2020-2022 Kia Telluride Recall: Tow Hitch Harness Fire While Parked or Driving

In November 2021 a 2020 Kia Telluride caught fire in its left rear corner after it had been parked for an hour. A Kia safety engineer inspected the SUV on December 1 and traced the fire to the module of its 4-pin tow hitch harness, a Genuine Kia accessory that wires a trailer's lamps into the vehicle.

Campaign 22V626000, filed August 15, 2022, recalls 36,417 Tellurides from the 2020 through 2022 model years that have that harness, whether it was installed before delivery or bought later from a Kia dealer. Moisture and debris on the module's circuit board can cause a short and a fire while driving or while parked with the ignition off. Kia tells owners to park outside and away from structures until the repair is done.

The final fix reached dealers in April 2023. Using Kia's first annual completion report, filed April 20, 2026, I count 5,646 of the recalled SUVs still waiting for it.

The Issue

The harness carries a trailer's running, stop and turn signals through a small module with a printed circuit board, mounted near the hitch at the back of the Telluride. It draws power through the TRAILER 1 fuse in the engine-bay junction block, and the circuit stays live with the ignition off, which is how a fire can start in an SUV that has been sitting for an hour.

Water entering at the 4-pin connector contaminates the circuit board, according to Kia's amended Part 573 report of February 15, 2023. The engineering firm Kia hired in June 2022 had found elevated chloride on the boards of burned parts and reported that chloride and tin, in the presence of moisture, can build a resistive fault over time. That fault turns current into heat on the board. The firm saw two distinct fire propagation patterns in the parts it examined and reproduced both on sample boards.

With the ignition off, a technician puts a meter across the TRAILER fuse slot and reads the current for five or six seconds as the module goes to sleep. A harness that reads above 13 milliamps gets a new assembly. One at 13 or below keeps its module: the technician cuts off the factory connector end and crimps in a new 4-pin extension with heat-shrink butt connectors, which Kia says prevents moisture from reaching the module. Every car then gets its 30-amp TRAILER 1 fuse swapped for a 15-amp one, with a new label on the junction box cover.

Affected Models

Vehicle	Model Years	4-Pin Harness Installed	Estimated Units
Kia Telluride	2020	Before delivery (port-installed option)	27,744
Kia Telluride	2020-2022	By a Kia dealer (dealer-installed option)	8,673
Total	2020-2022		36,417

Kia offered the 4-pin harness as a port-installed option only on the 2020 model year and switched to a 7-pin harness for 2021. Kia sold 8,673 of the 4-pin harnesses to its dealers, and since it does not know which VINs received them, it mailed letters to 2021 and 2022 owners whose SUVs might carry one. The recall applies only to the Genuine Kia 4-pin harness; a Kia 7-pin harness or an aftermarket harness of either type needs no repair.

The affected Tellurides were built from January 9, 2019 to August 12, 2022 at a Kia plant in the U.S. Mobis Parts America of Fountain Valley, California supplied the harness under part numbers S9F67-AC000 and S9F67-AC001. Kia estimates that 1 percent of the population has the defect.

Chronology and Investigation

Kia Canada told Kia's North American safety office on October 18, 2021 about a 2020 Telluride fire that may have started near the trailer hitch harness. The next day the office put the harness on automatic warranty return, so dealers would send failed parts back for study. The U.S. complaint came on November 22, and two more returned harnesses between December 2021 and April 2022 showed melting at the module.

The supplier told Kia on May 6, 2022 that its analysis of parts from Canada was inconclusive. Its X-rays in June placed the thermal damage on the U.S. part near an unused portion of the circuit board and showed electrical activity near the power and ground terminals on a Canadian part. Kia briefed NHTSA at monthly meetings in May, June and July, hired a third-party engineering firm in June, and on August 8, 2022 decided to recall. The source of the contamination was still unknown when Kia filed a week later, and the first report had no remedy. In that report Kia also said it had told dealers to stop selling the 4-pin harness and to return unsold stock.

An amended report on September 29, 2022 added an interim fix, the lower-rated fuse alone. Dealers were notified October 10, and interim owner letters went out October 14. The February 15, 2023 amendment named water at the connector as the cause and added the inspection, extension and replacement work. Follow-up letters were mailed April 12, 2023. On August 22, 2024 Kia mailed a renotice to registered owners whose cars were still unrepaired.

Kia's quarterly reports show 6,505 SUVs remedied by mid-2023, 19,656 by the first quarter of 2024 and 29,163 by the end of 2025. The April 2026 annual report counts 29,541, a figure that includes vehicles inspected and found to need no repair, and lists 898 owners as unreachable and 332 vehicles as scrapped, stolen or exported.

Reported Incidents

When Kia decided to recall, it counted six fires, all in 2020 Tellurides, and five of the six involved localized melting only. Kia had found no fires in 2021 or 2022 models and added them as a precaution, because a dealer could have installed the 4-pin harness on any of them. The chronology lists no fatalities, injuries or crashes, and the filings give no warranty-claim count.

What Owners Should Do

The connector at the hitch shows which harness a Telluride has. The 7-pin connector Kia fitted from 2021 has a rounded, self-closing lid. The recalled 4-pin connector has an oval cap that does not close by itself. Owners of a Telluride with no harness have nothing to do.

If yours has the Genuine Kia 4-pin harness, park it outdoors and away from other vehicles and buildings, then book the repair at a Kia dealer, where it is free. Kia's number for this recall is SC247, and Kia customer service is at 1-800-333-4542. A VIN search at NHTSA.gov or on Kia's recall page shows whether the work is still open.

A Telluride that got only the new fuse in late 2022 still needs the harness inspection and extension. Owners who paid for a repair of this condition before the recall can send receipts to Kia for reimbursement through the Owners section of kia.com.

Symptoms to Watch For Before the Harness Module Fails

Kia's report lists no warning before a failure, so both signs below are checks made at the hitch.

A missing or cracked connector cap. Kia traced the moisture to water entering at the 4-pin connector, which the oval cap covers.

Melted or discolored plastic around the module. Stop using the trailer connector and book the dealer visit.

How Long Will the Recall Repair Take?

Kia's warranty schedule pays dealers 0.8 hours for the fuse and extension repair, 0.6 hours for the fuse and a new harness assembly, and 0.1 hours to inspect a dealer-option car that turns out to have no Kia 4-pin harness. The owner letter tells customers to plan on one to two hours at the dealer.

Bottom Line

Kia's 1 percent defect estimate works out to about 364 harnesses across 36,417 SUVs, by my arithmetic, against six incidents counted when Kia filed. An attached garage is the worst place to leave an unrepaired 4-pin Telluride overnight.

Anyone shopping for a used 2020-2022 Telluride should check the hitch connector and run the VIN for SC247 before signing.

Find your Kia Telluride recall information: https://www.kia.com/us/en/recall

Recall 22V626 was filed in August 2022 before Kia had found the source of the circuit-board contamination. A 15-amp TRAILER fuse went out as an interim fix in October 2022, and the final remedy (inspection, then a 4-pin wiring extension or a new harness assembly) followed in April 2023 after Kia traced the moisture to water entering at the connector.