Hyundai issues fourth recall for fire risk

Fountain Valley, CA – March 20, 2022 – Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) has remedied issues with 7,981 2021-2022 Hyundai Santa Fe and 2021-2022 Hyundai Sonata, which were dealing with fuel leaks at pipe connection between the fuel rail & fuel pump. By the date of this update, 0 of these 2021-2022 Santa Fe and 2021-2022 Sonata models have been categorized as unreachable and only one has been removed from the recall. All these 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe and Sonata vehicles were remedied during the first quarter of 2021.

Fountain Valley, CA – September 3, 2021  – Hyundai (OTCMKTS: HYMTF) has announced its fourth recall this year due to the risk of fire. This recall includes 15,752 vehicles and is caused by a fuel leak.

The following cars are affected:

  • 2021 Hyundai Sante Fe
  • 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe
  • 2021 Hyundai Sonata
  • 2022 Hyundai Sonata

Recall summary 

This recall is caused by a supplier error and a manufacturing defect and follows on the heels of a recent Kia recall conducted for the same reasons and due to the same risk

During production, some of the fuel pipes were not sufficiently tightened and some were made out-of-specification. This can lead to a fuel leak  at the pipe connection between the high-pressure fuel pump and fuel rail. The latter is a metal pipe that helps transport fuel to the engine.

Millions of cars recalled

This is the fourth fire-related recall that Hyundai issued this year.  Both Kia – in which Hyundai holds a minority stake – and Hyundai have recalled millions of cars in the past five years because of a risk of fire caused by various issues, including brake fuel leaks, faulty engines and electrical shorts. 

Kia is also subject to an ongoing investigation by the auto safety regulator, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for this issue, based on at least 1,784 complaints and 77 injuries, as reported.

Risks

A fuel leak can cause a fire in the engine compartment, leading to a crash, injury, or in extreme cases, death. For more on dangers of car fires and what to do in case of one, please see our recent coverage of this Kia Stinger recall.

Safety tips

While this is not explicitly recommended in this instance, in other fire-related recalls, manufacturers have advised drivers to park their vehicles OUTSIDE and AWAY from structures until repairs are completed.

Warning signs

Warning signs for this recall include smelling the odor of fuel, burning or melting or seeing smoke. The driver may also notice that the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) comes on.

Other Hyundai recalls

In April of last year, there was a Hyundai Sonata recall for 11,870 vehicles out of concern for improperly installed self-parking system. Last month, there was a Hyundai Santa Fe recall for 151,205 vehicles over a short in the anti-lock braking system, which may cause an engine compartment fire.

Repair

Owners are set to be notified starting September 6, 2021. The repair is a  free replacement pipe.

Is your vehicle part of this recall? 

Approximately 15,752 vehicles are part of this General Motors recall. To do a Hyundai recall check, use MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool.

Mikaela BolkerHyundai issues fourth recall for fire risk