2022 Hyundai Kona Engine Problems

In January 2026, my engine light illuminated and the vehicle lost power. The dealership found a sudden loss of compression across all four cylinders, requiring a total engine replacement. This occurred without warning, only two months after a routine oil change at the same facility where no issues were reported. Despite opening a case with Hyundai corporate, there has been no progress. My research indicates that while NHTSA Recall 21V301 (Safety Recall 203) specifies 2019–2021 models, the 2022 model shares the same engine design and identical reports of stalling and compression loss. My vehicle has been at the dealership for three months with no resolution. The dealership says they are running tests requested by tech line without providing documentation of the tests or the results. Although, the initial test performed indicated that it was a compression ring issue.

The vehicle displayed a warning lamp indicating a Cooling System Performance failure. The specific defect relates to the Integrated Thermal-Management Module (ITM) and the thermostat opening prematurely, corresponding to Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) P218100. This issue requires a repair outlined in Technical Service Bulletin 25-EM-007H, involving a spring installation and ECU update. This failure creates a serious safety concern because improper thermal management can cause the engine to overheat or force the vehicle into a reduced-power 'limp mode' without warning. A sudden loss of acceleration or engine stall while driving in traffic significantly increases the risk of a crash.

On Saturday, [XXX], while driving on the highway, the oil plug on my vehicle suddenly fell out, causing all the oil to drain rapidly. This created an extreme safety hazard not only for myself but also for other drivers on the road. I did not notice the oil spillage until the oil light on the dash appeared. At the time, I was in the leftmost lane traveling at highway speeds, so I could not stop immediately. I had to carefully veer across five lanes of traffic and navigate out of a construction zone before I was able to pull over safely. The engine lost lubrication during this process, and I was forced to have the vehicle towed to Ed Napleton Hyundai in Hazelwood, the same dealership where I purchased and serviced the car, for inspection and repairs. This incident occurred just three weeks after I had an oil change performed at the same dealership. I have been attempting to contact the dealership for updates on the status of my vehicle and the investigation into potential engine damage for the past three days, but I have received limited information until today, when the service manager, Jerry, stated that they installed a new plug and added oil, and since it's not ticking, it's okay. However, having worked in the automotive industry for years, I know that a full teardown is necessary to properly check for damage, including inspecting the bearings, rings, cylinder walls, and turbo for signs of oil starvation. This service was not performed. Additionally, Jerry informed me that speaking to someone higher up would do absolutely nothing for me. This is not an isolated issue. Over the course of my ownership, the dealership has damaged my oil filter by over-tightening and stripping it on two separate occasions during routine maintenance, requiring me to return to the facility each time. On both instances, I had to wait an additional 2 to 3 hours while they installed replacement parts to correct their errors. These repeated mistakes have caused significant inconv INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2022 Hyundai Kona. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was able to be restarted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

Radiator is failing between 60k and 70k miles with no check engine lights. Leaking an entire reservoir of coolant within a 24hr time period. Even when the temperature gage went above the middle mark and to the 3/4 mark the check engine light never came on.

I believe it’s a barring in the engine but it is like a knocking.

The vehicle has lose of acceleration while driving.. On Freeway the gas pedal loses acceleration. Lift off gas it accelerates then loses acceleration again. (4 times in a row) It was a big safety issue. There was no where to pull off. I made it to the nearest exit and took backroads home. Took it to Dealership they couldn't replicate the issue. I contacted Hyundai and they had the car sent back to dealership and so far they can't replicate it. It has done this numerous times, at different times and speeds. The car is now at the dealership for the second time (since the 17 of December) There were NO WARNING LIGHTS so dealership says hard to diagnose the issues.

