New Stinger Recall

[turboAWD]

they are removing the ESC wires from the main one hundred amp fuse. And putting them on individual 25 amp supply fuses. The repair kit comes with 2 25 amp fuses to be placed in open unused positions and two new extension wires will extend the stock ESC wires to the new fuse location. Making it so a defective hecu unit will pop the fuse/s without having to exceed the existing 100 amp and overloading a wire. Easily a diy doable deal. I will be doing a write up once of vacation

Wonder if dealers will accept that? Or if the car constantly comes up as "needs recall performed"? Would happily pay my mechanic to do it instead. Would save me having to uninstall the jb4

 

[HerbieTheCar]

Wonder if dealers will accept that? Or if the car constantly comes up as "needs recall performed"? Would happily pay my mechanic to do it instead. Would save me having to uninstall the jb4

Do we have to uninstall the JB4 for the recall?

 

[Oryan]

Do we have to uninstall the JB4 for the recall?

That would be up to your individual dealer. If you intend to bring a modified car to your dealer, especially tuned, I very strongly suggest making friends in the service dept/some form of managerial position there. This is Kia fixing their own acknowledged oopsie so there is no question of payment or warranty coverage so in theory, no you don't but I don't know if you want your dealer to see the Jb4 or not. YMMV.

 

[turboAWD]

Do we have to uninstall the JB4 for the recall?

IIRC, Kia/Hyundai are pretty quick to mark a car as "warranty void" due to aftermarket parts..

 

[Stock_stinger]

dealer isnt about to touch my car. they cant be trusted. its a very simple procedure

 

[HerbieTheCar]

IIRC, Kia/Hyundai are pretty quick to mark a car as "warranty void" due to aftermarket parts..

Really? I bring my car to the Kia dealership near me, and the shop manager even complimented on the mods I've done. Maybe I should ask him next time I go in.

 

[Johnnys Stung]

dealer isnt about to touch my car. they cant be trusted. its a very simple procedure

Kudos to be able to do this yourself, but why not take advantage of free repairs? It’s a free fix and if they mess up they have to make good on it. Do you not take your car to them for warranty repairs either?

It seems folks give Kia service a bad rap. This is my first Kia and so far so good. I have faith they’ll fix this on the first try, unless you‘ve had a real bad experience before.

 

[cncBilly]

Kudos to be able to do this yourself, but why not take advantage of free repairs? It’s a free fix and if they mess up they have to make good on it. Do you not take your car to them for warranty repairs either?

It seems folks give Kia service a bad rap. This is my first Kia and so far so good. I have faith they’ll fix this on the first try, unless you‘ve had a real bad experience before.

I would approach your dealer with caution. Looks like you are fairly new here and have yet had the chance to read the numerous dealership horror stories. Just because the manager is a good guy doesn’t guarantee those under him have a clue. And don’t forget it’s the clueless ones that get to work on YOUR Stinger. Personally I cringe at the thought of having to take MY Stinger to the stealership......for anything!

 

[Stock_stinger]

Kudos to be able to do this yourself, but why not take advantage of free repairs? It’s a free fix and if they mess up they have to make good on it. Do you not take your car to them for warranty repairs either?

It seems folks give Kia service a bad rap. This is my first Kia and so far so good. I have faith they’ll fix this on the first try, unless you‘ve had a real bad experience before.

No I don't. I'll pay out of pocket first

 

[Johnnys Stung]

No I don't. I'll pay out of pocket first

Sorry to hear they’ve done you wrong, fingers crossed they continue to do right by me. New dad here w/ an 8 month old, bought new car specifically so I’m not wrenching on my old cars anymore. I don’t have time to fix a brand new car heh. All the best.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I would approach your dealer with caution. Looks like you are fairly new here and have yet had the chance to read the numerous dealership horror stories. Just because the manager is a good guy doesn’t guarantee those under him have a clue. And don’t forget it’s the clueless ones that get to work on YOUR Stinger. Personally I cringe at the thought of having to take MY Stinger to the stealership......for anything!

Caution is always good. But keeping perspective is even better. The "numerous" horror stories on any forum are all about bad experiences. How many will chime in, like I do often, and say that they have good experiences? Human nature says that if the problem doesn't affect you then it is invisible.

Just shy of three out of four Kia owners are satisfied with their dealership experience (this was according to a Consumer Reports poll, where Kia scored around 735 out of 1,000). If you look at the thread, the red is outnumbered by the green on this forum at c. the same ratio, maybe a little better.(12) The Stinger Dealership Experience | Kia Stinger Forum So, your chances of finding a satisfactory dealer/service center are three to one over a crappy dealer/service center.

 

[SKStinger]

Caution is always good. But keeping perspective is even better. The "numerous" horror stories on any forum are all about bad experiences. How many will chime in, like I do often, and say that they have good experiences? Human nature says that if the problem doesn't affect you then it is invisible.

Just shy of three out of four Kia owners are satisfied with their dealership experience (this was according to a Consumer Reports poll, where Kia scored around 735 out of 1,000). If you look at the thread, the red is outnumbered by the green on this forum at c. the same ratio, maybe a little better.(12) The Stinger Dealership Experience | Kia Stinger Forum So, your chances of finding a satisfactory dealer/service center are three to one over a crappy dealer/service center.

