[Cessna182]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Looks like fatigue failure due to stress concentration or material composition issue of the bracket (if this is the case entire batch may have the issue).

Hitting pothole should not cause engine mounting bracket failure. Suspension conponents are for the same reason and they should be the first one to fail.

Indeed.

This can be really bad if it applies to other components. Suspension and steering column are high risk areas.

Off topic- I suffered a drive shaft failure in my first gen Nano in 2013. The coupling on one side of the rear broke and stopped transferring power. The service center did not do any RCA, but my hunch is it was due to a bad batch of parts that had poor metallurgy.

It could be due to one batch of bad parts from a vendor, or it could be a design issue here. Hope the find it out and resolve it.

[amol4184]

Reading some comments to the effect that hitting a pothole will shear off engine mount has me amazed. Feels like we are trying to normalize such severe incident even if its one off. Hopefully. I have hit infamous Maharashtra rural roads with puny cars like Kwid, Omni, rust bucket 118NE and very recently Pulse that has crossed 1l kms at 80+ speeds and never had problems. Even if the said vehicle hit pothole, that mount shouldn’t have broken, plain and simple.

[Jeroen]

As mentioned it is the bracket. It is pretty rare for this to happen, but as with all casted materials (it looks like casted aluminium) sometimes a relative small shock can do this.

I would inspect the engine and the sump very carefully. Somehow the whole engine must have moved considerably for this part to snap.

The less visible damage there is the, better you chances of a free replacement become.

Good luck

Jeroen

[superbad]

A pothole breaking an engine mount should logically also damage the tyre & suspension which encountered it. This is more due to a manufacturing defect, which obviously the dealership doesn't want to draw attention to ("Your 13 lakh Kia has a manufacturing defect" sounds much more incriminating than "Your car encountered a bad pothole").

[yd_gli]

That's a casted component. There is a reason why global OEMs across industries are reluctant to source load bearing/critical to function casted/molded components from India. I was a part of a team tasked with localizing an 18kg casted component for a load bearing medical device application. We spent 4 years with multiple suppliers all across India and never achieved the same strength and surface finish specs as the German sourced component.

Everything from raw material IQC/process controls/dimensional measurements/equipment calibration was suspect and it was impossible to get the required quality repeatedly over multiple batches.

Ideally for such catastrophic failures, Kia should bar the supplier and stop production/issue advisory based on batch#s until a detailed RCA is done at both ends. But then in India Kia does not have the luxury of dual sourcing and all that will happen is the supplier getting a debit note, a quick RCA for the records, customer gets a new part + some freebies and things will continue as they are. After all its only one failure. Itna toh chalta hai!

[IP_Man]

Very sorry for your friend to go through this ordeal.

I was thinking, why engine mount should break when car had gone over a pothole? Ideally, that impact should have taken by the shocks and monocoque body structure. Engine is mounted on the body. Was there excessive body flex during impact? If it is so then it is serious matter because it will question integrity of body structure.

I hope it was just bad engine mount escaped from QC.

[Gaur]

Originally Posted by Slickshift99

Attaching a few photos that were clicked at the time of incident.
Attachment 2098323

Attachment 2098324

Looks like a QC/Manufacturing issue. Cast components are generally prone to such failure due to presence of voids(empty spaces) or even impurities.

Ideally a cast engine mount is expected to fail in this manner in case of a direct hit to the engine e.g a front crash scenario, but this failure after hitting a pothole is definitely troublesome.

In any case please ask them to do a detail inspection, if possible change all the other undamaged mounts as well, check driveshaft joints, engine sump, exhaust headers, basically check everything under the hood.

By the way is it the Driver side mount which broke ? did the co-driver side wheel go into pothole ? (or vice versa)

[EVMAN]

Please get the tyres, alloys and suspension inspected from any trusted FNG. Don't go by the words of ASC.

[skhattar]

I have had the pleasure (sarcasm personified) of owning two Hyundais' in my lifetime.

A first gen I20 and 2nd gen Elantra.

I20 had a half engine rebuilt in 16K km. Dealership said that its due to bad fuel. Whereas, I use to get fuel topped up from same pumps in my other cars also but never had any problem.

Elantra had multiple issues - clutch plate replaced at 30k km (two sets replaced in 80k km), audio head unit buttons became sticky and stop responding, powered seat buttons became faulty, front airbag spring got replaced u/w after 4 years, steering rack became loose etc...

