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.

Hyundai Recalls Elantra, Kona and Veloster Vehicles

Hyundai Motor Company has announced the recall of 125,840 2019 througb 2020 Elantra and 2019 through 2021 Kona and Veloster vehicles.  All of these vehicles are equipped with 2 liter engines.  The reason for the recall was that the piston oil rings were not properly heat treated.  As a result, the rings can chip and scar the engine cylinders.  The result can be oil leakage, engine fires and total engine failure.  Owners are instructed to take their vehicles to their dealers for inspection of the engine.  Dealers will replace the engine at no cost to the owners and also install piston noise sensing software.  Owner notification is expected to begin on June 25, 2021.  For additional information, owners can contact Hyundai by calling 1-800-633-5151 or visiting www.hyundaiusa.com.  Owners will need to have their vehicle identification number when contacting Hyundai.

Second Hyundai Vehicle Fire Update

Back in September of 2020, we announced that Hyundai was recalling 2013 through 2015 Santa Fe Sport SUVs for a problem with the ABS system that resulted in engine fires.  That recall was update in January of this year.  And now, Hyundai has again recalled these same vehicles for the same problem, increasing the total number recalled to 203,000.  The problem stems from the leakage of brake fluid onto the electronic circuitry within the ABS module and cause short circuiting and subsequent engine fires to occur.  It is recommended that owners who have not had their vehicle repaired, park their vehicles outside of garages or away from structures just in case a fire should erupt.  If a fire does occur, the damage can be extensive as shown in the photographs of our January 2021 update.  For additional information, owners can contact Hyundai by calling 1-800-633-5151 or visiting www.hyundaiusa.com.  Owners will also need to have their vehicle identification numbers (VIN).  The VIN can be found on the lower corner of the windshield on the driver’s side or on the inside of the driver’s door or pilar.     

Hyundai Recall Update

Back in September of last year, we reported that Hyundai had issued a recall for various vehicles because of a faulty antilock brake system module.  The problem had to do with brake fluid leaking internally within the module that caused the electronics to short circuit and start an engine fire.  Since that report, we have encountered an actual situation with a Hyundai Santa Fe, one of the vehicles recalled.  According to the vehicle owner, the fire spread very quickly and barely had enough time to get his passengers out of the vehicle before it was fully engulfed.  The defective part and extent of damage are shown in the photos below.  Owner notification of the recall was supposed to have begun in October of 2020.  Owners who have not received their notification letter should contact their Hyundai dealer to arrange for a free inspection and/or repair.  The dealer will most likely ask for the vehicle identification number, which can be found on the lower left hand corner of the windshield or on the sticker inside the driver’s side door or pillar.  The list of vehicles to which this recall applies was given in our September 2020 blog entry.  It should be noted that Hyundai has expanded this recall to include approximately 180,000 2019 through 2021 Tucson SUVs and an additional 471,000 2016 through 2018 Tucson vehicles.  The total number of recalled vehicles is now approximately 652,000. However, the problem with the Tucson vehicles does not have anything to do brake fluid leakage as much as it does corrosion of the electronic circuit board causing engine fires. The circuit board is located behind the ABS assembly and is therefore not visible in the photograph below.       

Extent of Fire Damage to Hyundai Santa Fe

Faulty Antilock Brake Module