On 10/4/2024 I was driving my 2022 Hyundai Kona SEL (61, 492 miles on odometer) with a cruise control set at 75 mph for my morning commute into work. I was approx 15 miles away from my house and at least 7 miles away from my place of employement. Suddenly and without warning the engine revved to beyond 4500 RPM and shut off. The lights on the dashboard all lit up and a message flashed on the screen stating engine cut off, turn off car and restart. I was surrounded by several cars at this time. I was able to navigate to the shoulder of the 2 lane road I was on and bring the car to a stop. When I tried to turn the car back on it would not. I had the car towed to the dealership. First they had to replace the battery as they stated there was not even enough juice in the battery to update the onboard computer for diagnostic. Then, after a week of waiting, I called and was informed that the engine was deak (advisor used the phrase "the engine when clunck"). As of today, 11/12/2024, I do not have a full diagnosis for the engine failure as the dealership has yet to inform me even though I have submitted multiple requests through various means. Service advisors states that the engine will be covered under the CPO warranty. At the time of the incident, the engine had not given any indications of any issues (like noices, stalls, etc). My sister had driven the car two days before and said it was driving fine. I had had the oil changed a week before and the tech did an inspection at that time and all parts were in working/good condition.

The contact owns a 2022 Hyundai Kona. The contact stated that while at a stop light, the accelerator pedal was depressed while starting to make a left turn and the vehicle shut off. The vehicle rolled to the shoulder. The shift to park or neutral message was displayed. The vehicle was shifted to neutral and restarted. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who failed to retrieve a fault code. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 43,000. The VIN was not available.

My Check Engine light came on and stayed steady (not blinking). The Cause for it is Unknown to me. I took it to the Dealership and they scheduled me to bring it in 3 days later, 3/12/24, to determine if it was something simple or if would take up to a couple days to fix. They assured me that if the light remained steady, I would be fine to drive the car. If it began blinking, then bring it back in. If the fix would take a day or more, they don't do loaner cars so I'd have to rent one (no cars to borrow and Ubers don't take wheelchairs). Approximately an hour after I arrived on 3/12 (I had to wait for my car), they gave me my car back. They had to order a part that was on back order that could take weeks or months to arrive. The part had something to do with preventing the engine from overheating, but I was not to worry so long as the Check Engine light stayed steady. They then asked how many miles I typically drove each day, "just around town, right?" I answered, usually, but that I was currently taking medical treatments for the next two weeks which involved around 70 miles roundtrip plus my usual daily miles. The Service person winced at that. They then told me that if the car overheated, to not worry, just pull over until it cooled off, and if it didn't, just use the Roadside Assistance service, then bring the car to the Dealership and they'll give me a loaner car (?!?) until my car could be repaired. A bit in shock, I left. After thinking about it, I find the Dealership's handling suspicious. 1) They didn't give me any paperwork. In all previous interactions, they've given me paperwork even if I've only had my fluids topped up. 2) If a back ordered part could take up to months to come in, it seems most likely to me that the scarcity is due to huge number of customers needing the part, not a supply-chain issue. I am disabled and in a wheelchair, so need my car to take care of myself. I hope everything is actually okay. If not, please help.

Coolant Leak. Integrated Thermal Management started Leaking at around 16,000 Miles. Part replaced 12/14/23. Leaks continues

Check engine light- sensor, rear trunk won't lock - sensor

My daughter left our house in our 2022 Hyundai Kona on Friday, 1/13/23, to head back to college which is 5 hours from home. A little more than an hour down the road after leaving our house, she said that the car started sounding strange, so she called her mother. At this time, she was on a two lane country road with no safe options or areas to pull over. My wife advised my daughter to continue driving until she found a safe place to pull over. As she continued onwards, she came to a stop sign in the countryside and the car died on her. She restarted it and was able to continue her trip. Several miles later a light came on, but she was still not to a safe area. By the time she got to a safe place, other lights had come on, and the car died in the parking lot. The car would not restart so we called a tow truck to take the Kona to the nearest Hyundai dealership which is where it sits today. Upon inspection, the Hyundai dealership discovered that the drain plug was missing from the oil pan which caused the oil to drain and ultimately led to catastrophic engine failure. The engine needs to be replaced at a quote of $9753.08. The Kona’s last oil change was on 10/19/22 at 8,630 miles and was done a third party oil change facility. The mileage on the Kona when delivered to the repairing Hyundai dealership is 13,775. No engine lights or oil change needed indicators were on before our daughter began her trip on 1/13/23. I contend that this is a known issue with Hyundai engines based off of internet research that indicates that the NHTSA is actively investigating this exact issue of the drain plug falling out and causing catastrophic engine failure. This situation is a safety issue because the engine could have seized while in motion on a two-lane country road causing a wreck.

