** Hyundai Tucson Fire Reported **
When you read this here today , there is a due chance you feel like it's an exactly same wording used sometime ago and for KIA Sportage in the past. There may or may not be any relationship between these fire incidents BUT you MUST read this post.
Here is what we read around a year ago regarding Sportage > https://www.facebook.com/groups/PakWheelsOfficial/permalink/2891882830927021/
Let's go over..
So, at this time no one knows what caused the fire in Pakistani Sportage or Tucson and it is highly recommended that a proper investigation should be carried out to know the reasons of the fire.
Unfortunately in our country there is no such independent agency who can take up such cases and investigate the technical problems and issues . In the end its between the owner and the car companies / dealerships. The poor owner of the vehicle is always at the receiving end with no actual help and remedy to his problems and concerns.
As a backup info, Hyundai/Kia reached a 760 Million dollars settlement in United States after a US government agency NHTSA completed its investigation into engine fires of Kia/ Hyundai vehicles in United States. There were over 3100 engine fires and 103 reported injuries and in all these cases , the fire started in engine bay without the vehicle being in any accident/ crash itself.
Beside United States, prosecutors from South Korea also raided Hyundai and Kia offices in South Korea in 2019 as part of probe into allegations raised by Civic groups and transport ministry of Korea that Hyundai and Kia attempted to conceal defects in some of their models.
The US fires were reported [ for various reasons] in Hyundai/ Kia 2.0L and 2.4 litre engines under various models from 2011 to 2019 which includes, Sonata, Santa FE, Sportage , Sorento, Tucson, Optima. Total of approx 5 million Kia/ Hyundai brand models are having issues in USA. In a most recent announcement, a total 2.3 Million units of Hyundai brand while 1.8 Million units of Kia brand are being recalled.
Basically , in the 2.0L or 2.4L engines , during a manufacturing process, some debris from the process of making engine can be left behind which can block a port and stop flow of oil, which can result in connecting rod bearing to fail. This can result in damage to engine block and can cause oil to leak and result fire. While in some other causes , the fuel pipe can leak and cause the engine fire.
To make the matter worse for Hyundai/ Kia, an employee of the company came forward during investigation and became a whistleblower and told that the companies were knowing about the fire issues but they were silent and were not acknowledging the problem until the government agency intervened and take up the issue after thousands of complaints.
Kia and Hyundai in United States will be replacing the engines or do any other necessary safety measures or provide another financial assistance to all those vehicles which are on recall list and have fire risk to engines. I am attaching some news clips related to USDM Kia/ Hyundai fires for readers.
Recently, Hyundai and KIA has also recalled their certain models in United States over brake fluid leak problem which can also cause fire. The problem is so serious that, KIA and HYUNDAI have asked the owners of problem vehicles / recalled units to park their vehicles outside their homes. This recall do include USDM Tucson from model year 2016 to 2021.
Well, an engine fire issue / brake fluid problem in North America does not neccesarily means that we might have same issue in Pakistan but during any investigation of this particular matter, we should keep in mind the fire errupting in Kia and Hyundai vehicles in United States and affecting almost 5 million +/- units. Like all car assemblers in Pakistan , Kia also import engines and we should keep that into consideration.
The engine failure and fire issue is related to the engine manufactured in Hyundai engine plant in North America and it is believed that the problem is only exclusive to North America at this time. But the problems were also reported in Korea and the companies officials were interrogated and their record confiscated for investigation.
The engine failure and fires on North American Kia / Hyundai does not neccesarily means that the fire cause on Pakistan assembled Kia Sportage would is same. The Kia Sportage in Pakistan does use a 2.0L engine but a Multi Point Injection. The fire issue was reported and investigated on US models is with a direct injection, but the same 2.0L engine can be equipped with a Multi Port or Direct injection System. In other words the engine block remain same , the injection system can be different depending on the use and application. As the cause of fire is related to the manufacturing process " machining debris" of the engine block itself which can later cause the blockage of oil resulting fire , the problem can be in any type of engine regardless of the injection type the engine use.
Kia and Hyundai has restarted their operation in Pakistan and consumers have a lot of expectations from them. This specific fire incident of Pakistan assembled Sportage should not be taken in isolation and must be thoroughly investigated. It's very very important for KIA Pakistan to take this matter seriously as it's a matter of make or break their reputation. This fire in Pakistan should be investigated for causes and they should make sure that a Pakistan Assembled KIA or Hyundai must not use any of the engines which has a fire risk. Pakistan import engines for local assembly so, the Sportage engine which went on fire should be tracked down.
There is a due chance that this incident is an unrelated fire and not necessarily related to engine fires kia and Hyundai is facing in North American Market but we don’t know until its investigated.
We hope that Hyundai - Nishat Pakistan would officially take up this matter and investigate and go to the bottom of the causes and make it public. This will also help them secure the trust of the customers especially in a new market of Pakistan.
As always , it's highly recommended that never ever install any aftermarket accessories in your vehicle as that will void your warranty and incase if there is any problem with the car because of any other reason , the dealer and car maker will always bring those modifications at time of claims and can decline your warranty claim . So, stay away from any modifications whatsoever.
Attached in this post some news clips related to North American Kia Hyundai engine fires. The purpose is to show how a certain issue is taken up , investigated and how customer satisfaction prioritized. I hope government of Pakistan should also seriously think about establishing an independent neutral agency for automobile/ transport sector who can investigate technical matters and report their findings. In the absence of such agency, it is the car assemblers/ dealer vs the car owners in case of any problems and issues and it's very clear the customer rights can easily be violated and no one would know the real causes.
Pakistan should not be dumping ground. A Pakistani customer need same level of commitment from these companies as they offer overseas and mandated by law. Let's hope we know more about this particular incident.
As an additional info, Both Hyundai and KIA share engines and other components and mostly manufactured at the same location , that is the reason the same problem is affecting models from both brands. It is for further information that the engines in North American KIA and Hyundai are primarily made in USA and the issue is exclusive to North American market only. The engines made at South Korea were not reported with the same problem.
As a reminder back in February 2019, South Korean prosecutors raided Hyundai and KIA main offices and other facilities in an investigation which alleged that both companies concealed defects in some of their vehicles. in 2017 a similar raid was also conducted by South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport agency after many civic groups requested for probe into Hyundai and KIA over coverup of defects in 12 different models. That investigation resulted in recall of around 238,000 vehicles in South Korea.
Here is what Kia Pakistan investigated as far as the Sportage fire and I had serious reservations about it back then > https://www.facebook.com/groups/PakWheelsOfficial/permalink/2897201677061803/
[ f-w @Pakwheels.com ]
