Kia’s sending out a warning to nearly 150,000 owners of Kia Soul and Kia Seltos models.
The automaker and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration have issued a recall on 2020 and 2021 models of the two cars. Dealers will begin notifying owners on June 11, the NHTSA says. That notification will come in the mail.
Affected vehicles will have their engine replaced. In the meantime, owners of the cars are being asked to look for increased oil consumption, abnormal engine noise, and illumination of the oil pressure warning lamp.
A manufacturing issue affected the car’s piston oil ring, making some rings excessively hard, which can make the ring chip and scuff the motor’s cylinder bore, leading to increased oil consumption.
“If the vehicle is continually operated in this condition, … [the issue] can result in engine damage, thereby increasing the risk of loss of motive power and/or in limited cases a fire,” said safety officials.
The majority of the recall affects the Kia Soul. Roughly 125,000 of the 150,000 cars affected by the action are that model. Only 2.0 liter Nu MPI engine-equipped Seltos are affected.
There have been no deaths or accidents related to this issue to date.
The Kia recall follows a recall of 135,000 Tesla sedans and sport utility vehicles in February. Ford is also recalling some SUVs due to problems with the rear axle and a handful of Police Interceptor and Lincoln vehicles due to contaminated windshield washer fluid.
