[kach22i]

Originally Posted by john70t

The Korean auto drive-trains are not known to be dependable but they did offer a 100k warranty.

They are screwing their customers on the warranty for known defects.

November 9, 2021
Whistleblower gets more than $24M for reporting Hyundai and Kia over engine fires
https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053985268/whistleblower-gets-more-than-24m-for-reporting-hyundai-and-kia-over-engine-fires

DETROIT — The U.S. government's road safety agency has paid more than $24 million to a whistleblower who reported that Hyundai and Kia moved too slowly to recall over 1 million vehicles with engines that could freeze up or catch fire.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the award is the first it has paid to a whistleblower. It's also the maximum percentage allowed by law of penalties paid by the Korean automakers...................

The U.S. safety agency opened its probe in 2017 after Hyundai recalled about 470,000 vehicles in September of 2015 because debris from manufacturing could restrict oil flow to connecting rod bearings. That could make the bearings wear out and fail, potentially causing the four-cylinder "Theta II" engines to stall or catch fire. The repair was an expensive engine block replacement..................

Engine failure and fire problems with Hyundais and Kias have plagued the companies for more than five years, affecting the owners of more than 8 million vehicles.

Theta II = POS, no thanks, and the dealerships were blaming the customers for the failures in many cases and charging them for new engines. Not good people or practices in my opinion.

10 November 2021
Hyundai, Kia whistleblower awarded $24m for reporting safety violations
It's the first such award issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
https://uk.motor1.com/news/546716/hyundai-whistleblower-awarded-money-nhtsa/

The fine involved vehicle recalls from 2011 through 2014 and was tied to engines. Specifically, manufacturing problems with some of the 2.0-litre and 2.4-litre engines could lead to premature failure, notably in the Sonata saloon and Santa Fe SUV. Kia vehicles using these engines also experienced issues, but this wasn't the reason for the fine.

According to the NHTSA, neither Kia nor its parent company Hyundai responded to this potential safety issue in an adequate time, and the company allegedly reported inaccurate information about the seriousness of the issue. Apparently, these are things the whistleblower brought to light. And now, that action is rewarded by a multi-million-dollar reward.

From back in 2016:
http://www.hyundaiproblems.com/theta-ii-engine/

Below from back in 2018, extended warranties not being honored either.

Hyundai Won’t Honor Their Warranty on Theta II Engine
https://community.cartalk.com/t/hyundai-wont-honor-their-warranty-on-theta-ii-engine/131513/13

Meanwhile, up in Canada.

November 18, 2019
Kia, Hyundai Canada Class Action Alleges Engine Failure
https://ca.topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/kia-hyundai-canada-class-action-alleges-engine-failure/

The Theta II engine installed in the affected vehicles, according to the Kia, Hyundai Canada class action lawsuit, put new stresses on the lubrication systems. Specifically, says the complaint, “[t]he Theta II engines included a piston cooling jet attached to the main oil gallery on the Cylinder block that cools the piston by spraying a mist of engine oil onto each overhead piston. This feature also results in increased oil temperatures and contributes to more engine oil being atomized into the crankcase gases.”

The car makers did not account for the stresses of the new system, including clogging in the lubrication systems, claims the plaintiff, instead they touted the increased efficiency and lower emissions of the Theta II........................

This is not the first class action lawsuit filed over the Theta II engines. A Hyundai, Kia class action lawsuit was filed in the United States earlier this year alleging that defects cause catastrophic failures in the engine.

May 18, 2021
Hyundai-Kia’s Billion Dollar Engine Problem that Broke the NHTSA Civil Penalty Barrier
https://www.safetyresearch.net/hyundai-kias-billion-dollar-engine-problem-that-broke-the-nhtsa-civil-penalty-barrier/

In May 2016 — Kia told NHTSA — it learned about Hyundai’s extended warranty program for the Sonatas (Really? It took eight months before they knew about that?) and took another look at the field data. The claims were still low, but picking up as customer satisfaction eroded under the high repair costs for out-of-warranty vehicle owners. Kia also decided to extend its warranty to all 2011-2014 Optima owners with 2.0 or 2.4-liter GDI engines to 10 years or 120,000 miles – in other words, it did a silent recall.

The field data for Theta GDI engine claims for the 2011-2014 Sportage and Sorento vehicles was also rising – although by not as much as the Optima. In August 2016, Kia decided to launch another silent recall covering those models. Kia encouraged owners who heard engine knocking sounds to bring their vehicles in for repairs, but dealers were turning away anyone who could not produce their oil change records................

.......Kim raised his concerns that the 2015 recall did not cover the entire population of affected vehicles in the U.S. and South Korea. He also stressed that the problem was also related to the engine design, not just a manufacturing defect............

The Theta II was intended to be the engine that rocketed Hyundai Kia’s cars to the top ranks of fuel efficiency. Instead, it broke federal civil penalty records. Theta, the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet, denotes a variety of mathematical and scientific concepts, such as a plane angle in geometry, an unknown variable in trigonometry, and a potential temperature in meteorology – to name a few of the easier-to-grasp representations. Within the engineering circles at Hyundai and Kia, it might as well represent the engine from hell.