Tl* the contact owned a 2003 kia sorento. While driving at 60 MPH, the contact stated that smoke came from out of the vents. The contact pulled over on the shoulder and exited the vehicle. There were sparks coming from the engine and the vehicle caught on fire. A police report was filed and there were no injuries reported. The vehicle was totaled and towed away. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 60,000. Th VIN was not available.
2003 Kia Sorento: fire, smoke or burning smell
5 of the 305 complaints about the 2003 Kia Sorento describe fire, smoke or burning smell.
- owner complaints
- 5
- of this car's complaints
- 2%
- recalls
- 0
Is there a fix? 1 service bulletin covers this area of the car. See below
Fire, smoke or burning smell by model year
What owners say
It is beyond me how kia motors can get away with telling a bunch of automobile engineers, that the problem with there vehicles spitting back gasoline onto a person and kia motors telling them it's an air filter. I took my2003 kia sorento back to the dealers thinking I was going to get a new charcoal filter when all was said and done I received a $20 air filter for the charcoal chamber which had no problem to begin with. I still have a 2003 kia sorento that spits fuel back on to me and I"m waiting for the day someone throws a cigarette butt at me and I catch fire< because I will own kia of america and a wealthy lawsuit against the national trafic safety panel. Do you know I had a short access to a kia site recently and seen over 100 service bulletins, not just 8 that are on this site I guess you people forgot who you work for the united ststes people/not kia motors and you can bet your ass I'm not done until everyone of my service bulletins is addressed so you bean counters better start figuring blame because as I said when I'm done you'll see this is bullshit if this were ford, chevy or chrysler you would have dragged they're ass across the coals well you better start with the slanty eye koreans too. I knew their was a reason my mother didn't want me going into their boston stores when I was a kid. Got help you if this thing catches fire with my kids in it, because my 2 year old is strapped right above your no problem whatsoever I made better go karts when I was 10 years old I dont know what the governments problem is but it better be taken care of or you may find it on your lawn on fire !!!
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 kia sorento. While driving between 35-40 MPH, the motor in the cooling fan failed. The motor was attempting to turn over; however, it could not because the fuse in the fuse box did not blow out as it should. The wire from the terminal blocker melted into the fuse box. This caused the wires to burn and the passenger compartment became engulfed in smoke. The vehicle was driven home and did not catch on fire. The vehicle has two safety features, one in the terminal block and the other in the fuse box, but they did not work. The contact called kia and was informed that the warranty ended at 60,000 miles. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 100,000.
Comments: I would like to inform you of what I think is a potential safety hazard. Several weeks ago my wife and I were returning from a vacation in our car and it caught fire. Luckily there were no injuries or serious damage. At the end of this letter will be all the particulars. We were coming from santa cruz on highway 1, in california and at what is called the summit, of I started seeing smoke in back of our vehicle. We stopped, turned off the car ,opened the hood and there was a small fire down on the driver side near the exhaust manifold. I closed the hood and tried to locate a fire extinguisher. The fire extinguished itself and we had the car towed to the dealership. After a day of testing the only thing they found was that the transmission was slightly overfilled, which was my error. While I realize that can cause the problem here is my concern. The technician who worked on my car said that transmissions are designed to blow out or through overflow the transmission filler tube. He also showed me that on top of the dipstick was slot which would allow the fluid to escape. However it is located right over the exhaust manifold. It would seem that it should be located where the fluid would not come in contact with such hot engine parts. I am not sure if this affects other vehicles but it does concern me. My vehicle is 2004 kia sorento 6 cyc, automatic we were not towing anything nor where we loaded down. I thank you for you time. Steve elijah 225 merrill ave fremont, ca 945 [email protected] 510.623.8211.
While driving at highway speed consumer smelled a burning odor. Then, smoke came from the rear of the vehicle. As a result, transmission failed and flames emanated from the under carriage.
Service bulletins that may apply
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2003 Kia Sorento fire or smoke
Is fire, smoke or burning smell a common problem on the 2003 Kia Sorento?
5 of 305 owner complaints about the 2003 Kia Sorento (2%) mention fire, smoke or burning smell. The model year with the most reports is 2012.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2003 Kia Sorento?
There are 0 recalls and 1 service bulletin for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2003 Kia Sorento
Airbag light 22Check engine light 22Headlights 20Power steering loss 20Stalling 20Loss of power 18Engine failure 17Overheating 13Won't start 8Fuel pump 7Warning lights 7Fuel gauge 5Fuel smell 5Steering lock-up 5
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