The engine has basically come apart. There is a timing chain issue, the engine is not recalled and it is getting where the car cannot drive. There is a constant smell of burning electrical wires. There’s also issues with the heating and air that is related to electrical.
2015 Hyundai Santa Fe: fire, smoke or burning smell
13 of the 255 complaints about the 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe describe fire, smoke or burning smell.
- owner complaints
- 13
- of this car's complaints
- 5%
- recalls
- 0
Fire, smoke or burning smell by model year
What owners say
While I was driving on the highway in the left lane, smoke came from the engine, then it started coming from underneath the car. The car turned off. I was forced to stop on the left lane of the highway and exit the vehicle and walk as far away as possible. I called 911, then I noticed fire coming from the engine. This was unsafe for myself as well as other riders on the highway. Firefighters came and put out the fire. Once they left, I was left by myself waiting for the tow truck to arrive. No police officers helped to keep myself safe while waiting on the left shoulder once the highway re-opened. When asked if I needed a police report, the police officer said no because it wasn't a crash. The vehicle was inspected by my insurance company and it was deemed a total loss. There were no warning signs or messages or symptoms prior to the failure at all.
The contact owns a 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, he observed smoke emanating from the engine compartment, prompting him to pull to the shoulder of the roadway. After a visual inspection of the engine compartment, the contact observed flames originating near the firewall. The contact was able to extinguish the flames himself with a fire extinguisher. No warning lights were illuminated. A fire report was filed. A police report was not filed, and no injuries were reported. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number:Â 21V303000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic), and the VIN was included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 126,000.
The engine caught fire and the vehicle is a total loss. Acceleration became inconsistent at time of the incident while driving on the freeway. Once that was noticed, and at a speed of 50mph, I immediately heard a loud clicking noise coming from the engine. ALL warning lights also immediately went off. I noticed white smoke and pulled over on the freeway. Once parked, black smoke was emerging from the engine. I exited the vehicle to safety and within 30 seconds, flames emerged from the vehicle. The vehicle maintenance was kept current during the 7 months of ownership. There were no prior warnings of any issues before the incident occurred.
Vehicle has been consuming oil between oil changes. Recently the ABS, Down hill assist, and traction control lights came on. We took it to the dealer and were advised it was a wheel speed sensor in the passenger rear, but they wanted over $600 so we did not repair. Two days later all the lights went off and we had no issues. A month later I drove to Florida, checked and filled the oil with a little over one quart. On my way back the RPM shot up to close to 6K, the engine light started flashing, oil and battery light came on, and the car lost all power qnd started shuttering. There was a strong burning smell when we pulled over, that may it hard to breathe. As of writing this we were told it sounds like the engine has seized, but they are 5 months out on looking into it.
Summer of 2020,my engine needed to be replaced for an unknown reason, that work was done at the Herb Chambers Hyundai service department. On 4/22/2022 my car hesitated to start, it did start, I traveled about 12 miles and my engine light came on. I traveled about 3 more miles and then my car stalled in the middle of the highway, I headed to the breakdown lane very quickly. As soon as I put the car in park, the car started to smoke, I ran down the highway on foot, called 911, I turned around and my car was engulfed in flames. This whole incident went awry very quickly, about 5 minutes. I am writing in as I was offered $16000.00 as a settlement for my vehicle and all losses from Hyundai. My insurance company is offering about $1500.00 more than Hyundai. Hyundai is not even performing an inspection which was not what they communicated initially. I was told an inspection needed to be done prior to any settlement decision. Their is a known recall, I understand, recall #205, which I had not yet been notified of. I want to reiterate that no inspection on Hyundai's part was done to confirm damage/recall issue. At this point I do not have a vehicle and not in a position to buy a new car.
