PureTech Engines: Stellantis recalls 68,000 cars due to fire risk

Stellantis has recalled 68,000 cars produced between 2022 and 2024 in France due to a defect in the oil jet cooling nozzles of its PureTech engines, the group said on Tuesday. This recall concerns compact models: 57,000 Citroën C3, 2,500 Peugeot 208 and 8,700 Opel Corsa equipped with an 82 horsepower 1.2 PureTech engine. "This is not a problem with the engine design but with the supplier, who has deviated from the manufacturing quality of these nozzles," said Stellantis, already in the midst of a recall campaign of hundreds of thousands of cars for defective airbags.

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The nozzle defect causes "noise, and in the worst cases, the engine housing can be damaged with a risk of oil spraying onto the exhaust pipe, which can lead to smoke or a fire," the automotive group said. Stellantis did not specify whether such incidents had already occurred. Affected customers will receive a registered letter inviting them to bring their vehicle to the dealer's garage for an oil and oil filter change. This operation resolves the problem and takes 30 minutes, according to the group, which explains that it "applies the precautionary principle for very rapid recalls."

Stellantis has had several setbacks with its PureTech engines, developed by PSA (Peugeot-Citroën) before the creation of the Stellantis group, due to excessive oil consumption and/or premature degradation of the timing belt. In early January, the group launched a retroactive compensation platform for customers who had problems with this engine between 2022 and 2024.