this make/model. Crankshaft bolt appears to break free of pulley. Will require engine block disassembly to determine if crankshaft has been damaged.

- Scottsdale, AZ, USA

With only 46000 miles, I heard a sound, and like everyone else who has posted this problem, no power steering, everything lite up on dash panel. The crank shaft pulley bolt was broken. I was able to get it to a mechanic, he replaced the bolt. Then 3 days ago, the same thing!!! I have had problems with the break lights burning out at least every 3 months-clock changes time. Three years ago the air condition failed, after much debate, Kia fixed it. How can this not be a recall?! if I can get this fixed-never will I buy or recommend a Kia of any kind!!!!!

- Matthews, NC, USA

The same thing has happened three times now. Driving down the road and all of a sudden the brake lights come on, check engine light comes on and now you have no power steering. When popping your hood, you find the two of the three belts have come off and the cam stabilizer pulley has either broke off and the car is no longer running or is wobbling and about to detach from the engine. What has happened is the pin has broke and the bolt has broke or is about to break. This last time that this has happened, I was 80 miles away from home and by the grace of god made it home with my mom and child riding passenger in the car with me. This is a very serious issue and will end up causing a wreck and possibly death.

- Mt. Washington, KY, USA

After doing preventive maintenance replacing timing belt at 60K the drive pulley bolt loosened (after three hours of driving) and the drive pulley popped off the shear pin, loosing control to the steering, breaks that are run by the serpentine belt. Mechanic was able to reconnect drive pulley, pin and bolt to crank shaft. Five months later the same happen. Kia customer service is not returning calls. Kia dealer say's needs a new engine. My vehicle was not one of the ones on the drive bolt recall. The internet is full of people with the same problems spending thousands to repair.

- Ashburn, VA, USA

I was driving down the street in my Kia Sorento 2006 when I heard a loud bang. All of a sudden my car started to break down. The power steering went out, followed by my brakes and finally, my check engine light came on as the rest of the car started to fall apart on the road. The car completely died in the middle of an intersection. My car was towed to a local bp where after inspection I was informed that my engine crank bolt had blown off, destroying my crank shaft, pistons, belts, etc. My engine is ruined and cannot be fixed.

- Mendota Heights, MN, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the vehicle stalled. The contact had the vehicle towed to the dealer. The dealer stated that the crankshaft pulley bolt had seized in the crankshaft and had broken. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 80,000. The consumer stated as her daughter was driving, the check engine light illuminated, and there was a horrible noise coming from the engine. The vehicle was taken to the nearest service center, one mile down the road from her home, but the vehicle became more difficult to steer and when her daughter pulled in the parking lot, she could no longer steer the vehicle and all of the instrument panels light illuminated. The mechanic stated the repair would require the engine being pulled and to repair or replace the crankshaft or replace the engine entirely. Either way, it would be costly. Updated 05/19/14 updated 06/10/14 updated 06/13/2014

- Fenton , MO, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Kia sorrento. The contact stated that while driving 20 mph, she heard a loud banging as the power steering and brakes failed. The vehicle was towed to a certified mechanic and they stated that the harmonic balancer was fractured and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred a few months later. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 56,000. The VIN was unavailable.

- Edge Water Park, NJ, USA

I got this car about a month ago and 3 days after the purchase I could smell the catalytic converter it was extremely strong, then a rumble sound under the car from the exhaust. A day later I was driving to work and the A/C compressor started squealing extremely loud and there was a ticking sound. Took it to the auto dealer I got it from and they said it was the compressor belt, dealer replaced belt and there is still a noise of ticking and a faint screeching noise.. they also said they fixed the exhaust but I am still having issues with the smell. This weekend I was on the highway and I was at 65 mph, there was a loud noise and the engine bogged down and sounded like it died and came back on. I made it home without anymore problems. Today I was driving 40 mph and the engine made a noise and the car bogged again. I was stopped at a light and got up to 40 mph again and the engine did the same thing. This is going to cause serious injuries to somebody. My car is going into the shop Thursday but after reading all the reviews it looks like I just wasted all this money on a piece of junk. Something needs to be done about this before somebody gets killed. I'll contact help me hank as well.

