2004 Kia Rio Don’t Go Over 2000RPM

My 2004 Kia Rio has been to five different shops. It won’t run over two thousand rpms. When I reach that speed, the engine just bogs down. I’ve had crank sensors, cam sensors, ignition coils, and many other parts changed by mechanics. But nothing has helped. I’m at a loss, and I found you through Google. I’m hoping you’ve seen this before and can lend me a hand.”

Well, I’ve certainly seen a few things in the forty years I’ve been fixing vehicles. And I did work on a Kia last year with the same type of problem. In my case, when I hooked my scan tool up to the Kia, I couldn’t get any data out of the vehicle’s computer. That generally means the vehicle either has a wiring problem to the computer, or a bad computer itself. In my case, the main computer (or PCM) had gone bad. Perhaps your Kia has the same exact problem. And yes, PCMs are VERY hard to analyze, in my case I just lucked out and was unable to communicate with the PCM. This leaned me toward feeling the PCM itself was bad, and replacing it fixed the vehicle. Good Luck,