2016 Kia Soul: ABS light or ABS activating

Filed May 19, 2026 · Brakes, Engine · 80,000 miles · FL

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine oil warning light illuminated. The contact pulled over and inspected the vehicle. The contact discovered that there was no oil in the engine; however, the vehicle previously had an oil change. The contact added oil to the engine. The failure persisted. Additionally, the vehicle made rattling sounds and emitted a burning oil odor. The brake pedal had to be firmly depressed to stop the vehicle, the windows inadvertently rolled down, and the interior lights intermittently failed due to an electrical system failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that the timing cover needed to be resealed and the brake master cylinder, oil pan gasket, brake fluid, spark plugs, ABS, and window master switch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 19V120000 (Engine, Engine And Engine Cooling); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

Filed Aug 15, 2025 · Airbags, Brakes · TN

4 29 23 at 101091 miles the catalytic converter was replaced. The car sucks up oil before even the 3000 .mark..kia performed. Then on7/8/25 wg baker replaced catalytic converter again. Also coding of abs brakes now and why would catalytic converter need replacing? Because car is eating off oil. Yes my car stopped on the interstate and I had to pull over. I've already done two tune ups.

Filed Mar 22, 2024 · Electrical · 150,000 miles · VA · crash · 1 injury

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 MPH, the battery, steering, and ABS warning lights were illuminated. The steering wheel then seized. The contact stopped the vehicle in the left lane of the highway when another vehicle sideswiped the passenger side of her vehicle and fled the scene. The air bags did not deploy. The contact experienced sore body pains, but medical attention was not received. No police report was filed. The contact activated the hazard lights, and the vehicle shut off after an hour of idling. VDOT arrived on the scene and attempted to jumpstart the vehicle, but the vehicle was unable to restart. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the alternator and battery needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.

Filed Apr 4, 2023 · Steering · OH

Driving around curves my car slows dramatically and traction control light comes on. I have no ability to steer at this point until the car “breaks free” and allows acceleration again. It’s as if the ABS system kicks on all on its own. The sound it makes is as though the brakes are kicking in to slow the vehicle. It almost comes to a stop on curves. Steering intermittently loosens on its own while driving and I lose controlled steering as there is a lot of play in the steering wheel. Then it will tighten up again as if it’s a brand new car. There is an occasional pop noise but it’s not constant and doesn’t make the sound when driving at speeds greater than 40mph. No other sounds are present. I contacted Kia as they placed a set screw in the steering for a pinion plug recall repair to keep a nut from backing out and this was not properly documented by the previous service department per the new management. There were no images of the repair that was done and no notes in the repair log according to the young lady I spoke with. No evidence of a repair other than being marked in the system.

Filed Dec 7, 2022 · Brakes, Engine · 123,639 miles · IN

Our car was sold to us not knowing about a recall. It was taken to a local Kia. The car dealership says they didn’t know. It’s already had a replaced catalytic converter and didn’t fix the problem. Our engine light, ABS light and a skidding light come on and off. No one will listen to us. We don’t know what to do next.

Filed Mar 9, 2022 · Electrical · PA

The rotating contactor switch for the heat/air conditioning fan on the dashboard appears to get very hot on the internal side. This resulted in discoloration of the plugs on the back side of the control panel, and melting of the contactor housing within the control box. No modifications have been made to this system to my knowledge, and no fuses were burned out prior to the dial failing, due to the melting plastic creating an air gap between the contactor terminals. Half of the plastic on the housing appears to be a heat resistant glass reinforced polyamide, and the (melted) half appears to be made of standard ABS plastic. This implies engineering expected this component to get hot, but still cut costs irresponsibly by using cheaper ABS in hope that the other half of this component would not get hot enough to melt (or potentially catch fire, had the plastic not melted away in a fashion that simply disconnected the contactors). I believe this case is not unique, as failures of this component appear common online. However I believe the true cause of failure (and potential risk of fire from the heat) has not yet been identified due to this contactor being located within a sealed control board assembly.