New Stinger Recall

[Johnnys Stung]

Take a look at the December 2019 entry, mentions fuse box, HECU and wire pass through. As a preventative measure, I’m going to check out that area for any roughness or wiring concerns.

G2 say, I’ve had two cobalt SS in the past 12 years and I had a ton of room to navigate that engine bay, this car? I can’t fit a fart in this engine bay, it’s tight!

 

[bearstinger]

Also they haven’t issued this recall yet so no ones going to have the Brake/fire recall under their VIN.

True but all you need to do is open your app and it will tell you if your vin is involved. I have used their website before and it is easy.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Our stingers based on “statistics” are more likely to catch fire than we are from dying of COVID. Guess I should stop driving it completely and lock it in my garage ..

Not remotely true. .3% does not equal .06% The "1%" prediction is a worst case. As we only have six cars that caught fire so far, we have a long ways to go to reach 94 cars on fire.

 

[cncBilly]

Not remotely true. .3% does not equal .06% The "1%" prediction is a worst case. As we only have six cars that caught fire so far, we have a long ways to go to reach 94 cars on fire.

Perhaps as a precaution to others we should install nose bra’s on our Stingers.

 

[CeramicGT001]

Not remotely true. .3% does not equal .06% The "1%" prediction is a worst case. As we only have six cars that caught fire so far, we have a long ways to go to reach 94 cars on fire.

I was basing my sarcasm on the numbers of 194k covid deaths/331million (US population) as compared to 6/9443 (2019 US cars affected). With those numbers the 2019 cars are more likely to catch fire lol.

 

[BertBert2019GT]

My build date is 7/18 and that NHTSA attachment says 7/21/2018 lol

anyone know if there’s a way to source the build DAY?

 

[CeramicGT001]

Perhaps as a precaution to others we should install nose bra’s on our Stingers.

We all just need to install a racing fire extinguisher!

 

[SKStinger]

My build date is 7/18 and that NHTSA attachment says 7/21/2018 lol

anyone know if there’s a way to source the build DAY?

Seeing as how they have no clue what the exact cause is I don't think those dates they provided have a whole lot of relevance. Mine is 06/18 and i'm still concerned. I highly doubt they mysteriously solved the problem between June and July 2018 when they had no idea it was an issue yet.

 

[SKStinger]

The other thing to consider here is what changed from 2018 to 2019 and then to 2020? I'm sure Kia engineers are investigating that right now but it seems odd that only the 2019's would have this issue. Perhaps it was just a bad batch of wiring harnesses or circuit boards? Maybe it's coincidence that only 2019's have burnt? Until they know more there is no reason to do anything yet.

It could be not mechanical at all. Rodents chewing the soy based wiring anyone?!

With the 2018 wire harness recall they clearly updated the way the drivers side wiring harness was routed/protected between model years as the 2019's were not impacted by that recall.

Maybe they did something here too but made something worse? Why change it if there were no issues in 2018? And then why did it go away for 2020? Very odd.

 

[Johnnys Stung]

Went in for my scheduled oil change, asked the service writer about the recall and as expected, nothing yet. I’m slightly more concerned than most because I bought this car two days before my first kid was born as a fast and safe family hauler and commuter car. To think it could burst into flames while my wife drives it with the baby or when it’s parked on my garage scares the hell out of me.

I don’t want to play the numbers game, one percent or anything like that… One percent affected is not a lot, the potential for this to be much higher is still unknown at this time until they determine root cause.

 

[turboAWD]

My guess is that the start/end dates are the start/end dates for 2019 model year production. May have switched to a different brand IC for some function, different spec wire harness, or some new sub-contractor made the 2019 harness, etc.. And then they switched again for 2020? Or revised some part in that area each year?

It's not uncommon to find a completely different vendor's IC in the same car from different model years. Competitive bidding, integration, etc..

I'll have to remove jb4 / ECS10. While I'm at it, will probably remove DIY intakes and pedal commander, just to avoid giving them any reason to look for stuff. Thankfully, I've tried really hard to make it easy to fully remove stuff. Wonder if the CA emissions scan is still in effect - wonder what happens then..

I did the lease cash, was going to do early buyout. So far, I'm still paying the lease (2 yr / 20k) - it's up in June 2021. If Covid is still in full force, and I'm driving 50 miles/week max, may just return it, and share the wife's GTI (get a jb4 for that , and wait until things get back to normal before buying the next car..