- Worcester, MA, USA

System was in the shop for routine maintenance I.e. new spark plugs, drive belts, and spark plug wires. Picked up the vehicle and drove fine for a day. Upper cat converter got clogged... things just went down hill from there. Crankshaft seal busted, oil pump failed, water pump had to be replaced. Engine rods started knocking. Engine has to be rebuilt. Have been unable to drive my Sorento since March 2013. Bought the Sorento in October 2012. Just had the Sorento in the shop for engine rebuild. Had money set aside from tax returns. I paid the original quoted amount to have the rebuild done. It is costing me $2000 in addition to the base cost that was originally quoted. I don't have that kind of money just laying around for those types of repairs. Oh well... guess I won't be driving my car for another whole year. Oh... one more thing.... since I am the second owner Kia refused to service the vehicle without them wanting over $8000 for a new motor... fyi.... Kia warranty's and BBB are both worthless..

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Kia sorrento. The contact stated that while driving 50 mph, the vehicle stalled as the check engine warning lamp illuminated. The contact mentioned that once the vehicle stalled, he lost control of the steering wheel and crashed into a tree. A police report was filed and no injuries were reported. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but the technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 106,000.

- Wallace, SC, USA

2006 Kia Sorento complaint: Engine, steering, electrical system, exterior lighting, throttle position sensor I am changing the head lights every 4-5 month and I think it needs to be looked at. Was driving 35 mph when the engine light and brake light came on with no warning. And just last week 2/2/2014 the engine stopped and I had no power steering and also no brakes. I was able to coast to a side road and barely got the vehicle to stop. The vehicle was taken to an mechanic, who diagnosed and had to replace a throttle position sensor and a mass air flow meter and air filter and the harmonic balancer. This is crazy these problems and requires extensive and expensive repair to the engine. This indicates to us a manufacturer's design flaw and probable safety issue that should be addressed by Kia worldwide. It's disturbing with how many other complaints I'm reading on this site about the same exact thing! is there any help out there this is too expensive for all these repair. The failure mileage was 73,100.

- Philadelphia, PA, USA

Wife was driving 40 mph when the engine light and brake light came on with no warning. The engine stopped and she had no power steering and also no brakes. She was able to coast to a side road and barely got the vehicle to stop. The steering was very difficult. If it would have broke another 200 feet ahead she would not have been as lucky since there is a very sharp and dangerous curve. The curve has a single guard rail that she more in likely would have went through resulting in a 400 foot drop down a steep hill. Possibly resulting in a fatal crash.the vehicle was towed to coughlin Kia dealership in newark Ohio. We were informed that the crankshaft bolt had broke in the motor. This caused the timing pulling and main pulley to break off. The result was major engine damage.the service manager contacted his Kia regional rep.and was informed the damage was not covered under the 10 yr./100000 mile warranty. We did have the same dealership replace the timing chain 2yrs. Earlier at appr. 57000 miles as Kia requires this maintenance done before 60000 miles.they also replaced the crankshaft bolt as Kia recommends it also. This was a cost of nearly $800 for this service. The estimate for the engine replacement is $4000 on a vehicle valued at $6000. Kia refuses to deal with this issue on these motors. Their was arecall on the 03 & 04 engines but the problem still exist. It is just a matter of time before someone will be killed driving these vehicles.

