2006 KIA Sorento engine

 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 man-
ual transmission or P (Park) with an
automatic transmission, and block
the rear wheels.Snow Tires
If you mount snow tires on your Kia,
make sure they are radial tires of the
same size and load range as the orig-
inal tires. Mount snow tires on all four
wheels to balance your vehicle’s han-
dling in all weather conditions. Keep
in mind that the traction provided by
snow tires on dry roads may not be
as high as your vehicle’s original
equipment tires. You should drive
cautiously even when the roads are
clear. Check with the tire dealer for
maximum speed recommendations.Do not install studded tires without
first checking local, provincial and
municipal regulations for possible
restrictions against their use.
DRIVING TIPS
5-11
WARNING- Snow Tire Size
Snow tires should be equivalent
in size and type to the vehicle’s
standard tires. Otherwise, the
safety and handling of your
vehicle may be adversely affect-
ed.
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USING FOUR-WHEEL DRIVEDriving on Snow- or Ice-Covered
Roads (“4HI, 4LO” for Part-time
4WD Operation or “AUTO” 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 (“4HI,
4LO” for Part-time 4WD Operation
or “AUTO” for Full-time 4WD
Operation)
 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.DRIVING TIPS5-14
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 vehi-
cle, potentially causing serious
bodily injury or death.
✽ ✽
NOTICEProlonged rocking may cause
engine damage, overheating, trans-
mission differential or transfer case
damage or failure and tire damage.
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Off-Road Driving with Your Four-
Wheel Drive Vehicle
Off-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 infor-
mation and suggestions. These will
help make your off-road driving safer
and more enjoyable.Before you go Off-Roading
There 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-road-
ing 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 private
land? If so, be sure to get the neces-
sary permission.DRIVING TIPS5-16
WARNING
- Rollover
As with other Sports Utility
Vehicles (SUVs), failure to oper-
ate this vehicle correctly may
result in loss of control, an acci-
dent or vehicle rollover.
 Specific design characteris-
tics (higher ground clearance,
narrower track, etc.) give this
vehicle a higher center of
gravity than ordinary cars.
 A SUV is not designed for cor-
nering at the same speeds as
conventional 2-wheel drive
vehicles.
 Avoid sharp turns or abrupt
maneuvers.
 In a rollover crash, an unbelt-
ed person is significantly
more likely to die than a per-
son wearing a safety belt.
Make sure everyone in the
vehicle is properly buckled
up.
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Traveling to Remote Areas
It makes sense to plan your trip,
especially when going to a remote
area. Know the terrain and plan your
route. You are much less likely to
encounter unwanted surprises. Get
accurate maps of trails.
It’s also a good idea to travel with at
least one other vehicle. If something
happens to one of them, the other
can quickly help.Getting Familiar with Off-Road
Driving
It’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 control.
 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.DRIVING TIPS5-18
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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 transmission into reverse,
release the parking brake, and
slowly back down the hill in reverse. If your engine has stopped running,
you’ll need to restart it. With the
brake pedal depressed and the
parking brake still applied, shift a
manual transmission to N (Neutral),
or an automatic transmission 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.
DRIVING TIPS
5-23
WARNING
- Driving over
Hills
Driving to the top (crest) of a hill
at full speed can cause an acci-
dent and result in serious or
fatal injury. There could be a
drop-off, embankment, cliff,
another vehicle or people sit-
ting on the ground. As you near
the top of a hill, slow down and
stay alert.
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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.Stalled on a Steep Uphill
If your vehicle stalls and you can’t
back down the hill, try this: Set the
parking brake, put your transmission
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 transmission
or P (Park) for automatic transmis-
sion.DRIVING TIPS5-24
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.
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Driving Downhill
When 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 vehicle
under control at all times.
DRIVING TIPS
5-25
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.WARNING - Leaving Vehicle
If you are going to leave your
vehicle, set the parking brake
and shift a manual transmission
to 1(First), or an automatic
transmission to P (Park).
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Stalling downhill
Stalling 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 transmissions or shift to
N (Neutral) in manual transmis-
sions 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 incline
Sooner 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 tumble
end over end. But when you drive
across an incline, the much narrow-
er 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.
DRIVING TIPS
5-27
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