Spiders drawn to gasoline vapors and weaving webs that block a hose to vent those vapors have caused Suzuki Motor of America to recall about 19,000 Kizashi mid-size sedans from model years 2010 to 2013, U.S. regulators said on Wednesday.
Air flow blocked in the cars' evaporative emissions system can cause negative pressure in the fuel tank, which can lead to cracks which could cause leaks that increase risk of a fire, said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
This is a similar problem to one experienced by some Mazda6 owners. Mazda Motor Corp (7261.T) has recalled the Mazda6 twice since 2011 because of spiders building webs in ventilation hoses.
No crashes or injuries have been reported in relation to this issue, Suzuki told NHTSA.
Suzuki (7269.T) last year stopped selling cars in the U.S. market after nearly three decades, so NHTSA and Suzuki advise Kizashi owners to take their sedans to authorized "service providers." Letters the company will send to car owners and filed with NHTSA do not identify where these service providers are, but owners can call a customer service line at 800-934-0934 to find out.
The remedy to be applied is a filter on a ventilation line to keep the spiders out.
The Kizashi was one of the company's best-sellers in the United States before Suzuki in late 2012 said it would stop selling vehicles in the U.S. market after its standing inventory ran out. U.S. Kizashi sales reached about 7,000 in 2011 and fell each year after that.
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