Kia Recalls Sportage Vehicles

Kia Motors America has announced the recall of its 2017 through 2021 Sportage vehicles not equipped with smart cruise control.  Kia has identified a defect in the hydraulic electronic control unit (HECU) that can short circuit and result in an engine compartment fire.  This is the same item that has been tentatively indentified in previous posts involving vehicle fires.  See archived posts made on May 5, 2021, “Second Hyundai Vehicle Fire Update”; January 20, 2021, “Ford F350 Engine  Fire”; January 7, 2021, “Hyundai Recall Update”; and September 10, 2020, “Hyundai and Kia Vehicles Recalled for Fire Hazard.  Although not specifically confirmed as being the same component, the HECU is suspected of leaking brake fluid internally within the unit that causes the short circuit and ultimately results in the engine fires.  For this reason, the vehicle manufacturers want owners to park their vehicles outside and away from any combustible structures.  According to Kia, illumination of various warning lights such as tire pressure, antilock brake, and check engine can also occur.  In addition, a burning odor or smoke coming from the engine compartment can occur.  If a burning odor is detected or smoke is observed, stop and exit the vehicle as soon as possible.  Get all passengers out and away from the vehicle.  For this particular recall, owners can refer to NHTSA campaign number 21V137 when contacting their Kia dealers for a repair.  The repair involves the replacement of certain fuses in order to prevent the overcurrent condition leading to engine fires.  For additional information, owners can contact Kia by calling 1-800-333-4542 or visiting Kia’s website at www.kia.com.

Ford F 350 Engine Fire

In our last blog update, January 7, we talked about the recall issued by Hyundai regarding faulty antilock brake and hydraulic electronic control units.  In that blog, we also discussed the recall of thousands of Tucson SUVs that contained a defective ABS/HECU control circuit board.  The circuit board has a tendency to corrode, short circuit and cause an engine fire.  A recent investigation into an engine fire in a 2017 Ford F350 showed that a similar ABS/HECU was installed in that vehicle at the factory.  The vehicle was purchased new by the insured/owner and as a result, the ABS/HECU had never been replaced.  A photograph of the ABS/HECU is shown below.  When compared to the photograph of the ABS/HECU in the previous blog entry, the units are identical.  Although it is unknown if the unit in the Ford truck is the same as the recalled unit in the Hyundai Tucson, corrosion could still be the reason why the engine fire occurred in the Ford vehicle.  Engine fires attributed to the faulty ABS/HECU units can occur without warning.  That is, there are no instrument panel warning lights that illuminate prior to a fire.  In this particular case, the warning that the owner got was that the engine lost power (since it was a diesel engine).        

ABS/HECU found in Ford F 350