Kia Sephia 1998

• Recall 560 [USA]: In the event of a crash, the seat occupant may not be properly restrained, increasing the risk of personal injury.
  On certain passenger vehicles, the safety belt buckle may "false latch" and expose the driver to unrestrained movement during a crash.
  owner notification began december 20, 2002. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact kia at 1-800-333-4542.
  also, customers can contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-dash-2-dot (1-888-327-4236).

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• Recall 639 [USA]: The loss of turn signals or rear hazard lamps could fail to warn a following driver that the vehicle is turning and/or is stopped and could result in a crash.
  On certain passenger vehicles with 36,000 miles or less as of july 15, 2002, an electrical contact problem may have developed in the hazard switch which could result in inoperative hazard lights and/or inoperative turn signals.
  dealers will replace the hazard switch. Owner notification began september 6, 2002. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact kia at 1-800-333-4542.
  also, customers can contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-dash-2-dot (1-888-327-4236).

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• Recall 9624 [USA]: This would cause customers to add more fuel to the tank causing fuel spillback or spitback from the fuel filler neck.
  Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. Manufacturing changes were made to the orvr spring force and float wire length reducing the valve angle. Certain valves caused fuel shut off before the tank reached 95% of nominal capacity.
  dealers will replace the orvr valve. Owner notification began november 13, 2000. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact kia at 1-800-333-4542.
  kia recall no. Sc015.Also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-dash-2-dot (1-888-327-4236).

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• Recall 8499 [USA]: This condition could cause the engine to stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
  Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. Electrical current to the fuel pump passes through the c304 and c305 connectors. If exposed to moisture, these connectors could corrode. Over time, the fuel pump will not receive enough current to operate.
  dealers will replace the existing connectors and reposition those connectors to an area where the placement is designed to prevent contact with moisture.
  kia recall no. Sc013.Owner notification began december 23, 1999.Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact kia at 1-800-333-4542.Also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-dash-2-dot (1-888-327-4236).

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• Recall 8775 [USA]: This condition could cause impairment of visibility in inclement weather increasing the risk of a crash.
  Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. The ball socket on the windshield wiper link may be out of tolerance resulting in the link disengaging from the wiper motor drive under load, such as pushing against ice, snow or other resistance. Also the wiper arm retaining nut could be inadequately tightened allowing the wiper arm to slip and/or stop functioning.
  dealers will replace the windshield wiper link and also properly tighten the wiper arm retaining nuts.
  kia recall no. Sc012.Owner notification began november 19, 1999. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact kia at 1-949-470-7000.Also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-dash-2-dot (1-888-327-4236).

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To ensure accuracy and for your safety, it is recommended to do a free VIN recall check here or here [USA] - UK - Canada.

Bulletins are notices put out by manufacturers in conjunction with the NHTSA to notify the public of manufacturing issues or changes.

• Refueling spit back investigation # EA04004

  Based on the low rate of fuel spit-back incedents (14.3 incidents per 100,000 vehicles sold), a low warranty claims rate of 0.02 percent, and the lack of engineering information that would support the presence of an engineering defect, a safety-related defect trend has not been identified and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.Accordingly, this investigation is closed.The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by nhtsa that no safety-related defect exists.The agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.For additional information, see the attached closing report.
  

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• Non-crash engine compartment fires investigation # EA02016

  Odi gathered fire data from various sources and inspected subject vehicles to assess the scope and frequency of non-crash engine compartment fires caused by starter cable chafing.Odis analysis found that most of the suspect fires occurred after the vehicle had received service repairs in the area of the subject cable.Consumer complaint data indicate that the problem experience has declined since a peak in late 2001.The most recent known event occurred in november of 2002. Kia will perform a service campaign beginning in late 2003 to inspect subject vehicles built prior to january 2000 for cable damage and will replace damaged cables as necessary. Given the declining fire rate and kia?S service campaign, further expenditure of agency resources is unjustified in this matter.The engineering analysis is therefore closed.The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by nhtsa that no safety-related defect exists.The agency will take further action in the future if warranted. Further details may be found in the attached closing report.
  

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• Safety belt buckle malfunction investigation # PE02051

  By letter dated august 25, 2002, kia advised nhtsa that the subject vehicles will be recalled.Specific corrective action to be taken by kia has not been reported to nhtsa at this time.The safety recall program has been assigned campaign no. 02v-216.
  

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• Battery cable chafing investigation # PE02028

  
  

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• Transmission oil cooler line investigation # PE00028

  The oil cooler line allegedly develops leaks at its junction to the radiator
  

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• Turn sighal investigation # EA00018

  There is no summary currently available
  

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• Turn signal, traffic safety hazard investigation # PE00004

  Allege that while driving, the trun signal switch failed.This failure increases the risk of a vehicle crash due to operator distraction and due to other vehicles being uninformed of the operators intentions.
  

