2005 KIA Sportage engine

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Driving tips
 Driving too fast through large pud-
dles can affect your brakes. If you
must go through puddles, try to
drive through them slowly.
 If you believe you may have gotten
your brakes wet, apply them lightly
while driving until normal braking
operation returns.
Winter driving We recommend that you carry
emergency equipment, including
tire chains, a window scraper,
windshield de-icer, a bag of sand
or salt, flares, a small shovel and
jumper cables.
 Make sure you have sufficient eth-
ylene-glycol coolant in the radiator.
 Check the battery condition and
cables. Cold temperatures reduce
the capacity of any battery, so it
must be in excellent condition to
provide enough winter starting
power.
 Make sure the engine oil viscosity
is suitable for cold weather.
 Check the ignition system for loose
connections and damage. Use antifreeze-formulated wind-
shield washer fluid. (Do not use
engine coolant antifreeze.)
 Do not use the parking brake if it
might freeze. When parking, shift
to 1 (First) or R (Reverse) with a
manual transaxle or P (Park) with
an automatic transaxle and block
the rear wheels.
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USING FOUR-WHEEL DRIVEDriving on snow- or Ice-cov-
ered roads (“4WD LOCK” for
full-time 4WD operation)  Use snow tires. See “Tires” in this
section for more information.
 Keep an adequate distance
between yourself and other vehi-
cles.
 Avoid sudden braking, acceleration
or steering. These actions can
cause your vehicle to lose traction.
Driving in sand or mud (“4WD
LOCK” for full-time 4WD opera-
tion)  Avoid sudden braking, acceleration
or steering. These actions can
cause your vehicle to get stuck in
the sand or mud.
 Drive at low speeds whenever pos-
sible.
 You may need to get out of your
vehicle at times to check road con-
ditions.
 If you get stuck in the sand or mud,
try placing stones, wood or other
similar materials under the tires to
get traction, or move forward and
backward repeatedly to get
unstuck.
✽ ✽
NOTICEProlonged rocking may cause engine
damage, overheating, transaxle dif-
ferential or transfer case damage or
failure and tire damage.
WARNING
- Traction
Make sure that no one stands in
front of or behind the tires when
materials are placed under the
tires to get more traction. The
tires may cause loose materials
to fly out from under the vehicle,
potentially causing serious bod-
ily injury or death.
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Off-road driving with your
four-wheel drive vehicleOff-road driving can be great fun. But
it has definite hazards. The greatest
of these is the terrain itself.
“Off-roading” means you’ve left the
paved road system behind. Traffic
lanes are not marked. Curves are not
banked.
There are no carefully engineered
road signs to warn you of dangerous
conditions or to advise you of a safe
speed. You have to assess the envi-
ronment yourself. Surfaces can be
slippery, rough, uphill or downhill.
Off-road driving involves learning
new skills. That’s why it’s important
that you read and understand this
section. You’ll find useful driving
information and suggestions. These
will help make your off-road driving
safer and more enjoyable.
Before you go off-roadingThere are some things to do before
you leave the paved roads. Be sure
to have all necessary maintenance
and service work done beforehand.
Be sure to read all the information
about your four-wheel drive vehicle
in this manual. Is there enough fuel?
Is the spare tire fully inflated? Are the
fluid levels at the proper levels? What
are the local laws that apply to off-
roading where you’ll be driving? If
you don’t know, you should check
with law enforcement people in the
area. Will you be on someone’s pri-
vate land? If so, be sure to get the
necessary permission.
Loading your vehicle for off-road
drivingThere are some important items to
remember about how to properly
load your vehicle.
 The heaviest things should be in
the cargo area and forward of your
rear axle. Place heavier items as
far forward as you can.
 Be sure the load is properly
secured, so driving over off-road
terrain doesn’t shift your load or
throw items toward the driver or
passengers.
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Getting familiar with off-road driv-
ingIt’s necessary for you to practice in
an area that’s safe and close to
home before you begin serious off-
road driving. Off-road driving
requires new and different driving
skills.
You need to tune your senses to dif-
ferent kinds of signals. For example,
constantly sweep the terrain with
your eyes looking for unexpected
obstacles. Listen for unusual tire,
gear, or engine sounds. Feel and
respond to the vibrations of the vehi-
cle with your hands, feet, and body
while still carefully controlling your
vehicle. You’ll also need to adjust
your expectations and greatly lower
the number of miles you expect to
cover in an hour or a day.Controlling your vehicle is the key to
successful off-road driving. One of
the best ways to control your vehicle
is to control your speed. Here are
some things to keep in mind when
traveling at higher speeds:
 You approach things faster and you
have less time to scan the terrain
for obstacles.
 You have less time to react.
 You have much more vehicle
bounce when you drive over obsta-
cles, giving you less vehicle con-
trol.
 You’ll need more distance for brak-
ing, especially since you’re on an
unpaved surface. Such terrain will
always be more “slippery” than a
paved road.
WARNING -
Off road driv-
ing
When you’re driving off-road,
bouncing and quick changes in
direction can easily throw you
out of position. This could
cause you to lose control of the
vehicle and crash. So, whether
you are driving on or off the
road, you and your passengers
should always wear safety belts.