Because of my above experience, I vowed to keep away from Hyundai. I strongly believe they buy cheap raw material and the beauty is only skin deep.

I just hope KIA doesnt go the Hyundai way and pulls up their socks.

[ramnaresh_2000]

First of all really sorry to hear about this fiasco. It is truly sad to see such instances. It also is a bit scary when you think of such instances in well established manufacturers. The best you can do is drag Kia to consumer courts, trust me it will be like shooting in the leg if you go via legal route. Kia will have legal department at their disposal and the case will drag for years.

For swift resolution, get everything fixed under warranty and sell the vehicle to a dealer. No point in using such a vehicle, this might be a Lemon vehicle. The sooner you get rid of this, the better. This incident will be in drivers mind whenever they drive this vehicle, best sell it off and have peace of mind.

[chinmaypillay]

Sad to hear the experience, but glad the people are safe with no incidents.

Get the four engine mounts changed as a precaution and keep the records safe on how such a thing happened. Additionally, steering, suspension and tires should be checked. Check the below areas of the engine too, may not be required but nevertheless to be sure.

Get the details recorded also since later issues may not be endorsed by the company if it crops up. Always get a written statement through email or writing for safety purpose.

Pray that this is just a one off case and the owner is back to enjoying the car!

[futaboy]

Greetings fellow BHPians.
As the car is brand new the mounts have not been subjected to wear. The premature failure could be due to either poor installation and/or casting defect. It is advisable to get all the remaining mounts replaced under warranty. Also Kia cars are known for good quality and the engine mount fracture is most probably an infancy failure.

[sarav100]

Originally Posted by GTO

In the worst case, I have ended up with a damaged tyre or rim, but never a broken engine mount / bracket.

Quite sad.

Just FYI, I've managed to achieve what you just mentioned .

Front right wheel of my car hit wooden log(which was hidden in grass) at speed of about 50 kmph while overtaking a tractor trolley.

The stylized steel wheel got bent a little bit. It was diagnosed as the cause of vibration, which got sorted out when tyre rotation and wheel balancing was done and damaged rim was moved to rear tyre with extra weight blocks added.

So, I believe while rim bending is acceptable due to environmental factors, fracture of cast iron blocks are totally unacceptable and Hyundai/Kia should improve their QC process.

[vk007]

Completely agree! Must have been quite a pothole for the Engine Mount to break. We've all been through some bad potholes but never have I experienced one bad enough to break the engine mount. I've heard such wonderful things about Kia. Lets hope this was a one-off case. The vendor supplying this part should be banned by Kia. This could've been a much bigger incident if it occurred at higher speeds.

[ZenMaster]

I'm quite taken aback by a lot of the "sarcastic" responses almost making fun of the OP or rather his friend for buying the car and having to go through this harrowing experience which would be heartbreaking to the owner.

It is not right to say " He got what he paid for" or some thing on the lines of "This is what people get/deserve for going after features".

Most people who buy cars are not Team BHP members nor auto enthusiats. They might not even know what engine mounts are or how manufacturers or suppliers penny pinch and go after profits by cheapening on part quality.

Heck, take my own mother and sister for example. They can't even distinguish between two completely different C-SUV or hatchback models from different manufacturers even if they are staring right at it. For them the only differentiators between cars are colour and seating capacity and interior space.
My sister (who is in her late 20s) looked at a Nissan Kicks and said its the same car as ours (the 1st gen Creta facelift).

This is the kind of "normal" people that makes almost all of the indian automobile consumer market.

Coming to the actual issue. This is serious oversight from Kia/Hyundai. While people may say this is a one-off issue , it is the consistency in the kind of these one-off issues and problems that worries me most.
I.e.

1. Part failure of different components due to the component or part of it completely "SHEARING OFF" (Whether its a Mount or a Bolt or a Member) pointing to low quality metallurgy across different parts.
Etc.
2. Brake actuation failure in multiple models.
3. Paint peeling off.
4. Clutch having to be replaced under 20k Km in Vernas.


In this particular case, whether its Hyundai/Kia cheapening out on the Raw material budget or if its a Supplier trying to book undue profits or if its unrelated coincidential mistake from multiple suppliers , we don't know.

But in either case, its the OEM who should take responsibility and take action.

The owner should replace all the mounts/brackets and get inspection done on eveything under the hood as another member said, not just the engine. Especially the exhaust manifolds (for dents or ruptures) and the complete drivetrain as well as hoses, wiring etc.