Kia Sportage XS 1996 (50,000 miles) - Very bad vibration

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Mon 27 Jan 2014 21:07
Kia Sportage XS 1996 (50,000 miles) - Very bad vibration - Thebumblebee

Kia Sportage XS (96) 50,000miles
I left my car with a valet parking service at Gatwick.
On collection, the gear change was rather stiff. I noticed almost immediately that the car was locked in 4WD.
I disconnected the 4WD immediately, well before the exit roundabout.
The gear change was still a bit stiff, but loosened up on the journey home, and seemed to be OK.
I drove home well within the speed limits.
Cruising towards (decelerating, no brakes) the Amesbury roundabout on the A303 a terrible vibration started from the rear of the car. Not sure if it was wheels or drive train.
I immediately slipped the clutch, put the car in neutral and cruised to a halt with minimal brake pressure.
I then drove very slowly to a garage about a quarter of a mile off the A303. No vibration.
I then inspected the car and could find nothing wrong.
I then drove home slowly (about 1 hour) and the car performed as normal. No noise or vibration.
It's going to the garage on Friday. What should they look for? Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks

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Mon 27 Jan 2014 21:26
Kia Sportage XS 1996 (50,000 miles) - Very bad vibration - gordonbennet

I don't know enough about the car to know if the 4WD locks a centre diff as would an old school part time 4x4.

If there is a locking centre diff then if someone playing silly blighters has driven round with locked 4WD in non slippery conditions, serious wind up of the transmission can result, including breakages.

I would have thought a soft roader like a Sportage wouldn't have a locking centre diff and would indeed have been designed to operate in full time 4WD in on road conditions.

Handbook should tell you about any dangers of dry road use with 4WD, if no warnings/instructions then you should be OK on that front.

Garage should know what to look for, i'd be jacking up each corner of the car, and with 4WD locked, try to turn the wheel raised which should prove impossible.

Its most annoying, people can't help mucking about with your vehicle when its slightly different to the shopping trolleys they usually drive, they're no better than half wit schoolkids, returned to my Hilux to find 4WD engaged when i collected it once when it had some work done, i know it had been turned round in the workshop concerned, goodness knows what strain it put on the drivetrain, but luckily nothing broke.

Edited by gordonbennet on 27/01/2014 at 21:28

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Mon 27 Jan 2014 21:34
Kia Sportage XS 1996 (50,000 miles) - Very bad vibration - Thebumblebee

Thanks, very helpful. Much appreciated

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Wed 29 Jan 2014 22:04
Kia Sportage XS 1996 (50,000 miles) - Very bad vibration - Big John

Has it not been driven in 4wd for some time? Could have been the valet driver playing!

Just in case - was this a proper valet parking service? In the past there were some dodgy ones that swapped out low mileage engines whilst they had your car and keys for a known period of time. Probably fine but double check engine number.

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