Hydrolic Electronic Control Unit Recall

[Clockwork]

Loaner? Ha good luck with that! I miss going to the Lexus dealer when I owned my IS350! KIA dealers are low budget and basically treat you like you are driving a YUGO. It's ridiculous!

What's a loaner? Haha but seriously, I have never been given a loaner any time a car has been in for service (Dodge, Ford, Nissan, Subaru, Jeep) or even my last car which was an Alfa Romeo.

Oh wait, there was one exception when Subaru had my STI for almost a month. They gave me a loaner about 4 days before it was completed (replaced short block and some other bits due to oil pickup tube failure).

 

[NCPinz]

My son just got his recall notice. No parking in the garage when he comes back from school at Thanksgiving. Hopefully we'll get something soon.

 

[Aloof]

Unfortunate that this happened. I will continue to drive but will hold off on pushing her to hard until we have an update.

 

[Lane DeNicola]

Got a recall letter (NHTSA Recall # 20v-518) a couple of days ago and was more surprised than I should've been...given that the 2019 GT I started leasing in May 2019 burned up in precisely this way seven months ago, with less than 12k miles on it!

I posted about the experience shortly after it happened on this forum on April 16, 2020 (search for "possible electrical fire in 2019 GT," same author. Let me know if you'd care to see a snapshot!

County fire department had to put it out, the flames ultimately engulfed the open hood and the interior was ruined by smoke. I lucked out that I was driving on a back road near home at the time, otherwise it could've been a very bad situation. I got a couple of responses on the forum at the time that it was likely a one-off issue. So much for that theory!

Insurance company totalled the thing and a protracted battle between the insurance company and Kia Motors Finance ensued. Took about 3 months to resolve. Not much fun, particularly as I was waiting for the issue to get resolved before I replaced it and the dealership I picked it up from wouldn't talk to me at all until it was resolved.

In my impatience I separately started leasing a 2020 GT (clearly I was smitten with the dang car), but I'm going to be keeping up with this thread to see if the 2020's might be similarly afflicted.

 

[Danny5]

Got my letter today. Throwing my hat in the ring and watching this thread. I don't even know what the HECU is. Someone post a pic!

My son just got his recall notice. No parking in the garage when he comes back from school at Thanksgiving. Hopefully we'll get something soon.

I wouldn't worry. The recall notice states it happens while driving the car. Unless your son does a lot of engine revving in the garage, you should be just fine.

 

[Cosmo]

Got a recall letter (NHTSA Recall # 20v-518) a couple of days ago and was more surprised than I should've been...given that the 2019 GT I started leasing in May 2019 burned up in precisely this way seven months ago, with less than 12k miles on it!

I posted about the experience shortly after it happened on this forum on April 16, 2020 (search for "possible electrical fire in 2019 GT," same author. Let me know if you'd care to see a snapshot!

County fire department had to put it out, the flames ultimately engulfed the open hood and the interior was ruined by smoke. I lucked out that I was driving on a back road near home at the time, otherwise it could've been a very bad situation. I got a couple of responses on the forum at the time that it was likely a one-off issue. So much for that theory!

Insurance company totalled the thing and a protracted battle between the insurance company and Kia Motors Finance ensued. Took about 3 months to resolve. Not much fun, particularly as I was waiting for the issue to get resolved before I replaced it and the dealership I picked it up from wouldn't talk to me at all until it was resolved.

In my impatience I separately started leasing a 2020 GT (clearly I was smitten with the dang car), but I'm going to be keeping up with this thread to see if the 2020's might be similarly afflicted.

Did you get any error codes on the dash as described in the recall?

 

[Steve Schneider]

Got a recall letter (NHTSA Recall # 20v-518) a couple of days ago and was more surprised than I should've been...given that the 2019 GT I started leasing in May 2019 burned up in precisely this way seven months ago, with less than 12k miles on it!

I posted about the experience shortly after it happened on this forum on April 16, 2020 (search for "possible electrical fire in 2019 GT," same author. Let me know if you'd care to see a snapshot!

County fire department had to put it out, the flames ultimately engulfed the open hood and the interior was ruined by smoke. I lucked out that I was driving on a back road near home at the time, otherwise it could've been a very bad situation. I got a couple of responses on the forum at the time that it was likely a one-off issue. So much for that theory!

Insurance company totalled the thing and a protracted battle between the insurance company and Kia Motors Finance ensued. Took about 3 months to resolve. Not much fun, particularly as I was waiting for the issue to get resolved before I replaced it and the dealership I picked it up from wouldn't talk to me at all until it was resolved.

In my impatience I separately started leasing a 2020 GT (clearly I was smitten with the dang car), but I'm going to be keeping up with this thread to see if the 2020's might be similarly afflicted.

Ok, you’re scaring me now! I think I’ll be driving my Titan until Kia can convince me that they have figured out why these Stingers are burning up!

 

[Steve Schneider]

Got a recall letter (NHTSA Recall # 20v-518) a couple of days ago and was more surprised than I should've been...given that the 2019 GT I started leasing in May 2019 burned up in precisely this way seven months ago, with less than 12k miles on it!

