Timing chain, belt or tensioner failure on the 2004 Kia Sorento
1 injury 1 of the 12 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When timing chain, belt or tensioner failure gets reported
Owners of the 2004 Kia Sorento report timing chain, belt or tensioner failure at a median of 75,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 115,000 miles, from 11 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 120,000 miles. It is the 10th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 50,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 140,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 87,685 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50,000 miles | 57,000 miles | 76,000 miles | 116,843 miles | 137,685 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 an injury is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $1,200–$4,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 9 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2014, at a median of 40,000 miles, and latest on the 2011 at 120,000 miles.
By volume the 2006 carries the most reports, with 23; the 2004 has 12. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I have a 2004 magentis which I heard is like the serento. The timing belt jumped and this took out the motor. Up to this I loved my car. Kia said there was nothing they could do but replace the engine at my cost and I would not get it back until it was paid for. Well being a single mother of 4, still making payments on the car for another 4 more years. Needless to say I have a car with no motor and making payments. *tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 kia sorento. While driving approximately 30 MPH on normal road conditions, the engine stalled unexpectedly and restarted after several attempts. The check engine warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel and remained lit until the engine was turned off. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and they stated that the manifold gasket failed. The vehicle was repaired under warranty. On six separate occasions, the vehicle was taken back to the authorized dealer for identical failures, but there were no resolutions. The contact was responsible for the repair expense because the warranty expired. The authorized dealer replaced the crankshaft, crankshaft sensor, timing belt, and drive belt. The failure mileage was 50,000 and current mileage was 66,000. Updated 12/23/08 the air bag illuminated and would not go out, even when someone was seated in. The headlight was blown, the rear hatch would not stay up. The dealer had to order hood struts. Updated 12/23/08.*jb
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 kia sorento. While driving approximately 30 MPH on normal road conditions, the engine stalled unexpectedly and restarted after several attempts. The check engine warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel and remained lit until the engine was turned off. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and they stated that the manifold gasket failed. The vehicle was repaired under warranty. On six separate occasions, the vehicle was taken back to the authorized dealer for identical failures, but there were no resolutions. The contact was responsible for the repair expense because the warranty expired. The authorized dealer replaced the crankshaft, crankshaft sensor, timing belt, and drive belt. The failure mileage was 50,000 and current mileage was 66,000. Updated 12/23/08 the air bag illuminated and would not go out, even when someone was seated in. The headlight was blown, the rear hatch would not stay up. The dealer had to order hood struts. Updated 12/23/08.*jb
Also reported on the 2004 Kia Sorento
Other engine problem
Radiator or coolant leak
Other powertrain problem
Other electrical problem
Other body or interior problem
Differential or transfer case failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 12 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does timing chain, belt or tensioner failure happen on the 2004 Kia Sorento?
Across 11 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 75,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 115,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is timing chain, belt or tensioner failure on the 2004 Kia Sorento?
12 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed