Kia North America has been hit with the mother of safety recalls. A scarcely believable 1.7 million vehicles produced for the 2010 through 2019 model years are called back due to an increased fire risk. As it happens, an electric short of the hydraulic electronic control unit may result in engine compartment fire whether the vehicle is parked or driven.
This wouldn't be the first time Kia North America recalled a large number of vehicles over said condition, though. In March 2021, the South Korean automaker called back 380k examples of the 2017 to 2021 Sportage and 2017 to 2019 Cadenza. Fast forward to October 2022, and that's when a further 71k units of the 2008 to 2009 Sportage were recalled in the US.
On this occasion, we're dealing with quite a few more nameplates, beginning with the long-discontinued Borrego). The list continues with Optimas manufactured at the Hwasung plant in South Korea, Optimas manufactured at the West Point plant in the state of Georgia, the Optima Hybrid, Cadenza, K900, Forte Sedan and Forte Koup, Rondo, Soul, Rio, Sorento, and – of course – the ever-popular Sportage crossover.
Supplied by South Korea-based Mando, the hydraulic electronic control units are listed in documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration under two part numbers. Unfortunately, the latter halves of said part numbers feature asterisk symbols instead of actual letters and digits.
Kia isn't sure what causes the electrical short circuit, although the company understands that the chance of an electrical short circuit grows over time. As for the underhood fire, excessive current within the HECU leads to the aforestated engine compartment fire.
Photo: Kia
The Kia mothership in South Korea informed Kia North America of said problem on July 11. Through August 10, the local division reviewed available filed data. No fewer than 10 incidents were identified, including an engine compartment fire, three localized fires, and six localized melting events. Two of those vehicles, namely 2012 and 2013 Soul crossovers, had their HECUs retrieved by Kia Corporation for investigation.
The automaker's engineering department in South Korea discovered internal fluid leakage and localized melting in the upper area of the printed circuit board. Come September 18, the Kia North America Safety Office updated its field data analysis with a further 13 unconfirmed but potentially related incidents.
Even though investigations are ongoing, Kia North America preferred to issue said recall (number 23V-652 in the NHTSA's database) for extra peace of mind. Rather than replacing the hydraulic electronic control unit, affected vehicles will be installed with a new fuse (or fuses) to prevent an overcurrent condition in the hydraulic electronic control unit's circuit board.
In the meantime, owners are urged to park their vehicles outside and away from structures until the remedy is performed. Owners will be informed of this recall between November 14 and November 23 by mail.
Affected model years and nameplates are listed in the document attached below.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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