- Howard, OH, USA

We are the original owners of this vehicle.the engine shuts down-quits at any speed (even idle) last time at 60 miles an hour on the freeway. Luckily was able to get to the shoulder w/O being rear ended. The vehicle refused to start for about 10 minutes. Then I got it started and ran rough a couple of minutes then cleared up the rest of the way. Another occasion the engine quit in the middle of an intersection in 5:00 traffic, causing bad conjestion. The engine light is triggered occasionally but no repair codes are seen when the computer is hooked up. This is happening about every 3 -4 days and maybe 2 X's in a day. This has happened ever since the dealer changed the timing belt-regular maintenence about 80,0000 mi. The vehicle was running and sounding just great before the Kia dealer did this. On the way home, the vehicle went dead and had no power. Got the dealer to take it back. Things were not plugged in--alternator etc. The mechanic was in a hurry to leave for the weekend. Now left lifter bank clatters upon startup a code was given that the dealer did not clear the computer when the belt was changed. We cleared it and the engine still quits. The dealer went out of business (go figure). Also the air conditioning quit due to a line that was split possibly when the mechanic was working on the timing belt. Someone is going to get hurt (accident) if this vehicle continues to do this.no one seems to know what is wrong.

- Newman Lake, WA, USA

I was merging onto a highway when all of a sudden I heard a loud thud and my battery light & E brake light came on and I lost power steering. I was able to drive the vehicle to a local mechanic who informed me that the harmonic balancer had fallen off due to the crankshaft bolt shearing off. Once it was fixed by an ase certified mechanic, approximately 8000 miles later I was driving to work and the car started shaking like I was driving on rumble strips. I took it back to a service garage and after replacing the harmonic balancer and crankbolt again they came to the conclusion that the crankshaft was bent. The garage suggested replacing the entire crankshaft and balancer and then having the engine rebalanced or a complete engine replacement both of which are greater than $3500 to repair on a vehicle that's worth about $5500..it's been approximately $2000 that I've already spent to correct this problem and the problem still exists. It's at a local Kia dealership now, where I purchased the vehicle and they told me that it's not fixable and they can only recommend to replace the engine which would cost $6,700 for a used engine with 71,000 miles on it. It seems that this same issue happens on these motors between 60K and 90K miles then from doing some research, it seems after repairs are done the same problem happens approximately 6K-10K miles later. After looking into it, it leads me to believe that the only cause of this problem would be manufacturer defects and faulty parts. This has caused me to be out of a vehicle since mid November of 2012. It's disturbing with how many other complaints I'm reading on this site about the same exact thing!

- Slippery Rock, PA, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the brake and battery lights illuminated as the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to restart moments later. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they stated that a bolt in the crank shaft was fractured and the engine would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 99,440. 8/26/13 the consumer also stated the belts and crank pulley broker

- Springfield, OH, USA

From 9/2011 to 7/2013 my 2006 Kia has had this problem 3 times and is currently in the shop. While driving I hear a weird noise and then all the dashboard warning lights come on and I lose power steering. When checking under the hood, the belts have all fallen off, a pulley is laying under engine as is a bolt. The last time the bolt had broken off causing the pulley to fall off. Mechanic found that the crankshaft sprocket was broken. I'm not sure about today as the car is at the shop with the bolt laying under the engine, but the drive pin that goes into the sprocket of the pulley fell out the bottom when being lifted onto the tow truck.

- San Leandro, CA, USA

I was driving and noticed the 4-wheel light came on. I stopped the car and waited a few minutes. When I turned the car back on it was making a noise. Upon further investigation, I found the crankshaft very loose. The car is presently at the repair garage awaiting an estimate.

- Glenwood, IL, USA

My 22 year old daughter was driving the car at college when it suddenly lost power steering and then shut down in traffic in the middle of an intersection. Luckily she was not on a curvy road when the power steering went out. We had the car towed and after mechanic's inspection were told that the crankshaft bolt "wobbled" loose and disrupted the timing belt assembly shutting down the engine. This $2 bolt has caused an estimated $3500 repair bill or even an engine replacement. Our research has uncovered to us that this is a common problem with this 3.5L engine. This bolt either breaks or wobbles out of it's threading to cause timing belt problems and requires extensive and expensive repair to the engine. This indicates to us a manufacturer's design flaw and probable safety issue that should be addressed by Kia worldwide.

- Roswell, GA, USA