Engine compartment fires

An NHTSA Preliminary Evaluation into Kia vehicles. Closed 28 August 2003.

Investigation
PE03016
Type
Preliminary Evaluation
Opened
15 April 2003
Closed
28 August 2003

What NHTSA investigated

Kia has identified 22 non-crash engine compartment fires of any or unspecified cause on the subject vehicles.nine fires (of which 4 were also reported to odi) are identified as being due to a fuel system leak originating between the firewall and the fuel injector rail (p/n 0K30E 13 150) in the passenger side area of the engine compartment.the remaining fires were due to varied or unknown causes.all 9 fires caused by a fuel system leak sustained severe and total damage.analysis indicates that 1 fire was caused by a failed quick connect between the flexible high-pressure fuel supply line (p/n 0K32A 13 49XB) and the rigid line mounted to the firewall; 5 fires were caused by a failure of the flexible high-pressure fuel supply line itself or its related connectors; the remaining 3 fires were caused by unspecified fuel leaks in the vicinity of the fuel injector rail, flexible high-pressure fuel supply line, and the rigid line mounted to the firewall.kia reports that neither the fuel injector rail nor the flexible high-pressure fuel supply line has been substantially modified since their introduction in the 2001 model year.this preliminary evaluation has been upgraded to an engineering analysis (EA03-015) so that odi may collect additional information and conduct further study of this issue.

Vehicles covered

MakeModelModel years
KiaRIO2001

Source

From NHTSA’s investigation file, rebuilt daily. To report a problem with your own vehicle, go to nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem. All open investigations.