New Transmission on 2016 Soul EV

[jezroj]

After just owning our EV for 15 days and driving it less than 900 miles, a new transmission is being placed in the vehicle as I type. The car was leaking some type of oil, but wait, it does not have oil, so let's call it clear liquid that felt oily. Took the vehicle to the agency and they thought it was gear lubricant of some sort, they kept the car overnight and would not return our calls or e-mails the next day. Two days later, Kia Customer Service called to do a service followup and I just flipped, she said that someone would be calling us shortly. At the end of the day, I gave up and called again, I was then told that a new transmission had been ordered and that we could keep the loaner car till the end of the week. They expected our car to be ready by Friday and would call us by Thursday or Friday. New transmission at 900 miles, wow!

 

[JejuSoul]

The only other report of this kind of problem was in Germany. The driver put the car into 'P' while driving. The transmission cost 5000 Euros to replace.

 

[jezroj]

We definitely did not do that, but that does not mean that it was not done prior to the sale even though the vehicle only had nine miles on it. I know the service department was stumped and had no idea what the fluid was. It did not take them long to track down where it was coming from, but they could not understand why it was coming from there. It took the service department another two days to figure out what it was and how they were going to fix the leak. I understand that one should not put the transmission into "P" while driving, but then again you should not be allowed to do so.

 

[mtndrew1]

I believe it's part of the US FMVSS that an automatic transmission be allowed to select Park while in motion in order to provide a last resort for an out of control vehicle, even if it destroys the drivetrain.

 

[jezroj]

Destroys it will

 

[JejuSoul]

I continued looking to see if any other EVs had had problems like this.
On the Leaf forum it seems like no-one has had this problem. see http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=18478&sid=236d0684a86322dfb8525097936dfbbe
But mention is made that the problem has occured with the iMiev.
There is also this picture of a Mercedes Benz B-Class

The Soul EV manual states that the reduction gear oil should be checked every 60,000km.

 

[jezroj]

I have now confirmed what I had thought all along and that was that this vehicle had to use some sort of oil. We were told by the EV Sales Manager Specialist at Kearny Pearson KIA in San Diego that the EV Soul did not use any oil and therefore no maintenance is required on the vehicle i.e. do not buy the extended maintenance contract and the Finance Department does not even have a price on one for the Soul EV, but if you would like the paint protection package, they can quote you on that. Moral of the story is document everything and read your Auto Maintenance Manual.

 

[JejuSoul]

Have recently seen two new reports of this happening. A reminder do not move the gear lever into 'P' while the car is driving.
One in Norway was caused by a 4 year old passenger.
One in France by someone testing a new car.

Moving the gear lever into 'P' while the car is driving risks destroying the transmission.
Pictures by Alkl from the German Forum - Kaputtes Getriebe

Broken holder (top center)


Second gear half with gear wheel for park claw (far right)


Hole in Transmission


Remember the car is behaving as it is supposed to do in this case.

I believe it's part of the US FMVSS that an automatic transmission be allowed to select Park while in motion in order to provide a last resort for an out of control vehicle, even if it destroys the drivetrain.

 

[mysoulev]

Does it really stop the car when you shift to P?

I remember 30 years ago i by mistake shifted to P while backing up (it was a 77 Monte Carlo) and i could hear some clicking noise but the car didn't even slow down.

 

[ricardar]

Yep, reduction gear oil lubricates the gears and (in some EV motors) also helps aid in cooling. The oil tends to stay way cleaner because you don't have combustion, but under severe usage (again, in some motors) the rotors/stators can get hot enough to start breaking down certain types of oils, and you can get coking. Time to take the EV for an oil change, honey!

 

[SoulEV2016]

Engine is not very high at maximal use : http://www.mykiasoulev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=629&p=4707