— A Hyundai seat belt pretensioner recall includes about 281,000 Accent, Elantra and Elantra Hybrid cars with pretensioners at risk of exploding when they deploy.
The recall affects both front seat pretensioners, and any Hyundai Accent, Elantra and Elantra Hybrid vehicles that have already been recalled for the same problem will need to be repaired again.
Seat belt pretensioners deploy in a crash and work in conjunction with airbags to better secure occupants.
The Hyundai pretensioner recall involves 2019-2022 Accent, 2021-2023 Elantra and 2021-2022 Elantra Hybrid vehicles equipped with front driver and passenger pyrotechnic-type seat belt pretensioners that could explode and send metal fragments throughout the cars, and the occupants.
Hyundai is aware of three crashes that deployed the pretensioners and caused injuries.
Even though this Hyundai pretensioner recall follows previous recalls for the same problem, the automaker says a "specific root cause has not yet been determined."
In September 2021, Hyundai learned about a crash involving a 2021 Hyundai Elantra where the driver-side seat belt pretensioner allegedly deployed abnormally and caused metal fragments to enter the rear cabin and injure an occupant’s leg.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was notified of the incident by a law firm representing the driver of the Elantra.
Hyundai decided to order a seat belt pretensioner recall in October 2021 even though engineers hadn't determined the cause of the explosion.
Then Hyundai learned of another pretensioner explosion on a 2020 Accent in December 2021, and Hyundai determined the pretensioner was produced 13 months prior to the production lot involved in the recall.
This caused an expansion of the Hyundai pretensioner recall that was originally announced in 2021.
But in February 2022, Hyundai learned of a Singapore crash that caused the pretensioner to explode and injure an occupant in a 2022 Elantra. However, engineers discovered the pretensioner was from completely separate production lots involved in the two recalls.
Hyundai hired a third-party engineering company to help with the investigation and testing indicates that applying a cap should prevent the pretensioner from exploding.
The U.S. Hyundai pretensioner recall includes about 239,000 vehicles, and a recall in Canada involves about 42,000 cars.
Hyundai pretensioner recall notices are expected to be mailed July 15, 2022, and dealers will secure the seat belt pretensioners with caps at the micro gas generators and delivery pipes.
According to Hyundai, the caps will secure the pretensioner micro gas generators to assure proper gas deployment.
Accent and Elantra owners with concerns should call 855-371-9460 and ask Hyundai for information about pretensioner recall number 229.
