Kia Carnival Pricing and Specs

The shifter in your Kia is designed to be used in the normal (PRND) range in most cases. If you decide you’d like to control the gear selection yourself, you can flick the lever across to the other plane (+ /-) also called Sports mode, and control when the transmission changes gear. By pushing the lever forward in that second plane, you can force the transmission to change up a gear. Pull the selector back and it will shift down a gear. Hence the + and – symbols.

In most cases, the transmission will stay in the gear you select in Sports mode, unless you try to take off from rest in a high gear (when it will shift down for you) or you’ve taken the engine to its maximum speed, at which point the car will automatically shift up a gear to prevent the engine from blowing up.

The idea of this is that you can drive the car in a sportier fashion (makes little sense in a Kia Carnival, I know). But it can also be handy if you are, say, towing a trailer and need a little more engine braking, at which point you can flick across to Sports mode and force the transmission into a lower gear.

Many owners never experiment with Sports mode and it remains a mystery to a lot of people.

I reckon an early Kia Carnival would make a great platform for a vanlife adventure. It's very unlikely there's a lot of wiring inside the door, and the only electrical wiring that leaps to mind might be a courtesy light for when you open the sliding door, and the little switch that controls it. So, try to find that switch (it's probably down low near the floor) and see if you can see where any wiring enters or leaves the door via the door jamb. Don't expect to see actual wires, as they probably run inside a black rubber boot or sheath to protect them.

Again, it's very unlikely that there's wiring high up in the door near the window (which is where you need to curtain) but if you drill carefully and check the hole for any coloured wiring just as you punch through the metal, you should be fine. A strong torch will help with this, and disconnect the car's battery before drilling just in case you get mighty unlucky.

There are two things you need to do. The first is to have the vehicle independently inspected. The RACV is very good for this as it has the resources and a reputation that the car industry respects. Once you've found out what really went wrong (as opposed to what the dealership may have told you on the spot) you can proceed. This will inform what happens next.

If the engine failure was not the cause of a poorly fitted oil filter and was something to do with a manufacturing or materials flaw, then you have a case for a warranty claim. Bypass Kia's dealer network and contact the brand's customer service division at head office.

If, however, the failure was caused by a lack of attention by the mechanic who carried out the last service, then the responsibility may rest with them. Mechanical workshops often have insurance to cover them against this sort of mistake but, regardless, if your mechanic was at fault, the problem becomes theirs in many cases.

A modern vehicle like the Kia has a range of engine protection and warning systems to prevent this sort of thing happening. It seems strange that you didn't receive a dashboard warning regarding low oil level or low oil pressure in the moments before the engine failed.