Hyundai and Kia Recall: Nearly 92,000 Vehicles Present a Fire Risk Due to Oil Pump Fault

Owners should park their vehicles outside and away from structures, other vehicles where possible

This week, both Hyundai and Kia issued a new recall campaign covering nearly 92,000 vehicles for a potential engine oil pump fault. The electronic controller inside the pump can overheat, damaging the assembly and possibly causing a fire. Through this campaign, the Korean automakers are telling impacted customers to park their vehicles outside until dealers can fix the problem.

The latest Hyundai and Kia recall affects these models in the U.S.:

Though the problem impacts more Hyundai models, three Kia models are also caught up in this campaign:

More specifically, both automakers describe the issue as a damaged printed circuit board inside the transmission electric oil pump for the Idle Stop & Go System (auto stop-start) that could trigger a fire if it overheats.

Hyundai and Kia says it will notify dealers and owners of the recall campaign late September. Korean supplier Myunghwa built the affected electric oil pump assemblies and both automakers stopped using them in production in mid-March.

Prior to an actual failure, Hyundai says owners may notice smoke from the vehicle’s underbody, a burning or melting smell or a malfunction light in the instrument cluster. The automaker says its customers can still drive their vehicles, but to park away from structures or other vehicles where possible until it can sort the problem (whether you actually continue to drive the vehicle is up to you, but that’s what Hyundai told the NHTSA).

After notifications go out, Hyundai and Kia dealers will inspect and replace the electric oil pump and front harness, free of charge.

Hyundai’s number for this recall is 246, while the NHTSA assigned this campaign 23V-526 for impacted Elantra, Kona, Palisade, Tucson and Sonata owners. You can also check whether your car is part of the recall using the automaker’s website.

On the Kia side, you’ll be able to find the recall through the automaker’s designation (SC275) or the NHTSA number 23V-531. You can access Kia’s recall website for more information here.