 

[Aurelian]

It would be nice to know what the mileage was on the 6 that caught fire. If the problem emerges only after 10 or 12k miles - large majority of Stingers might not be in a clear danger zone yet.

Other question I have from this - what would prompt Kia to change ABS setup between 2018 and 2019? Parts synergy with other models?

 

[HerbieTheCar]

My guess is that the start/end dates are the start/end dates for 2019 model year production. May have switched to a different brand IC for some function, different spec wire harness, or some new sub-contractor made the 2019 harness, etc.. And then they switched again for 2020? Or revised some part in that area each year?

It's not uncommon to find a completely different vendor's IC in the same car from different model years. Competitive bidding, integration, etc..

I'll have to remove jb4 / ECS10. While I'm at it, will probably remove DIY intakes and pedal commander, just to avoid giving them any reason to look for stuff. Thankfully, I've tried really hard to make it easy to fully remove stuff. Wonder if the CA emissions scan is still in effect - wonder what happens then..

I did the lease cash, was going to do early buyout. So far, I'm still paying the lease (2 yr / 20k) - it's up in June 2021. If Covid is still in full force, and I'm driving 50 miles/week max, may just return it, and share the wife's GTI (get a jb4 for that , and wait until things get back to normal before buying the next car..

Man, I'm glad my dealer does not care about my mods. The head mechanic even complimented on my mods.

I also called the dealership today and they know nothing. They said just wait for the letters to show up.

 

[MerlintheMad]

It could be not mechanical at all. Rodents chewing the soy based wiring anyone?!

When they said that each fire started near the cabin air filter (behind the glovebox) that was the first thing that came to mind.

 

[Fredman]

I’m not sure how much the electronics would like being shut down every time.
I’m sure we would have to at least reprogram the stereo but this might be cheap insurance in the meantime, at least while its in the garage.

 

[Stephen Brubaker]

I have a 2019 GT, build date 7/18. I am still driving mine but haven't driven it much because of health issues. I have about 11,000 miles on my GT. Did buy a fire extinguisher to carry in the car. Any other thoughts from other 2019 owners?

 

[CeramicGT001]

I’m not sure how much the electronics would like being shut down every time.
I’m sure we would have to at least reprogram the stereo but this might be cheap insurance in the meantime, at least while its in the garage.

The recall from Kia on the NHTSA site says that the fires happened while driving, not sure that’s going to to do anything.

I have a 2019 GT, build date 7/18. I am still driving mine but haven't driven it much because of health issues. I have about 11,000 miles on my GT. Did buy a fire extinguisher to carry in the car. Any other thoughts from other 2019 owners?

Fire extinguisher is good to have and other than that I’m not changing anything I do with the car. I put 20k miles from March 2019 to December 2019, much less now because of covid. We will just have to wait until Oct 26 or whenever they start issuing the recall notices to us.

 

[oddball]

I’m not sure how much the electronics would like being shut down every time.
I’m sure we would have to at least reprogram the stereo but this might be cheap insurance in the meantime, at least while its in the garage.

Do NOT use this type of disconnect on any kind of high-amperage connection! They are extremely flimsy and will, themselves, start fires. Most of the """current ratings""" for this type of product is complete nonsense. You get what you pay for.
Putting a disconnect on the battery requires using a true high-amp disconnect, like the Flaming River Big Switch. some of the marine use switches are good, too.

 

[Aarvix]

I use one of these for the winch on my Jeep, good for 300 continuous amps, 1500 cranking.

 

[Silvermanor]

Went in for my scheduled oil change, asked the service writer about the recall and as expected, nothing yet. I’m slightly more concerned than most because I bought this car two days before my first kid was born as a fast and safe family hauler and commuter car. To think it could burst into flames while my wife drives it with the baby or when it’s parked on my garage scares the hell out of me.

I don’t want to play the numbers game, one percent or anything like that… One percent affected is not a lot, the potential for this to be much higher is still unknown at this time until they determine root cause.

Can we just calm down a bit here. Perspective is important. It's a moving vehicle, you're far more likely to be injured actually driving the thing and getting into an accident then you are from your car spontaneously combusting. The car won't "burst into flames". If this was to happen you'd have boatloads of time to get out. Its also unlikely it'll just start on fire sitting in your garage at night and zero cases of this has occurred with the engine off. That warning to park outside is for liability whenever fires are concerned with a recall.