General Kia Rondo Thread

[Bob]

Also true:

The Rondo seems to have all the negatives of a minivan with none of the positives.

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/kia/rond ... -update-3/

[kevm14]

Yeah I get it. All of the drivability, performance and fuel economy of a 10-15 year old minivan, with none of the passenger space/cargo/usability advantages.

[Bob]

But no sliding door stigma, like the Mazda5.

[Bob]

Filled up this morning (first full tank since lockup was resurrected). I got 20.3 MPG compared to an average of 18.5 over my previous 3 tanks. It's too early to say whether this really made a difference, but it is interesting. The other tanks were very consistently in the mid-18s (18.3, 18.4, 18.7). Also, I have been using A/C more recently, both on the way to work and the way home, so that should have reduced my mileage.

In general, I am kind of on the fence about doing some of the basic maintenance stuff that needs to be done (new, higher quality front rotors, spark plugs) because I'm not sure how long I am going to keep the Rondo at this point and if I spend money on it, I may be encouraged to keep it longer. I would be interested to see if replacing the OEM plugs that now have 98k on them would improve the fuel economy at all.

[kevm14]

If they are iridium or even double platinum, it is unlikely they are worn out.

[Bob]

Based on 30 seconds of internet research, I think they are iridium. Maybe I won't bother since it's not a piece of cake job like doing it on a I4. You have to take the intake manifold off to do the rear bank.

[Bob]

Looks like I might be doing plugs after all. I went to leave the YMCA tonight and it started running rough at start up - very bad misfiring, although it smoothed out at WOT. I went home and read the code: P0303 (Cylinder 3 misfire). As luck would have it, Cylinder 3 is one of the ones that is buried under the intake manifold. I ordered a coil from Rock Auto, because they had by far the best deal on the OE Denso one. I am still shopping for plugs.

Tutorial on plug replacement for future reference: https://www.newtiburon.com/forums/diy-e ... ement.html

[Bob]

Ordered the OEM NGK plugs and intake manifold gasket from Advance Auto since they were slightly cheaper than Amazon after some coupon codes. Also, I worry about counterfeit stuff on Amazon (the plugs).

[Bob]

I replaced all the plugs yesterday and pulled the intake off. The coil will arrive today. After what a pain in the ass the intake removal was, I really wish I had purchased 3 coils for the rear bank.

[kevm14]

It does kind of suck to have the complexity and parts count of a V6 with 4 cylinder performance.