[FlNiro]

This problem has been reported here several times on the early models like yours so a Kia dealer should be aware of it. I'm not sure what state your from but a lot of states go by the Ca. emissions warranty which has a longer period so check on that. I would do more homework here and other sites to see if anybody got covered by a "Goodwill" warranty. Good luck, keep trying.

 

[Leanne]

coolant enters heat exchanger and exits making heat faster in the cabin

 

[Leanne]

Based on what we read here and after a diagnostic test at a Kia dealer for 150.00 it was confirmed that the heat exchanger was the issue. For them to replace was 2500. Husband decided to bypass instead. Since it is just a luxury to have faster heat.. we'll see if it works well. So far so good. ...bypassing heat exchanger (used a brass 90 elbow and clamped hoses together

 

[Mikek7]

Thanks for the pictures, I'll keep it in mind when I have issue with my Niro and I'll do the same bypass.

 

[MavJay75]

Based on what we read here and after a diagnostic test at a Kia dealer for 150.00 it was confirmed that the heat exchanger was the issue. For them to replace was 2500. Husband decided to bypass instead. Since it is just a luxury to have faster heat.. we'll see if it works well. So far so good. ...bypassing heat exchanger (used a brass 90 elbow and clamped hoses together View attachment 7954

Hi Leanne, I'm definitely intrigued with the bypass idea. I might try that myself, as we are now losing a gallon of coolant a week! What size brass 90 degree fitting did he find works? How is your car heat working now, and is your engine coolant staying stable?

 

[jimreidsing]

I have a 2018 Niro. I had been having an issue with coolant leaking for several weeks. I couldn't see any evidence of it leaking anywhere inside the engine or under the car. there was occasionally steam from the exhaust, but only after driving a fair distance. It was very cold outside, so, I'm not sure that's really evidence. My first indication was that the heat would stop working. I checked the coolant first as I've had experience with other vehicles concerning low coolant and no heat. It wasn't a fast leak. It would only leak about a cup a day. Also, it would only leak if I'd been driving enough. I tried letting it idle in the driveway for more than an hour on two different days and the coolant level never changed. I had brought it to my regular mechanic and had it flushed and they couldn't find any leaks. I finally brought it to the dealer and they told me it was the exhaust heat exchanger. They said I could drive it while i was waiting for a replacement part which was covered under warranty as long as i kept up the coolant level. It didn't take long to change the part, and I haven't had a problem since.

Hi,

what was the km on your vehicle. Were you under the original warranty or the 8 years / 130,000 km (78,000 miles) warranty? Thanks. Your location in US or in Canada?
Jim

 

[FlNiro]

Hi Leanne, I'm definitely intrigued with the bypass idea. I might try that myself, as we are now losing a gallon of coolant a week! What size brass 90 degree fitting did he find works? How is your car heat working now, and is your engine coolant staying stable?

Pay attention to the other thread about blown head gasket. Be super careful driving your Niro while it's losing coolant, don't let it overheat and blow the head gasket.

 

[jerry.ward.001]

Noticed my 2017 Kia Niro was smoking really bad the other day. Thought it could be the hewad gasket until I found this thread. Noticed coolant was low after 4 days of it smoking, it never over-heated. No light came on, on the dash. I stopped driving it and took it to Kia dealership. They just called back and said they can't get it to smoke... When they call back I will see if they can check the heat exchanger. Everything seems fine when driving.

 

[FlNiro]

They should know about it, seems to be a common problem for a batch of 2017's

 

[jimreidsing]

We noticed our 2017 Niro's(85,300 km/ 51,000 miles) heater stopped giving heat. No overheating or low coolant warnings showed up on the car's display. Engine temperatures were normal whenever we checked them. We immediately took it to our local garage to have the car's heating and coolant systems checked out. During the last two weeks it was -27 °C (-15°F) at times in our province. We needed heat. Not having it was not an option.
Our local garage found it was leaking coolant through the exhaust heat recovery unit that is welded to the exhaust near the catalytic converter. These units in turn are welded together as one unit, that is one replacement part. It is my understanding these two units cannot be serviced or replaced independently , they are effectively one welded unit. If one or the function fails you have to buy both. To me that as a consumer makes no sense at all. It makes Kia look less than favourable in the eyes of a customer. The cost of the part before installation and taxes is $3,800 $$Canadian $$. The local garage topped up the antifreeze to the correct level, we noted the number of kilometers on the odometer and a week or so later after maybe 1000 km of driving we noticed the same problem again. In the meantime I had contacted the dealer and had made an appointment for them to do a coolant diagnostic test and inspection last Friday. Later that day we were told by the dealer that indeed there was a leak through the exhaust heat recovery unit and also that we could not drive the car in its present condition. So presently our car has been in the Dealer's Service Centre over the weekend. The general five year / 100,000 km warranty, I believe expired 3 1/2 months ago in Oct 2022. A week before that warranty expiration I put the car into the Dealer's Service Department specifically to deal with potential looming warranty problems, I was assured the car was free of problems. However the Emissions warranty of 8 years or 130,000 km / 78,000 miles is still in effect and I believe the car is still covered under Canadian Emissions Law. The Dealership has put in a request to Kia to cover the $3800 parts replacement costs. Service Departments are closed over the weekend and at this point, it is early in the week and we have not heard back from the dealer but we are hoping for a positive decision in our favour. The Niro is a great little car. I don't know if, in newer models, they have physically separated the exhaust units, ) the exhaust heat recovery module and the catalytic converter), from each other making two distinct replacement parts, thus reducing the financial pain to their customers when one fails. It makes good PR sense to me.