I posted about the experience shortly after it happened on this forum on April 16, 2020 (search for "possible electrical fire in 2019 GT," same author. Let me know if you'd care to see a snapshot!

County fire department had to put it out, the flames ultimately engulfed the open hood and the interior was ruined by smoke. I lucked out that I was driving on a back road near home at the time, otherwise it could've been a very bad situation. I got a couple of responses on the forum at the time that it was likely a one-off issue. So much for that theory!

Insurance company totalled the thing and a protracted battle between the insurance company and Kia Motors Finance ensued. Took about 3 months to resolve. Not much fun, particularly as I was waiting for the issue to get resolved before I replaced it and the dealership I picked it up from wouldn't talk to me at all until it was resolved.

In my impatience I separately started leasing a 2020 GT (clearly I was smitten with the dang car), but I'm going to be keeping up with this thread to see if the 2020's might be similarly afflicted.

I hear ya, I love the hell out of my Stinger! I did replace all the badging because honestly I’m a little embarrassed to be driving a Kia coming from a Lexus. Maybe Kia will shake that stigma one year, but having a car that could burst into flames doesn’t help either!

 

[Lane DeNicola]

Did you get any error codes on the dash as described in the recall?

Yep, sure did--several error indications for different systems in rapid succession, followed (after about 3-4 minutes) by a more alarming and comprehensive message. I don't recall the exact verbiage but it was essentially something like "Catastrophic error, get engine checked immediately!" sort of thing. I assume (as suggested in the history of these burn-ups, posted earlier) that a board in the HECU fried, or perhaps associated control wiring, so the system thinks everything is going haywire.

The sequence after those error indications was that the steering and throttle got very sluggish, smoke started appearing, and I pulled off. I popped the hood, smoke turned into flames, and the horn started honking. I'd characterize it as ghastly!

 

[turboAWD]

Dang Lane - so sorry to hear that. I guess you're one of the 6 incidents they cited in their initial report?

 

[Lane DeNicola]

Dang Lane - so sorry to hear that. I guess you're one of the 6 incidents they cited in their initial report?

Presumably it would've been one of the May 2020 or June 2020 incidents, but since I was leasing the process was largely taken out of my hands and handled by my insurance company and KMF.

 

[Hockster]

This thread is as full of paranoia as the facebook groups. I'd swear there were Stingers exploding three times a day or something.

 

[Cosmo]

This thread is as full of paranoia as the facebook groups. I'd swear there were Stingers exploding three times a day or something.

The last count i saw was 6. I'd be interested to know how many of those were mod'd and subject to insurance claim\warranty denials.

 

[Lane DeNicola]

This thread is as full of paranoia as the facebook groups. I'd swear there were Stingers exploding three times a day or something.

The last count i saw was 6. I'd be interested to know how many of those were mod'd and subject to insurance claim\warranty denials.

I may be missing the more paranoid comments, and certainly each person is going to have to weigh the perceived risk on their own. Speaking exclusively for my own case, I'd had exactly ZERO mods performed (seeing as how I was leasing). I'd kept up with the regular maintenance schedule (not much involved in the first 12k) and the only "irregular" maintenance I'd had performed was the (gratis) replacement of the brake rotors by the dealership a month earlier (they recognized them as the source of vibration under heavy braking).

I'm still too green on the forum to post snapshots, but I'll admit that watching the fire engines douse my brand new car, inside and out, following a ten-minute store run that never went above 50 mph, instilled an extra measure of skepticism in me. Once a year is a lot less than three times a day, but it left an impression nonetheless!

 

[MerlintheMad]

I'm still too green on the forum to post snapshots

Not so. "Attach files" in lower left corner lets you upload from your computer/device.

 

[HDTurbo]

Cross posting from the other thread. Mods feel free to slap my hand.

Spliced wires in my 2020. Possible fire causation? As noted, mine came with a remote starter...

New Stinger Recall

The GT and GT1 in the US. I don’t think any have been GT2s or Canadian spec cars. Our Trims have different options than the US cars so there’s a chance ours are fine. I store my car for the winter inside. No way it’s sitting outside for a less than half a percent chance it could...

stingerforum.org

 

[Lane DeNicola]

Not so. "Attach files" in lower left corner lets you upload from your computer/device.

Hunh. Must've missed it when I passed the threshold?

Anyway, snapshot attached for your review! Unfortunately I didn't think to take one before they dropped the hood and didn't want to mess with it after. The entire engine compartment was literally a hot mess.

 

[MerlintheMad]

It looks like the fire cracked your windshield?

 

[robz32]

This bit is interesting
"August 25, 2020 Although cause unknown and as a precautionary measure, KMC decides to conduct a recall of all 2019MY Kia Stinger vehicles equipped with 3.3L T-GDI engines even though all the fire incidents occurred in vehicles equipped with 3.3L T-GDI engines, Electronic Parking Brake (EPB) and no Smart Cruise Control (SCC). Six (6) fire related customer complaints. No known crashes or injuries related to this condition"

Perhaps the GT2 models will not have been affected by this. Yet Kia decided it was best to cover the full spectrum and recall all 3.3s

 

[HDTurbo]

It looks like the fire cracked your windshield?

Ya think? Or the cold water hitting the hot glass..? You ok, Merlin?