Investigations of manufacturing defects are carried out in two ways, namely via Self-certification and Manufacturing Defects.
Self-Certification is conducted not only on vehicles which consumers have raised complaints on, but also on regular basis with consideration of the manufacturer’s sales record and the annual plans. The purpose of the investigation is to induce manufacturers to create products which comply with safety standards by randomly carrying out vessel inspections.
Manufacturing Defects investigations are carried out by the government immediately after consumers raise claims in order to resolve defect issues and induce manufacturer’s voluntary recall service. The ultimate purpose of the investigation is to prevent accidents, minimize loss and provide consumers with safer vehicles through inspections on those vehicles which consumer groups and the press request inspections and those which are suspected of defects.
In this study, we tried to find out about the oil leakage problem on the car steering parts and to verify the risk of accidents and fire on Kia Motor’s “Carnival.” This investigation was carried out upon consumers’ claims reported in the Defect Information Database operated by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. The claim was raised that “oil leaking defect is found on the power steering gear, pump and high-pressure hose of Kia Motor’s Carnival.” The investigation was carried out through telephone consultations, field research, investigations on the mechanical design and manufacturer’s follow-up measures. Pressure endurance tests and fire risk surveys were conducted on the power steering gear, pump and hose and research was made on previous recall cases both domestic and abroad.
The results of the investigation showed that oil leakage was not found on parts which were manufactured with the altered design and where there was found oil leakage, the risk of fire did not exist while the car was not moving but existed when the vehicle accelerated away and when it was driving at 60km/h, 100km/h and at maximum speed. It is therefore necessary to recall vehicles with parts manufactured based on the previous design (approximately 120,000 power steering gears and 150,000 high-pressure hoses).
