Kia and Hyundai keep having problems with its cars catching on fire for various reasons. The partnered Korean car manufacturing giants have already recalled around 4 million cars due to fires caused by leaking brake fluid, fuel system issues, trailer hitch wiring issues, ABS module wiring issues, and overheating seat motors. That trend continues, as last week, Kia submitted a recall report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to recall 39,536 Kia Sorentos from the 2021-2023 model years because they may catch fire when the climate control fan speed is set to the third speed when the ignition is on. Kia estimates that only 1% of the nearly 40,000 recalled Sorentos have the defect, but owners should be aware of the potential fire risk.
The recall states that the connection between the blower motor resistor and connector can overheat when using the HVAC system on fan speed three while the ignition is on, and the condition may lead to a fire. Dealers should already be notified of the recall, and owners should be notified on November 24.
The cause of the issue is traced back to the main wiring assembly supplier Aptiv
Kia says the problem comes from quality control issues at Aptiv, the supplier of the wiring harness assembly, that includes a thinner than nominal wiring gauge. Owners of Kia Sorentos manufactured between September 10, 2020 through December 29, 2023 should keep an eye out for any irregularities in the operation of their car’s HVAC blower motor, including the blower motor not functioning, a burning or melting smell coming from the climate control vents, and/or smoke coming through the climate control vents.
The recall report states that to remedy the potential fire risk, dealers will replace as a set the blower motor resistor circuit harness with an improved one from a different supplier without any suspected quality control deviations, and it will replace the blower motor resistor with a new one.
Owners of model year 2021 to 2023 Kia Sorentos can search their VIN on the NHTSA website’s Recall Lookup Toolfor further information starting on October 9. Owners of 2024 model year Sorentos need not worry, as their vehicles are equipped with a different HVAC system with different components than the ones being recalled.