The contact owns a 2022 Hyundai Kona. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that there was bad fuel in the vehicle. The failure reoccurred and the vehicle was taken back to the same dealer who reset the codes. The failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed with a cylinder misfire. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 5,500.

While at a stop light, the engine of my 2022 Kona died. No warning lights came on prior. It just died in the middle of the street. Then took several minutes and several tries to get the car to restart. Accelerator didn’t work at first either. Driving on highway warning light for tire pressure came on. Diagnostics said everything was fine. Then the warning light turned off. More and more frequent trouble accelerating onto highway. Car-play does not stay connected. Often doesn’t connect at all. Car dying in the middle of the street, not accelerating onto the highway was extremely frightening and I felt very lucky that it didn’t cause an accident, or worse. I have contacted my dealership about the issues and was told that I could have an appointment in 2 months! They don’t care about the safety of the people driving their cars and, clearly, they no longer care about the quality of their cars. As far as the CarPlay goes, they looked at the screen and then didn’t fix a thing. It still isn’t working properly. This is my second Hyundai and the quality has really diminished over the years and the problems have increased exponentially. The car dying while driving and accelerator not working properly has now happened several times. Today was only the most recent.

Engine began knocking/shaking suddenly while highway driving, service engine light came on. Pulled over, turned off ignition. Tried restarting and would not start. Towed to dealership and diagnosed as engine failure, possible timing chain failure. Complete engine replacement recommended by dealer service dept. Dealer service dept. will replace engine free of charge as vehicle is well under warranty from Hyundai. The vehicle had less than 4000 miles on it. Safety of myself and others was put at risk due to failure happening while highway driving, fortunately I was able to pull over on shoulder before the engine completely seized.

While driving on a freeway, the drain plug fell out, dumping all of the oil onto the road. The vehicle had been serviced by just one facility and I had only had this brand new vehicle for 7 months when this occurred. This incident put the driver, any passengers, and anyone on the road nearby at risk. The drain plug loss was verified by a Hyundai certified service facility and then I was asked to tow it to the Hyundai certified facility that performed all of the services. I was told that Hyundai Motor America sent representatives to inspect the vehicle at both facilities along with the service staff at each facility. I have not been informed of anyone else inspecting the vehicle such as law enforcement or insurance representatives. There were no warning lamps or messages or symptoms prior to the drain plug falling out. There was no evidence of any oil leak, either. There were warning lamps immediately afterward. Blue link sent me a message as soon as the vehicle was turned back on after being turned off. The message said "a possible condition with your engine control system has been detected with your 2022 Hyundai Kona..." My 2022 Hyundai Kona is still sitting at the Hyundai certified repair facility over two years later. I had to hire a lawyer to try to get this situation rectified. No one wants to accept the responsibility for the drain plug falling out of my vehicle.

12-3-21, with only 103 miles on my new car, the check engine light came on. I drove back to the dealer where I purchased the car - Fitzgerald, and spoke to Maurice the manager, and Garret in the service department. Garret informed me he "wiggled the wires" and the check engine light went off. On 12-5-21, with 129 miles on the car the check engine light came on again. I went back to Fitzgerald and spoke to Frank, who works in sales. Frank told me the service department was closed on Sunday and I have to comeback Monday 12-6-21.

My vehicle keeps shutting off with no warning and has almost killed me on multiple occasions The dealership keeps placating me about getting it fixed, saying that a repair is months out Meanwhile, I am driving a very dangerous vehicle that shuts off and shakes like it’s going to explode

The contact owns a 2022 Hyundai Kona. The contact stated while driving 5 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently shut off due to the idle STOP/START feature. The contact stated that there was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and referred the contact to NHTSA to file a complaint. The failure mileage was approximately 5.