Kia is telling owners of nearly 380,000 vehicles in the United States to park them outdoors due to the risk of fire in the engine compartment. The Korean automaker is recalling some Sportage SUVs from 2017 to 2021 and Cadenza sedans from 2017 to 2019 to correct the problem.
The company claims that a short circuit in the electronic control unit of the hydraulic brake can cause excessive current, increasing the risk of fire. Owners must also park them away from the structures until repairs are made.
The company says that the vehicles collected are not equipped with Kia’s Smart Cruise Control system.
Owners can see tire pressure, antilock brake or other warning lights on the dashboard before the problem occurs. They can also smell burning or melting.
Owners will be notified from April 30th. Dealers will replace the fuses in the electrical junction box to correct the problem.
Kia said in documents published on Tuesday by the United States National Road Traffic Safety Administration that he has no reports of accidents, fires or injuries due to the problem.
The recall comes after the start of the National Road Traffic Safety Administration investigating Kia and Hyundai engine starts in 2019. The agency opened the investigation after the non-profit Center for Auto Safety filed a petition seeking the investigation. When the investigation began, the agency said there were complaints from owners of more than 3,100 fires, 103 injuries and one death.
In November, NHTSA announced that Kia and Hyundai are expected to pay $ 137 million in fines and for safety improvements because they moved too slowly to collect more than 1 million vehicles with engines that could fail. The fines resolve a government investigation into the behavior of companies involving recalls of various models dating back to the 2011 model year.
Kia was expected to pay $ 27 million and invest $ 16 million in safety performance measures. Another payment of $ 27 million will be delayed as long as Kia complies with security conditions, NHTSA said.
Kia denied the US accusations, but said it wanted to avoid a protracted legal struggle.
Engine failure and fire problems with Hyundais and Kias have affected more than 6 million vehicles since 2015, according to NHTSA documents.