I think that’s actually pretty bad. Over 1/4 of owners are not happy and these are Kia owners who are generally not “car people”. A good portion likely never open their hood so wouldn’t notice the oily hand prints on the engine cover and just pay for all of the Dealer recommended service work without knowing any different.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I think that’s actually pretty bad. Over 1/4 of owners are not happy and these are Kia owners who are generally not “car people”. A good portion likely never open their hood so wouldn’t notice the oily hand prints on the engine cover and just pay for all of the Dealer recommended service work without knowing any different.

I agree. Twenty-five percent and a bit of dissatisfied customers is BAD. But there aren't that many car manufacturers above Kia, and if I recall correctly, most of them are closer to one in five dissatisfied customers; almost nobody is one in ten, and they are top brands you pay hundreds of thousands for, i.e. premium luxury and performance cars. Out of "mere mortal" cars, Kia scores comparatively high. This is a denouncement of the car industry generally. Everybody needs to raise the bar on their game. Period.

However, in "the best of all possible worlds", each of us with a Stinger has a three out of four chance of finding a decent dealer/service center. Those are the odds. And looked at that way, it doesn't sound so pointless to search until you find one: especially since, I believe, Kia's quality is improving over time.

 

[Johnnys Stung]

Fortunately I’m a big gear head and have a keen eye for everything. Kia must do all repairs to a high level that I hold them accountable to, no exceptions, I won’t allow it.

I’ve gone to battle with dealers before over warranty work... Atlantic Chevy on LI, NY likes to use zip ties and electrical tape to attach the HPFP to the bracket they broke. I didn’t leave the lot and said “WTF is this?” They asked me if I taped it... LOL.

As for the fix, why on earth would Kia use a 100A fuse on the main circuit but not smaller fuses on branch circuits?? What a huge oversight.

 

[Stock_stinger]

Fortunately I’m a big gear head and have a keen eye for everything. Kia must do all repairs to a high level that I hold them accountable to, no exceptions, I won’t allow it.

I’ve gone to battle with dealers before over warranty work... Atlantic Chevy on LI, NY likes to use zip ties and electrical tape to attach the HPFP to the bracket they broke. I didn’t leave the lot and said “WTF is this?” They asked me if I taped it... LOL.

As for the fix, why on earth would Kia use a 100A fuse on the main circuit but not smaller fuses on branch circuits?? What a huge oversight.

they are bypassing the 40 amp fuses for 25 per circuit on the respective 2 wires.

my earlier post i edited as i was really busy when i got the full TSB write up and wasnt reading all the info fully.

the stock fuses are part of a multi fuse assembly so they cant hot swap them

 

[Capecod]

I have mine scheduled for the 11th, probably won't drive it till then.

 

[Stock_stinger]

video update on this.

some details on what they are doing during the HECU recall (the fire hazard recall). also a way to do it yourself if you so desire.

 

[BUZSTINGR]

video update on this.

some details on what they are doing during the HECU recall (the fire hazard recall). also a way to do it yourself if you so desire.

Awesome walk-through.

 

[SKStinger]

video update on this.

some details on what they are doing during the HECU recall (the fire hazard recall). also a way to do it yourself if you so desire.

Really good video and seems like a simple “fix”.

My issue with this fix from Kia is that it’s still just a bandaid solution. Sure your car won’t start on fire from a faulty HECU but it can still fail and strand you somewhere. Seems like a cheap way out rather than addressing the root cause and replacing the HECU.

Also, couldn’t they have just replaced the strip fuse with one that has two 25 amp fuses instead of 40s? I’m sure they’re expensive but it’s a way cleaner fix than having to cut and splice wires in the fuse box.

Curious in your video why you didn’t decide to remove the 3 bolts holding in the fuse box that you spoke to at the end of the video? Wouldn’t this provide more space to maneuver?

 

[Fredman]

Thank you stock stinger!!

Man, I don’t know if I like this.
After seeing this and putting on my Watson hat again I am betting that HECU unit with its motor, solenoids and control valves momentarily pull more than 25 amps depending on driver input.
I bet main issue is just improperly sizing the one wire feeding all those HECU loads. One engineer responsible for designing the multi fuse properly referenced the actual loads and called for the 40 amp fuses, then another engineer wrongly sized circuits for 12 gauge instead of 8 -
It makes sense to me in this situation depending on driver input that the 12 gauge wire could go red hot while underway or even smolder and start burning later after vehicle shut down.

Redesign of the HECU was probably deemed too costly so with the given failure rate they decided to just address present danger by properly fusing the 12 gauge wires at 25 amps.
A way to prove this out would be to start a poll and reference after the repair how many members report blowing new 25 amp fuses AND how hard they drove the car before the occurrence.
Depending on fuse design, most fuses will safely endure an overload for a given period of time. Again, depending on driver input and changing HECU loads, (solenoids and control valves operating at the same time etc). many of us 2019 owners not seeing the problem could be just moderately heating that 12 gauge wire from time to time.
Assuming my theory is correct, (and I really hope I’m wrong!) we will begin to hear from members with this new fix that the 25 amp fuses are occasionally blowing now because the circuit will then obviously shut down around 25 amps -
At that point I bet the proper fix is to actually break out “individual loads” coming from HECU, and wire each with its properly sized circuit and fuse.

Or, maybe simpler to just use resettable 25 amp circuit breakers!
Then it can just be another novelty/conversation topic about the car. —-Like: (Wow man! I found a new twisty road driving home and had to reset my 25 ampers again!
lol -

I also think it’s logical to assume if the car is driven gently in the meantime before fix is done that those circuits will not be activated so often therefore a decreasing likelihood of fire.

just my 2 cents...