- Kia is recalling 137,256 Souls and Seltos’ equipped with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine.
- The engines may have faulty piston rings, which can cause them to burn oil.
- Kia is aware of over 400 incidents as well as four potentially related fires.
Kia is recalling over 137,000 vehicles due to piston oil rings that may have been manufactured incorrectly. This can result in a host of problems ranging from engine damage to a fire.
The recall impacts the 2021-2023 Soul and 2021-2023 Seltos, which are equipped with 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines. The former model makes up the bulk of the recall, which involves 83,621 Souls and 53,635 Seltos’.
More: 2025 Kia Soul Gets Soulmate Special Edition And $100 Price Hike
According to the government, a “quality deviation” can lead to cylinder wall damage over time. This can result in increased oil consumption, which can eventually cause engine damage or seizure. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also noted, “in limited cases, a fire may occur from engine oil leaking onto a hot exhaust component due to a hole in the engine block.”
The faulty piston rings were made by Dongsuh Federal-Mogul and Kia first became aware of the issue last September, when they noticed a potential trend in engine replacement warranty claims for the 2021 Seltos and Soul. This sparked an examination of returned engines and teardowns discovered “damaged oil rings and cylinder wall scoring, one of which had a hole in the engine block.”
This was eventually traced to piston rings and Kia is aware of 409 incidents as well as 400 potentially related allegations of stalling. The automaker is also aware of four potentially related fires, which all occurred in Souls.
As part of the recall, dealers will inspect and replace the engine, if necessary. Technicians will also install piston-ring noise sensing software and owner notifications are expected to be mailed in early April.