 

[TNDriver]

Lawyer up if you need to. If you are the original owner the powertrain warranty goes 10 years. But either way, Kia knows about this and recalls ought to be in order.

 

[FlNiro]

Kia should make good since it's a known problem. I don't know how it works in Canada but here in the USA it should be fixed under the emissions warranty since like you say it's part of the catalytic converter. Also here in the US if your in Ca. or your state has adopted the Ca. emissions laws the warranty is extended even longer.

 

[jerry.ward.001]

The Kia dealership I go to has new folks in the service department. I told them it smoked bad and was using coolant. They had it 6 hours and I called them to see if they found out anything. They said they can't get it to smoke at all. They did a pressure test and called me back 2 hours later and said they finally got it to smoke. So, it has cost me $250 just for them to see it "smoke". They told me its most likely a cylinder head compression issue (or head gasket) but they didn't know for sure. Then they asked me what I wanted them to do. This is when I told them about the EHRS/heat exchanger. They had no clue at all about it obviously. So, in order for them to check it out, they said they would need to isolate that area of the exhaust to see if that was the problem, but it would cost an additional $250. He told me 2 or 3 times: "You tell me what to do, and we'll do it." I thought mechanics were supposed to figure out what's wrong, I'm not a mechanic! I think they need to go back to school. I told them what it was doing but they ALWAYS have to see for themselves, on your dime, even though I already told them. It's infuriating. What a waste of $250. My dad is handy with everything, so he is going to look into bypassing the heat exchanger. Seems simple enough.

 

[TNDriver]

This is a problem a lot of people buying hybrids & EVs are going to run into. Call the Kia dealers around your region and find one that has the most certified techs for these cars.

 

[jimreidsing]

Update on previous post Feb 13, 2023. The dealer service department has been given the go ahead by Kia to replace the unit (leaking Coolant) containing the Exhaust Heat Recovery Module and Catalytic Converter at no charge to me. This also includes no labour nor diagnostic charges to me. I am thankful for their decision to back up the warranty on their cars. It gives me confidence in their cars and in Kia. As a result of this experience I will seriously consider them again when it comes to a car purchase in the future. I can now look forward to driving my 2017 Niro trouble free, hopefully for years to come.

 

[FlNiro]

Update on previous post Feb 13, 2023. The dealer service department has been given the go ahead by Kia to replace the unit (leaking Coolant) containing the Exhaust Heat Recovery Module and Catalytic Converter at no charge to me. This also includes no labour nor diagnostic charges to me. I am thankful for their decision to back up the warranty on their cars. It gives me confidence in their cars and in Kia. As a result of this experience I will seriously consider them again when it comes to a car purchase in the future. I can now look forward to driving my 2017 Niro trouble free, hopefully for years to come.

Excellent and glad to hear this. I think you have a good dealer also which helps a lot. To the other people that are having this trouble you should print out this thread and others having to do with this problem and take it to your GENERAL manager at your dealership and ask them why their service dept. doesn't have a clue how to service a Niro when other dealers clearly do.

 

[jerry.ward.001]

Here is an update: So, I paid the Kia dealership the $250 for nothing, then my dad performed the above-mentioned bypass method with the elbow (took him less than 2 hours). Not smoking at all anymore, and the coolant is remaining at the same level (full). He drove it 40 miles to burn the rest of the coolant out of the exhaust that had been leaking. I thought that by bypassing the heat exchanger, it would affect the heater inside the car and not be as warm, but it seems to be the same. Maybe not "as" hot but very close. Seems like this poorly designed heat exchanger (EHRS) system was designed to make customers spend more of their hard-earned money in the hopes that they will return to a Kia dealership for the expensive fix to line their pockets. What if I would have been a person that didn't read this thread and opted to tell the Kia morons to go ahead with the Cylinder Head fix and it still smoked afterward? I could have been out $5,000 and more... Sickens me to think of that. The service techs were definitely of no help at all to me. After the bypass it drives exactly the same as it always has. I hope these forums help more folks with this issue. Thanks to you all for your posts and photos!

 

[dqball1978]

My car started having these problems before the 80.000 miles and they were unable to find it but now that it is over 80,000 miles they say they cannot go back in time to honor the warranty and yes i was also told $2,000 as well. It is sad that this seems to be a faulty part and they are not at least working with owners to help fix the problem. Did anyone have performance issues as well during their problem?

 

[FlNiro]

If you have documentation to prove you complained about this problem before the warranty ran out and think it was mis diagnosed I think you have good standing with Kia. Also since it's part of the catalytic converter it should be covered under the emissions warranty. And if your state is Ca. or goes by the Ca. emissions standards the warranty is even longer. I would really look into this and tell them they can deal with you or your lawyer.

 

[dqball1978]

If you have documentation to prove you complained about this problem before the warranty ran out and think it was mis diagnosed I think you have good standing with Kia. Also since it's part of the catalytic converter it should be covered under the emissions warranty. And if your state is Ca. or goes by the Ca. emissions standards the warranty is even longer. I would really look into this and tell them they can deal with you or your lawyer.

unfortunatley we got it in at about 81,000 miles but the problem started before that. We probably have no leg to stand on, we just feel like we were given the runaround how they talked And treated us. My detailed forms to go over were “exhaust”. One word and that is all and the price. The first time we brought itin they said it was the oil filter that set off the check engine light and the lack of performance. Not sure we will be buying another Kia if this is the way things go.