2008 Kia Sorento problems

What is wrong

Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2006-2010 Sedona and 2007-2009 Sorento vehicles. Moisture may enter the Anti-lock Brake (ABS) Module and result in an electrical short.

Risk

An electrical short within the ABS Module may cause an engine compartment fire, even when the vehicle is turned off, increasing the risk of an injury.

Remedy

Kia will notify owners, and dealers will install a relay in the main junction box to prevent power from being directed to the HECU when the vehicle's ignition switch is turned off, free of charge. The recall began June 5, 2020. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1‑800‑333‑4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC186.

Recall number 20V088000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Kia Motors Corporation (Kia) is recalling certain model year 2007-2010 Rondo, model year 2007-2011 Sedona, Sorento and Sportage, model year 2010-2011 Soul, model year 2008-2011 Optima, model year 2010 Forte, model year 2007-2009 Amanti, and model year 2009 Borrego vehicles. Originally, in April 2013, Kia recalled 623,658 model year 2007-2010 Rondo and Sportage, model year 2007-2011 Sorento, model year 2007 Sedona, model year 2010-2011 Soul, and model year 2011 Optima vehicles. In September 2013, Kia informed the agency that it was adding an additional 356,719 vehicles to this campaign. The total number of vehicles being recalled is now 980,377. In the affected vehicles, the stop lamp switch may malfunction. A malfunctioning stop lamp switch may cause the brake lights to not illuminate when the brake pedal is depressed or may cause an inability to deactivate the cruise control by depressing the brake pedal. Additionally, a malfunctioning stop lamp switch may also result in intermittent operation of the push-button start feature, affect the operation of the brake-transmission shift interlock feature preventing the shifter from being moved out of the PARK position and cause the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) malfunction light to illuminate.

Risk

Failure to illuminate the stop lamps during braking or inability to disengage the cruise control could increase the risk of a crash. Additionally, when the ignition is in the 'ON' position, the transmission shifter may be able to be moved out of PARK without first applying the brake. This may lead to unintentional movement of the car which may increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Kia will send an interim notification to owners in May 2013. When parts are available, owners will receive a second notification and dealers will replace the stop lamp switch, free of charge. Owners may contact Kia at 1‑800‑333‑4542. Kia's recall campaign number is SC098.

Recall number 13V114000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Kia is recalling certain model year 2007-2008 sorento passenger cars manufactured from june 15, 2006 through november 27, 2007. The front passenger air bag may be turned off when an adult is in the passenger seat. The front passenger air bag is designed to be turned off in limited circumstances including when children and small adults are seated in the front passenger seat, there is a child restraint in that seat or the seat is not occupied. The vehicle's occupant classification system (ocs), which classifies the occupant in the front passenger seat, may misclassify an adult passenger as a child or child seat and improperly turn off the passenger side air bag. When the air bag is deactivated the "passenger air bag off" light will illuminate on the center instrument panel.

Risk

The passenger side air bag is turned off when the ocs misclassifies an adult passenger. With the front passenger airbag off, the front passenger will not have the protection of the passenger air bags in some frontal collisions, thus increasing the risk of occupant injury.

Remedy

Kia will update the programming in the sorento ocs control module at no charge. The recall remedy is currently available under service campaign sc076. Owners may contact kia customer service at 1‑800‑333‑4542.

