The contact owns a 2014 Kia Forte. The contact received a notification of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 20V750000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the vehicle was denied repairs due to lack of engine oil maintance records. The contact stated that after the vehicle was powered on with the ignition key, an abnormal fuel odor would leak into the interior cabin and the engine would shudder. No warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer where it was denied recall repaires due to lack on maintance records. The vehicle was not repaired due to costs. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 105,000.
Kia Forte fuel smell problems
20 of the 2,565 owner complaints about the Kia Forte describe gas smell in the cabin, most of them for the 2012 model year.
- owner complaints
- 20
- worst model year
- 2012
- typical mileage
- 105,000
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
Often reported together
Knocking 6Check engine light 6Stalling 3Won't start 2Misfire 2Loss of power 2Fire or smoke 2Engine failure 2
What owners say
Engine would run fast and then sound like was going to stop and then it would start shaking and rumbling while driving on highway and in town. Car would stall while at a stop. Gas smells inside the car. Did not feel safe driving. Had the car towed to an independent garage on February 7th and They did an oil change, change 2 Sensors, changed all the spark plugs and changed all 4 Cylinders and on the way home from Starks garage the car was doing the same as before going to the garage with gas smells inside the car, shaking, rumbling and stalling of the engine. And the car wanting to stall while on the highway speed limit of going 60 mph. the next morning My mom and stepdad had the car towed again to another mechanic close to them at Hudson Import Automotive -Napa Auto Care and they emailed a list of problems after inspecting the car. Attaching the list of codes from a diagnostic test from Auto Zone Store # 00791 , and the Estimate for Service from Hudson Import Automotive - Napa Auto Care. Have no paperwork from Starks mechanic shop.
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Forte. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was a strong fuel odor coming from the vehicle, followed by a loss of motive power. The malfunction indicator light and ABS warning light were illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000. The VIN was not available.
The lane assist malfunction and periodically jerks. Very unsafe I no longer use this feature . To keep control of the vehicle. I never got it inspected. As the lane assist was in use and it would jerk it would alert me of a lane departure . I mention this to include every known problem I have experienced with the vehicle. The problem That brought me here. Is my engine light came on today. Leading up to this. I have had oil leaks since I've owned the car. Im adding oil in between oil changes due to it being low. In the beginning it was a hint of smell of gas in the oil. I was informed to do more frequent oil changes. Over time the smell of gas grew stronger . No Indication to a problem then. Now the smell of gas is prominent in the oil. When the dip stick is checked its always needing more oil and smells of gas and has blackness like burning in the oil. Now there's a check engine light on. And everything I looked up says to discontinue driving the car. I am having a mechanic look at it with a code reader.
The contact owns a 2015 Kia Forte. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the vehicle made an abnormally loud rattling sound. The check engine warning light and other unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that there was a strong fuel odor coming from the vehicle while driving. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to exceed an undisclosed speed and later became undrivable. Additionally, the contact stated that the low oil pressure warning light was illuminated while there was sufficient oil in the engine. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 20V750000 (Engine), which the contact related to the failure. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where the Knock Sensor Detection System (KSDS) software update was performed; however, the failure persisted. The dealer determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The dealer advised the contact to bring the vehicle back after the manufacturer had approved the request for the engine replacement. The vehicle was driven to the residence; however, the failure worsened while driving. The vehicle was not repaired; however, the recall was marked completed. The contact stated the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 125,330.
While driving on the interstate vehicle's engine warning light turned on and suddenly the vehicle rapidly lost power. This created a VERY dangerous situation on a busy highway, putting my safety at risk and those of fellow drivers. Luckily there were no accidents and I managed to get to a repair facility. The mechanic said the engine codes were for the replacement of the engine. The engine was also low on oil again. Refilled oil to proper levels. The same issue occurred the next day, with more missing oil - no power, barely drivable and smells like gasoline inside the car a 2014 KIA FORTE.
Unknown, 2010 Kia Forte engines have an active and open recall in Canada for a ticking noise that leads to vehicle fires and cause death it is not being addressed here in the United States even though the problems are exactly the same there's a smell of gas burning there are ticking and knocking noises coming from an engine and Kia is refusing to replace it here in the United States but they are actively replacing it in Canada
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Forte. The contact stated that there was a strong gasoline odor inside the cabin of the vehicle. Additionally, the contact stated while starting the vehicle, the engine made abnormal knocking sounds. The contact stated that the failure occurred increasingly while driving. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 20V75000 (Engine). An unknow dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
I purchased a Kia Forte, 2012, in September of 2021. The engine has stalled, several times after putting gas in it and last week after filling up, gas fumes permeated the inside of the car while driving. Recently, this has started happening regularly. When I decided to investigate why this is happening, so that I have awareness of possibilities before going to the crooked dealer, I learned of the Class Action Lawsuit settlement against Hyundai/Kia specifically related to deadly engine stalling while driving and engine fires as a result of the identical problem which I am having. When I put my VIN into your site, it comes up as zero recalls, however, as you state on your site, many vehicles VINs are still updating. I did the research to learn if my vehicle fit the category of how this is happening. The dangerous defect is happening with Hyundai/Kia Theta II multi-port fuel injection (MPI) engines, Nu gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines, and Gamma GDI engines described in the combined lawsuit and all vehicles that have the defect, which adds up to 1.05 million. The vehicles involved in the Settlement are Theta II, Hyundai Tucson/ix35 (LM) (2009–2015), Hyundai Sonata (2007–2014) Kia Forte (TD) (2008–2012), Kia Optima/K5 (2008–2012), Kia Sportage (SL) (2010–2013) My 2012 Kia Forte has the 2.0L DOHC MPI Theta II multi-port fuel injection (MPI) engine listed as defective. As a female Veteran who drives 60 miles to the nearest Veteran's hospital, I am now scared to drive the car due to reports of the vehicle stalling in traffic and in my case on the California freeway where speeds normally are typically 65 to 75 mph. I have no other vehicle. I purchased this vehicle for the outstanding CarFax and Experian reports as a rental car, resulting in the highest standard and consistent servicing for years. Please rush this complaint so that I can keep my VA doctor appointments. I am scared, my VIN is KNAFU4A29C5590130. Thank you.
vehicle started to smell of fuel, located a fuel leak on top of gas tank, leaking connector. Vehicle not drivable, extreme fire hazard
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Kia Forte fuel smell
Which Kia Forte years have gas smell in the cabin problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2012 (7 complaints), 2014 (5 complaints) and 2015 (2 complaints).
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