2011 Kia Rio LX

The vehicle has had some problems lately just cutting off, but today it got worse. As I was driving the engine light flashed and it kind of sputtered and the RPM needle went immediately to zero. It has done this a few times in the past few days and I've just thrown it into Neutral and restarted. Today it would not cut back on until after about 15-20minutes. After waiting for a good amount of time the engine will fire right back up like nothing is wrong. Only after running for about 15mins does it sputter again and the rpm needle drops to 0 again.

When the rpm needle drops it takes another 20mins to restart it if I cut it off. It is also important to add, the service engine light does not stay on. It just flashes and is off again, so I could not have it scanned at the automotive store.

I was wondering if it's some failsafe for overheating? I've checked all the liquids.

Take it to Autozone or Advanced Auto and get them to plug in a scanner. It costs noting to find out the error code, then you can move forward from there.

I would unhook the battery for 10 to 15 mins and see if EDU will reset it self.

Get it scanned to see if it kept any codes.
Cam position sensor? My truck did that , I have a spare in glove box now .
Can you hear the fuel pump running when it won't start? Just turn key on , should hear it.

Bad ignition coil, fuel pump, bad crankshaft sensor ? Water in the fuel tank ?

Not sure what's wrong with it. Could be a number of things.

But when the engine light starts flashing, there's real issues

I used to do that , being it was free and all , but then realised my time and gas was worth something and fought the moths in my wallet for the $40 or so I paid for this online. Basic , but does the job.



That works. If it is just a stray/fluke code , it will be good. If it flags again quickly , you should be able to get a code from the OB2 port with a scanner tool.

Like has been said, need to get it scanned and see what codes come up. It sounds like the fuel pump is losing pressure as it warms up. Cools down after sitting awhile and starts up and has good pressure until it warms up and losing pressure again. Some vehicles have fuel pressure sensors that will show what the pressure is on the scan tool. Not sure if yours does or not. May have to put a fuel pressure gauge on it and start it up and watch the gauge and just let it sit there and idle. As it starts running rough watch the guage and see if the pressure starts dropping. As the pressure drops the rougher it will run until it finally dies.

That’s one of the things it could be. Many more possibilities

Get the codes read and post them and we’ll go from there.

If the CE light goes out you may not be able to read codes unless CE light is on steady.

Could be bad gas, water in gas. Especially if it does it’s under 1/4 tank. I would fill it with some 91 octane with no ethanol and see if it comes out of it. Adding starbrite enzime treatment will help if it’s a water/ethanol problem.

I'm sorry. I meant to post earlier. I cannot have it be scanned as the Engine Light will not stay on. I had it scanned at O'Reilley's twice and nothing showed up. The code wont stay on the dash.

Yeah, that’s what makes me think fuel. Does it have under a 1/4 tank do you know?

Check the fuel pressure regulator. Mine would shut off randomly but started right after. Pulled the vacuum line off the regulator and it was full of gas

I'll check it out next chance I get. It is less than half a tank. When I fill the tank, I have to fill it while the car is on or it will have a hard time starting after putting gas in. Could it be a sensor in the engine? Could it be a fuel pump relay? It looks like some kind of fuse in the box under the hood. I've been watching youtube trying to figure it out.

I just figured if it was a fuse it wouldnt work at all. It wouldnt just have trouble. It starts if it has been sitting and wont cut back on for 20mins when I cut it off.

I wouldn’t put gas in it, I would do the fuel pressure test like I said earlier. You may have to drop the tank to put a new fuel pump in and a full tank of gas will only make it harder.

Test the vacuum and see what that says to you.

try taking the gas cap off and see if that changes anything

if you have to run the car while you put gas in or it doesn't want to start , that sounds like you might be having fuel system issues , your car is supposed to vent the tank while you fill so you can get gas in , but when the gas door closes or the car is running not vent.

most code scanners can see logged and pending codes I would see if they can give you any more info , start reading on fuel system issues with the kia , not sure what the relay wiring diagram looks like but it wouldn't surprise me if the pump and vent circuit have some relationship.

a little search on the fueling issue
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/Discussion-t62590_ds757807

sounds like evap vent and cap play a part in the issues with this

Just looked it up, the fuel ump is Uber the back seat. So if it is the fuel pump that saves you a lot of work. It’s actually pretty easy to change like that