Hyundai and Kia will recall a total of eight vehicle models and more than 122,000 vehicles as a result of an issue with their 8-speed dual clutch transmissions’ high-pressure electric oil pumps. The fault may lead to the vehicle entering a failsafe mode and losing propulsion.
In an email to Carscoops, Hyundai confirmed a report from Autoweek based on a document found online that it has indeed has issued a dealer “stop-sale” order for any new or used vehicles affected until the problem has been fixed in accordance with federal regulations. We’ve reached out to Kia to see if they’ve issued a ‘stop-sale’ order and will update this post once we hear back for them.
The recall impacts the automakers’ eight-speed dual-clutch transmissions and affects vehicles built between 2020 and 2022. In all, Hyundai must recall 53,142 vehicles in the USA and 8,719 in Canada, while and Kia must recall 69,038 vehicles, though both brands believe that this defect will only be found in one percent of vehicles affected by this action.
The models fitted with this transmission are the 2021-2022 Hyundai Santa Fe, the 2021-2022 Hyundai Sonata, the 2021-2022 Hyundai Veloster N, as well as the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz, the 2022 Hyundai Elantra N, and the 2022 Hyundai Kona N. It also affects the 2021-2022 Kia Sorento and the 2021-2023 Kia K5.
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The problem stems from the electric oil pump within the eight-speed dual clutch transmission, which may experience an internal fault due to a supplier quality deviation issue. Specifically, a component within the pump’s circuit board may not have been soldered sufficiently, and could detach.
The fault could result in a diagnostic trouble code, which would warn the driver of the impending issue. The car will play audible chimes and a message to “stop safely immediately” on the instrument cluster.
And the warning is legit, because drivers will be given just 20-30 seconds of normal driving before the transmission enters a failsafe mode and disengages the drive gears. That will, ultimately, result in a loss of motive power, which could lead to an increased risk of a crash.
As of September 26, 2022, Hyundai was aware of 229 unique incidents between June 2021 and that date. Fortunately, neither it nor Kia are aware of any crashes or injuries related to the defect.
Owners will be reached out to by first-class mail starting on December 9 and asked to return their vehicle to the dealer. There, a technician will inspect the transmission and replace it with a new one that is not impacted by the electric oil pump quality deviation where necessary, at no cost to the owner.
