Oil pump fire risk prompts Hyundai, Kia to recall 92k cars

Aug 04, 2023

Hyundai and Kia are directing owners of several 2023 and 2024 models to park their vehicles outside and away from structures while a recall campaign is conducted to replace potentially faulty oil pumps that may cause an underhood fire. The recall covers more than 91,000 examples spread across the two manufacturers' lineups, including the popular three-row Hyundai Palisade and the compact Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage.

The Hyundai campaign covers the 2023 Elantra, 2023 Kona, 2023-2024 Palisade, 2023 Sonata and 2023 Tucson; while the Kia campaign includes the 2023-2024 Seltos, 2023 Soul and 2023 Sportage. Not all examples are included, so customers should check their individual VINs in NHTSA's recall database.

The issue has been traced to the electric oil pump used with Hyundai and Kia's auto-stop/start ("Idle Stop & Go") feature. According to the manufacturers, some units shipped with electronic controllers that were damaged during manufacturing by their supplier. This can lead to multiple issues with the cars in question, but the most concerning among them is the risk of a fire due to heat buildup within the control module.

"A damaged capacitor on the pump controller PCB could impact electrical operation leading to heat damage to the electric oil pump circuit board, connector, and wiring harness," Kia's defect report to NHTSA said. "The heat damage at the pump increases the risk of a vehicle fire in addition to a potential Controller Area Network (“CAN”) communication disruption for multiple onboard controllers."

Hyundai and Kia said customers should keep an eye out for a check-engine light, but the first sign of a problem could end up being smoke. While Hyundai and Kia say the cars should be safe to drive, the companies are urging customers to park their cars a safe distance from anything flammable until a repair can be performed. Customers should expect to be notified starting in September.

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