Lawsuit Says Connecting Rod Bearing Create Even More Metal Shavings for the Theta II Engine

Kia is facing another lawsuit for metal shavings causing catastrophic failure in its Theta II engine. The engines can allegedly fail at any time while driving any speed, leaving owners in dangerous driving conditions once the engines stall. According to the plaintiffs, damage to the connecting rod bearings causes metal shavings to appear in the oil.

A few months ago, Kia recalled 618,000 vehicles with Theta II engines that shipped with metal shavings due to a faulty manufacturing process. The recall only covered certain vehicles up to the 2014 model year.

This lawsuit alleges that faulty connecting rods can cause more metal shavings in the 2015-2016 Optima, 2015-2016 Sportage and 2015-2016 Sorento.

In either case, those metal shavings are really, really bad for the engine.

Other owners report paying more than $5,000 to replace engines in the affected Kia vehicles, not counting the expense of rental cars while waiting for repairs.

Yeesh.

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Theta II GDI Engine Stalls and Siezes

Many Kia vehicles have a Theta II, a gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine that is well known for having oil flow issues that eventually cause catastrophic failures.