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• Refueling spit back investigation # EA99034

  The number and dates of complaints and warrant claims reported by kia indicates that fuel spit-back has been a serieous ongoing problem with the sephia models.Kia has made changes in both the orvr valve and in the installation process on the fuel tank check valve, in an attempt to correct the problem.The failure of the check valve, due to cracking during installation, could go undetected until problems develop with the orvr valve.Should an orvr valve malfunction, when the vehicle has a tank chech valve with a latent crack, significant fuel spitting out the fuel filler pipe during refueling is possible.Current owners of 1998 and 1999 models could still be driving vehicles with latent defects.
  

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• Intermittent stalling investigation # SQ99020

  Kia issued a "kia technical times" in october 1998 stating that, due to loose connections at the fuel pump ground at g300, the fuel pump may shut off intermittently.The corrective action is to solder the fuel pump ground terminals at the terminal connec
  

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• Refueling spit- back investigation # PE99042

  The subject vehicles are equipped with onboard refueling vapor recover systems.Owners report that, during the refueling process, fuel sprays out of the refueling opening and soaks the person refueling the vehicle with liquid gasoline
  

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• Windshield wiper investigation # PE99033

  Alleged windshield wiper becomes inoperative when the wiper arm and pivot separate
  

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Tl* the contact owns a 1998 kia sephia. While driving various speeds, the vehicle would shut off without warning. The contact associated the failure with nhtsa campaign number: 99v317000 (fuel system, gasoline). The contact was informed by the manufacturer that the vehicle had been serviced for the recall in 1999. The contact took the vehicle to hanson kia (2300 carriage loop sw, olympia, wa 98502, (360) 943-2120) and was informed that a diagnostic test needed to be performed to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was 119,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 1998 kia sephia. The contact was reversing from a parking space when he heard an unusual click. The steering wheel began to lock yet the contact was able to move the wheel. He proceeded to drive to his residence as the steering became increasingly difficult. The contact noticed the rack and pinion mounting bracket had fractured from the fire wall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 120,553.

Tl*the contact owns a 1998 kia sephia. While driving approximately 35 mph the vehicle began to accelerate to 50 mph on its own. The driver stated that he had to press the brake pedal excessively in order to slow the vehicle down. The failure mileage was 160,000. The current mileage was 171,000. The vin was unavailable. The driver also stated that he notified the dealer and they told him that someone would contact him.

Tl*the contact owns a 1998 kia sephia. The contact noticed that his vehicle would periodically fail to start. On one occasion, the vehicle was towed to a repair shop and the mechanic changed the fuel pump. A few weeks later, the failure recurred. The mechanic changed the fuel pump relay, but the failure still occurred. The mechanic referenced nhtsa campaign id numbers 99v317000 and 99v318000 (fuel system, gasoline:delivery:fuel pump) and showed the contact a wire in the fuel system that was not insulated and had been overheating. Once the wire was removed, the failure seem to be resolved. The mechanic replaced all the wires and connectors and re-sautered everything. The manufacturer stated that the recall repair was already performed on the vehicle and would not assist. The current mileage was approximately 109,250 and failure mileage was 108,083.

The airbag in my daughters kia sephia 1998 passenger side only deployed while she was sitting at a red light. There was no accident and no reason for the airbag to go off. Took to dealship for review and was told that the expert looked at the car and said there is nothing they can do and no idea why it happen. Then continued to say that someone could have done something wrong to the car and we would never no, but they were not going to spend any more time or money to find out what really may have caused this. My daughter, the driver, was slightly injured and now is affraid while driving or riding in a car.

The dash board is curling up around the front window vents which is kicking the vents out. *tr

My 1998 kia sephia rear brake pad fell off fell off the shoe. Apparently they are held on by glue. It was replaced but i still have problems when it rains a lot , they lock up when parked. I don't dare use my emergency brake because the brakes lock up. *tr

Tl*the contact owned a 1998 kia sephia. A relative was driving the consumers vehicle and he saw his brother driving in the opposite direction. He swerved to play a game with his brother, but instead he lost control of the vehicle and crashed head on into the other vehicle. The drivers air bag failed to deploy, however the passenger air bag deployed and there were no passengers. Updated 04/30/08. Lj the consumers also owns a 2000 toyota tacoma which was also involved in the accident and the drivers air bag did not deploy. Updated

Tl*- the contact stated that when trying to merge into traffic with the 1998 kia sophia it stalled. When this happened instrument panel lights turned on. The vehicle stalled in heavy traffic, and she had to put the vehicle in park and restart it. The contact stated that the vehicle's current mileage was 70,000 miles. The dealership informed her that she needed a new vehicle. The contact stated that the dealership found nothing wrong with the vehicle. The vehicle stalled intermittently. At times when the vehicle stalled, and she tries to restart it, the vehicle would not restart. *ak