Recall number 11V473000 · Recall details

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) of the federal safety agency received a petition letter dated October 10, 2021, requesting an investigation of possible defects in the electronic throttle control (ETC) system on certain Kia vehicles resulting in the opening of DP21-003. Accordingly, Model Year (MY) 2005-2016 Kia Optima/K5, MY 2006-2015 Kia Sorento, MY 2007-2016 Hyundai Elantra, MY 2007-2016 Hyundai Santa Fe, MY 2006-2015 Hyundai Sonatas are all part of the subject population. The petition was originally filed as a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire that can be reviewed at under reference (ODI) number 11439675.On November 12, 2021, ODI opened Defect Petition DP21-003 to evaluate the petitioner?s request. ODI performed trend analyses of the VOQs related to vehicle speed control issues for all the subject vehicles and found that none of the 52 Model/Model Year Hyundai/Kia vehicles demonstrated any actionable trend that warranted an investigation.Petitioners submitted 1119 VOQs and non-VOQ cases in which sudden uncommanded acceleration (SUA) or loss of motive power (LOMP) incidents were alleged.For the 1119 reports, 220 were incidents involving crashes, from which 69 subject Hyundai-Kia vehicles were inspected by Hyundai/Kia dealer technicians, Hyundai/Kia engineers, and/or third-party representatives.ODI found the inspections identified no vehicle defects related to the ETC system.Of the 220 crash-involved reports, 13 Event Data Recorder (EDR) records were downloaded successfully and 11 of those indicated driver error: (i.e.) pedal misapplication.A condition where the accelerator pedal is mistakenly applied instead of the brake pedal when the driver wants to stop the vehicle.In addition, ODI reviewed a scientific journal paper published in Forensic Science International in 2016 by Mr. Park et al ., as well as related test videos. ODI does not believe there is any evidence of uncontrollable SUA occurrences in any of the tests reviewed. the federal safety agency's Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance (OVSC) reviewed the allegations regarding the potential noncompliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 124.Based on the information provided, the Agency concludes there is insufficient information for us to determine if a possible non-compliance exists.Finally, both Hyundai and Kia informed ODI that all their vehicles manufactured after 2012 were equipped with an ETC management system, in which the engine speed will go to idle when the system sees signals from both the brake pedal and accelerator pedal at the same time; this is commonly known as the brake-throttle override system.After thoroughly assessing the material submitted by the petitioner, information already in the federal safety agency's possession, information submitted by Hyundai and Kia in response to an Information Request letter, and the potential risks to safety implicated by the petitioner's allegation, the federal safety agency does not believe that a formal investigation is warranted. After full consideration of appropriate factors, the petition is denied. A Federal Register Notice (FRN) further detailing the federal safety agency?s reasons for denial of the petition will be published.

DP21003

The Sorento's front passenger air bag may be turned off when an adult is seated in the passenger seat. The front passenger air bag is designed to be turned off in limited circumstances including when children and small adults are seated in the front passenger seat, there is a child restraint in that seat, or the seat is not occupied.But the Sorento has misclassified adults sitting in the passenger seat.This causes the passenger side frontal air bag to deactivate and the PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light to illuminate. On May 12, 2009, Kia launched a Technical Service Bulletin campaign (SC076) to address this problem, installing upgraded occupant classification system (OCS) software in vehicles built prior to the 11/27/2007 production date. ODI and Kia identified 908 owner reports and 927 warranty claims related to this OCS issue.Kia also reported one crash where the passenger frontal air bag did not deploy in a frontal crash due to misclassification.Testing of Sorento vehicles built prior to December 2007 shows that misclassification can occur.As of April 2011, Kia reports that approx. 46,000 of the 57,228 vehicles have been upgraded with the revised software.On September 6, 2011, Kia submitted a defect notice and will recall the affected vehicles that have not been upgraded.Owner notification is scheduled to start in late-September 2011.The recall will upgrade the OCS software.Accordingly the investigation is closed.

EA09017

Kia reports that for vehicles built prior to the software update of 11/27/2007, the vehicles can improperly classify an adult as a child restraint seat and thus illuminate the airbag off warning light and suppress the frontal passenger airbag.on may 12, 2009, kia launched a technical service bulletin (sb076) campaign to re-flash all vehicles built prior to the 11/27/2007 production date.kia also believes that intermittent occupant movement and out of position seating contributed to the high number of complaints.905 of the 947 complaints and 1,014 of the 1,107 warranty claims were associated with the 57,228 vehicles built prior to the 11/27/2007 production date.there was one frontal passenger airbag non-deployment crash that resulted in one minor injury of a belted adult passenger occupant.this preliminary evolution is being upgraded to an engineering analysis (ea09-017) to further assess this issue for all my2007-2008 sorento vehicles built prior to the 11/27/2007 production date.

PE09034