No warning lights. Had started making a small noise that morning but nothing of concern, sounded like a rock in my tire. Was driving up hill, started struggling, then lost all power, had no brakes, Parts went flying out from under car. Smoke came out from hood. Had no brakes or power. Cars behind me could have been hit by flying parts, left a trail of parts on road. I had my kids in car and if we would have been going down hill I wouldn’t have been able to stop. Had entire engine replaced. Hole in engine block. Piston and and valve pieces on road
On August 12th 2021, I was driving the engine started making a knocking/tapping sound. As I accelerated it sounded like something broke off, bounced around then shot out the bottom of my vehicle. My vehicle then started to smoke and leak oil all over the road. I pulled over and turned the engine off. We found the part that flew out of the engine, it was the connector rod. It had snapped off into two pieces and shot through the oil pan after passing through the engine causing irreparable damage. There were no warning signs, no check engine or oil lights, nothing. This happened out of the blue. Our safety as well as the safety of others were put at risk not only when the part flew out of the car and could have hit another vehicle, but it almost caught fire and it could have caused an accident had we nowhere to pull off the road, as traffic was heavy that day. This vehicle has been at the Hyundai dealership since August 13th 2021. It has been inspected and determined it in deed needs a new engine, the cause was connector rod failure.
Hyundai Santa Fe Sport 2015 was making sounds when vehicle was off. The ABS warning lights were lit on the dashboard (3 warnings in total) once car was turned on. Drove home hoping the sound would go away but it did not. Once home the sound continued without the vehicle being on. Opened the hood and listened for the location of the sound. It was the ABS module on the left. This part then caught on fire while parked and off (keys were out).
My car engine caught fire on 04/18/2021 and totaled my car. I just received a recall notice from Hyundai for this issue via the USPS yesterday 06/29/2021. I had only 60,000 miles and expected to own this car another 3-5 years. I am out a new car payment and this could have burned my condo down as I was 2 blocks away from it driving home and routinely park in my garage.
My 2015 hyundai santa fe has been recalled due to the anti-lock system (ABS) modules that could leak brake fluid internally and cause an electrica short over time. The piston seals in the ABS modules's hydraulic valve could leak brake fluid into the electronic control unit (euc) . An electrical short in the ABS module could increase the risk of an engine compartment fire. The safety recall letter I received 12-24-20 stated to call the nearest hyundai dealer as soon as possible to schedule an appointment to have this repaired. I called on jan 12, 2021 to my dealership and was told the parts to fix the recall were not in yet and they could not tell me when they would be available. I find this to be very concerning that I may have a car that anytime could catch on fire and hyundai cannot fix it.
I was driving on highway when suddenly, the engine turned off without any warning (0 RPM on dash). I pulled the car over to the right shoulder of highway and attempted to restart the car multiple times, but the engine/car would not restart. I remember smelling a burning smell the night before this incident. Also, smelled the same burning smell from the engine compartment on the day of the incident after the engine unexpectedly turned off. There was no engine light on or anything prior to this event. This could have been a very dangerous situation hyundai!
Service bulletins that may apply
- Intermittent airbag warning light and DTC(s) B1763 (OCS ECU Defect), and/or B1764 (OCS Mat Defect) may be...
- In response to this trend, we engineered a software upgrade that addresses the social media theft method...
- This bulletin provides the service procedure for installation of a key cylinder reinforcement protector...
- In addition to the Anti-Theft software provided under Service Campaign 993 (TSB 24-01-009H-1), a zinc...
- Upon customer's request ONLY, the Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) 25-01-089H provides the service...
- Loss of connectivity or interruptions in the middle of using Bluelink Service functions
- Loss of connectivity or interruptions in the middle of using Bluelink Service functions
- A class settlement against Hyundai Motor America (“HMA”) that had alleged that certain 2011 – 2022 model...
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe fire or smoke
Is fire, smoke or burning smell a common problem on the 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe?
13 of 255 owner complaints about the 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe (5%) mention fire, smoke or burning smell. The model year with the most reports is 2013.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe?
There are 0 recalls and 32 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe
Engine failure 83Check engine light 53Knocking 39Loss of power 28Stalling 28Oil consumption 23ABS 14Sunroof shattered 10Won't start 8Hesitation 7Won't shift 7Headlights 6Jerking 6No deployment 5Warning lights 5
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