Hyundai and Kia have issued an extensive patchwork of recalls and/or TSBs for all the listed models—Theta, Nu & Gamma engines alike—on the subjects of excessive oil consumption and/or rod bearing problems that can ultimately cause engine seizure, including after a rod punctures the engine block.
The discovery of this nearly make-wide defect and the automakers’ attempts to manage it came from studying a bizarre recent trend of mid-interval plug-out claims made by Hyundai and Kia dealerships nationwide in situations where specification parts and torque pressure had been used and could be verified.
There may also be another defect associated with the factory oil drain pan assembly being made of cheap stamped steel and painted so that the factory gasket and plug are painted together onto the pan, thereby camouflaging the gasket and creating a risk of double-gasketing. The factory gasket appears to be a crush washer that must be pried off either the plug or the pan. AMRA has also published a notice on the subject here https://www.motorist.org/special-notice-for-hyundai-kia-drivers/.
We need to collect as many photos of painted together Hyundai/Kia oil drain plug-gasket combinations as possible.
If you have experienced this problem please reach out to us and we will maintain your confidentiality in our research. Reach out at: rlittlefield2@tireindustry.org.
Majority Leader Schumer has set a cloture vote for today on final passage of the Schumer Amendment 5002 to H.R. 4521, America COMPETES Act. The House has already passed its version.
Schumer Amendment 5002 contains the full text of the Senate version of the America COMPETES Act. A copy is attached here.
This is a tax bill, so it’s a possible vehicle for attaching ERTC, WOTC, and our other goals in this campaign. The 117th Congress will end essentially on Election Day, and given economic conditions, it’s not the optimal situation for our Coalition. We need to get Congress to pass emergency legislation to save firms hammered by the Omicron Variant in January, and low-margin firms ravaged by unpredictable inflation.
Because H. R. 4521 is extensive, the Senate version and House version are different, and to resolve those differences a Conference Committee of both parties will convene soon after House and Senate appoint the members of the Conference.
The Conference will likely convene in a week, but it’s impossible to tell when or whether it will reach agreement. It may take a week or months.
America Competes Act is a bill that’s a possible vehicle, but others will come along. What’s important now is working to instill a sense of urgency into the members of Ways and Means and Finance committees about acting now to ensure that today’s high inflation doesn’t drown more businesses by raising their inflated input costs faster than cash receipts.
Financial health of firms is still critical in the restaurant sector, hotels, and small business generally. In addition, worker shortages continue in child care, wholesaling, transportation, construction, and others. Supplying emergency funds as proposed by Senator Cardin, restoring Employee Retention Credit retroactively for a year, and expanding the WOTC Credit, as proposed by Congressman Suozzi, Finance Committee Chairman Wyden, and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Neal, should be enacted as soon as possible.
It’s imperative that WOTC Coalition be brought up to date to cover senior citizens, foster youth, people with disabilities, disconnected youth, military spouses, private non-profit employers. In addition, WOTC could reach more disadvantaged workers in all target groups by Congress allowing WOTC to be taken against FICA, and repeal that part of the BEAT tax that impacts WOTC.
There hasn’t been a major WOTC update since 2011 when the VOW to Hire Heroes Act was enacted for veterans!
Omicron hit the entire East Coast devastatingly, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; that was just 2-3 months ago. Employers, especially those with small margins and large numbers of workers at the lower end of weekly wages, still need help, especially now with inflation. Our message to the Hill is that we cannot wait until September.
Click here to view the Spring 2022 TirePAC News.