Kia and Hyundai recall more than 500,000 cars for engine problems

Hyundai and Kia have added more than half a million vehicles to a series of three-and-a-half-year US recalls on engine failures and fires.

Three recalls released by the government on Thursday add new problems and new vehicles to the list of Korean manufacturers' safety issues, which has sparked hundreds of fire-related complaints across the country.

Since September 2015, companies have recalled to nearly 2.4 million vehicles that are victims of fires and engine failures and are currently under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for their potential slowness in repairing defective vehicles.

In addition, companies are conducting a "product improvement campaign" covering an additional 3.7 million vehicles to install software that will alert drivers of possible engine failures and cause them to go into "lame" mode. at reduced speed in case of problems.

The most important of the three recalls, released on Thursday on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website, are about 379,000 small Kia Soul SUVs from 2012 to 2016 equipped with 1.6-liter engines. The documents show that the high temperatures of the exhaust gases can damage the catalytic converters, which control the pollution. This can cause abnormal combustion and damage pistons and connecting rods. A faulty connecting rod can pierce the engine block and cause oil leaks that can cause fires.

In addition, Hyundai and Kia recall 152,000 Tuscon SUVs from 2011 to 2013 and Sportage from 2011 to 2012 in order to repair a leak in the engine oil sump that could also cause a fire.

Documents show that Kia was investigating fires in Souls after the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety asked the government to review the fires last year. In November, the automaker could not detect any safety trends, but continued to monitor repair data and found the problem with catalytic converters.

All souls equipped with 1.6-liter engines manufactured from July 8, 2011 to August 11, 2016 are recalled. Dealers will replace a computer that prevents the catalytic converter from overheating. They will also replace the catalytic converter and the engine if they have been damaged. The letters will be mailed to the owners as of April 12th.

Hyundai, which is affiliated with Kia, also offers models with a 1.6-liter engine. But spokesman Jim Trainor said that they were different from Soul with different control software. Kia spokesman James Bell said he would check the other models.

In the Tuscon and Sportage recalls, the solution to the problem of oil tanks is still under development. Owners of Hyundai will be notified as of March 29, while Kia owners will receive letters starting April 10.

In a letter to lawmakers on Wednesday, the Center for Auto Safety called on Congress to take action to hold Hyundai and Kia accountable for failing to repair millions of fire-prone vehicles. The center said the government had more than 300 Hyundai-Kia-related fire complaints, which is high compared to similar vehicles.

"The best memory of Kia Souls, later than ever, will hopefully help to remedy this flaw," said Jason Levine, executive director of the center. "Still, one has to wonder why Kia's initial reaction was to deny the validity of our petition, especially since dozens of fires involving these vehicles have been reported up to the end of the day. last summer."

Levine stated that Kia denied having any fire problems with the Soul and asked why the company was resisting recalls from other vehicles exposed to the fires.

In a reminder, NHTSA said it had scheduled a meeting with Hyundai to discuss the investigation of the fire and engine failure, but that the meeting had to be canceled due to the partial closure of the government. The documents do not indicate whether this has occurred since the end of the 35-day shutdown period.

An NHTSA spokeswoman said the agency had communicated with both automakers since the reopening of the government.

The documents from the latest series of recalls do not mention whether there were fires or injuries. In January, Kia announced six fires among vehicles recalled due to fuel leaks, while Hyundai said it did not report a fire. Neither company reported injuries.

Levine said that fire complaints to NHTSA came from across the country, including a death in Ohio in April 2017.