2005 Kia Sorento: fire, smoke or burning smell

5 of the 307 complaints about the 2005 Kia Sorento describe fire, smoke or burning smell.

owner complaints: 5
of this car's complaints: 2%
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 2 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Fire, smoke or burning smell by model year

2024
1
2023
2
2022
2
2021
2
2020
13
2019
24
2018
17
2017
35
2016
71
2015
28
2014
61
2013
56
2012
81
2011
73
2009
2
2008
7
2007
5
2006
11
2005
5
2004
12
2003
5

What owners say

Filed May 29, 2018 · Engine · FL · fire

While driving down the interstate the car's engine caught fire. Melted everything in engine. When told I needed a new engine, I sold the car to a junk yard for parts. Now, I hear this recall. So pissed@

Filed May 6, 2018 · Electrical · 176,000 miles · SC · fire

I drove my kia and parked in a grocery parking lot. I came back outside to find my car's engine compartment was totally engulfed in flames. The fire department was actively putting out the flames as I approached. No warning this would occur. Kia has refused to return my calls or emails. Very reliable vehicles (I bought 2 brand new in 2005). Very dangerous, and apparently not an unheard of event with certain kias. Several reports online and in person. Could have been disastrous had I been driving, or parked closer to other vehicles (or any structure).

Filed Mar 1, 2017 · Engine · 14,078 miles · IN · fire

The engine caught on fire on sunday february 26 and today march 1st

Filed Jul 29, 2015 · 96,000 miles · FL

I was driving, about 45mph, I noticed light smoke coming from the hood. When I looked at my temperature gage it was in the middle, saud it was fine. I drove about ten more minutes since the smoke stopped. About ten minutes after I got to my destination , there was so much smoke coming out from the hood and water was everywhere. The thermostat and radiator were replaced. Everyday I drive it, there's a river of water coming from under the SUV. I had it in the shop two days prior to this incident and everything tested fine. It's been a huge mess.

Filed Oct 26, 2009 · Engine, Lights · 124,000 miles · 00 · fire

While returning from our vacation our kia started making at lot of noises in around the airconditioning heating system, the air coming from the vents didn't seem to be warm enough to defog the windows, then the next day when it was warmer it started making a rattling fan noise when the air was turned on. When the system was turned off it didn't make the noise anymore. We arrived home unloaded our gear and then went out again a while later. The fan noise started again and the warning light came on and the power steering didn't work, when the air was turned off everything resumed to normal. We arrived at our friend house and went inside. After several minutes we smelled something burning and went outside to see smoke coming from the engine area. We lifted the hood to investigate where we saw flames coming from the engine. We immediately extinguished the fire and had the vehicle towed the next day. Come to find out several days later that our vehicle was too badly burned to repair the engine. The engine had to be replaced due to a timing belt failure. If this is an ongoing problem it should be mandatory that they should be replaced by whomever owns the vehicle or the dealer if the car has been traded because the next owner would not know any of the previous repairs such was our case. As it stands now there are some interior electrical problems such as the lights an the electronic seats we are hoping for some kind of recall for this problem. There was also a problem with the fan running on after the car was turned off. This was still happening even after the engine had been replaced and we were told earlier that it was a sensor problem which still happened even after the sensor was replaced.