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Stalling while driving uphill
What should I do if my vehicle stalls,
or is about to stall, and I can’t make
it up the hill?If your vehicle stalls, or is about to
stall while driving uphill, there are
some things you should do, and
there are some things you must not
do. First, here’s what you should do:
 Push the brake pedal to stop the
vehicle and keep it from rolling
backwards. Also, apply the parking
brake.
 If your engine is still running, shift
the transaxle into reverse, release
the parking brake, and slowly back
down the hill in reverse. If your engine has stopped run-
ning, you’ll need to restart it. With
the brake pedal depressed and the
parking brake still applied, shift a
manual transaxle to N (Neutral), or
an automatic transaxle to P (Park)
and restart the engine. Then, shift
to reverse, release the parking
brake, and slowly back down the
hill in reverse.
 As you are backing down the hill,
put your left hand on the steering
wheel at the 12 o’clock position.
This way, you’ll be able to tell if
your wheels are straight or turned
to the left or right as you back
down.Here are some things you must not
do if you stall, or are about to stall,
when going up a hill.
 Never attempt to prevent a stall by
depressing the clutch or shifting to
N (Neutral) to “rev-up” the engine
and regain forward momentum.
This won’t work. Your vehicle will
roll backwards very quickly and
you could go out of control or roll
over.
Instead, apply the brake to stop the
vehicle. Then apply the parking
brake. Shift into reverse, release the
parking brake, and slowly back
down.
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Stalled on a steep uphillIf your vehicle stalls and you can’t
back down the hill, try this: Set the
parking brake, put your transaxle in 1
(First) gear or P (Park), and turn the
engine off. Leave the vehicle and get
some help. If your vehicle is at an
angle to the slope of the hill, exit the
vehicle on the uphill side and stay
clear of the path the vehicle would
take if it rolled downhill. Leave it in 1
(First) gear for manual transaxle or P
(Park) for automatic transaxle.
CAUTION
Never attempt to turn around if
you are about to stall when
going up a hill. If the hill is steep
enough to stall your vehicle, it’s
steep enough to cause you to
roll over if you turn around. If
you can’t make it up, you must
back down the hill.
WARNING
- Exiting vehicle
Getting out on the downhill
(low) side of a vehicle stopped
across an incline is dangerous.
If the vehicle rolls over, you
could be crushed or fatally
injured. Always get out on the
uphill (high) side of the vehicle
and stay well clear of the
rollover path.
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Driving downhillWhen off-roading takes you downhill,
you’ll want to consider many of the
same things you thought about
before you went uphill. As a brief
reminder, those include:
 How steep is the downhill? Will I be
able to maintain vehicle control?
 What’s the surface like? Smooth?
Rough? Slippery? Hard-packed
dirt? Gravel?
 Are there hidden surface obsta-
cles? Ruts? Logs? Boulders?
 What’s at the bottom of the hill? Is
there a hidden creek bank or even
a river bottom with large rocks?
 Have changes in the weather con-
ditions and their effect on the ter-
rain since you went uphill made
your task more difficult?Once you have decided that you can
go down a hill safely, try to keep your
vehicle headed straight down, and
use a low gear. This way, engine
braking can help your brakes so they
won’t have to do all the work.
Descend slowly, keeping your vehi-
cle under control at all times.
WARNING
- Leaving vehi-
cle
If you are going to leave your
vehicle, set the parking brake
and shift a manual transaxle to
1(First), or an automatic
transaxle to P (Park).
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Stalling downhillStalling is much more likely to hap-
pen going uphill. But if it happens
going downhill, here’s what to do.
 Stop your vehicle by applying the
brakes. Then apply the parking
brake.
 Move the shift lever to P (Park) in
automatic transaxle or shift to N
(Neutral) in manual transaxle and,
while still braking, restart the
engine.
 Shift back to a low gear, release
the parking brake, and drive
straight down.
 If the engine won’t start, get out
and seek help. Exit on the uphill
side of the vehicle and stay clear of
the path the vehicle would take if it
rolled downhill.
Driving across an inclineSooner or later, an off-road trail will
probably go across the incline of a
hill. If this happens, you have to
decide whether or not to try to drive
across the incline. Here are some
things to consider:
 A hill that can be driven straight up
or down may be too steep to drive
across. When you go straight up or
down a hill, the length of the wheel
base (the distance from the front
wheels to the rear wheels) reduces
the likelihood the vehicle will tum-
ble end over end. But when you
drive across an incline, the much
narrower track width (the distance
between the left and right wheels)
may not prevent the vehicle from
tilting and rolling over. Also, driving
across an incline puts more weight
on the downhill wheels. This could
cause a downhill slide or a rollover. Surface conditions can be a prob-
lem when you drive across a hill.
Loose gravel, muddy spots, or
even wet grass can cause your
tires to slip sideways. If the vehicle
slips sideways, it can hit something
that will tip it (a rock, a rut, etc.) and
cause it to roll over.
 Hidden obstacles can make the
steepness of the incline even
worse. If you drive across a rock
with the uphill wheels, or if the
downhill wheels drop into a rut or
depression, your vehicle can tilt
even more.
For reasons like these, you need to
decide carefully whether or not to try
to drive across an incline. Just
because the trail goes across the
incline doesn’t mean you have to
drive it.
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