2024 Kia Sportage Front Door Speaker Sound Quality Issue TSB

Kia has released Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) SA588 for certain 2024 Kia Sportage vehicles. This service action addresses concerns regarding the sound quality of the front door speakers, which may exhibit various audio anomalies.

Important Warnings for Owners

Kia has provided specific notices concerning this service action:

• No Customer Notification: "A Service Action is a repair program without customer notification that is performed during the warranty period." This means owners will not receive a letter or direct communication about this issue. You must proactively inquire with your dealer.
• Out-of-Warranty Repairs: "Any dealer requesting to perform this repair outside the warranty period will require DPSM approval."
• VIN Tracking: "VIN inquiry data for this repair is provided for tracking purposes only. Kia retailers should reference SA588 when accessing the KDealer+ system."
• Pre-Inspection Advisory: "Ensure there are no loose items in the front door pockets/containers prior to performing the sound quality test. Loose items may create unnecessary noise during the test."

Symptoms of Poor Sound Quality

Owners of affected 2024 Kia Sportage vehicles may notice one or more of the following sound quality issues from their front door speaker(s):

• No sound at all from one or both front speakers.
• Poor sound quality, including a "rattle" noise.
• Static interference during audio playback.
• Crackling sounds.
• Scratching noises.

These symptoms are typically caused by improper bonding pressure between the shell pot and the magnet within the front door speaker, which can degrade the sound output.

Diagnosis and Trigger Conditions

To diagnose the issue, technicians will perform a sound quality test on both the left and right front door speaker(s) of your Kia Sportage front door speaker system. The procedure involves:

1. Connecting a wired device (using a genuine cable) to play audio via Apple CarPlay® or Android Auto™.
2. Navigating to the 'Setup' menu on the infotainment system, then selecting 'Sound'.
3. Choosing 'Tone' and adjusting both 'Treble' and 'Bass' settings to '+10'.
4. Selecting 'Position' and adjusting the 'Fader' and 'Balance' to focus sound on the 'Front Left' position.
5. Increasing the volume to an elevated level and listening for any "rattling, static, crackling, or scratching sounds" from the left front speaker.
6. Repeating step 4 and 5 for the 'Front Right' position to test the right front speaker.

If either speaker exhibits these undesirable sounds, or no sound at all, replacement is necessary.

Repair Procedure Summary

If the inspection determines that one or both front door speakers require replacement, the repair procedure involves the following steps:

1. Disconnecting the negative (-) battery terminal for safety.
2. Replacing the affected left and/or right front door speaker(s). This is done by referring to the specific instructions in the Kia Global Information System (KGIS) shop manual under "Body Electrical System → Audio/AVNT System → Speaker → Removal and Installation → [Front Door Speaker]".
3. Reinstalling all removed parts in the reverse order of removal.
4. Confirming normal operation by performing the sound quality inspection procedure again for three minutes.

Required Parts

The following part may be required for the repair:

• Speaker Assembly: Part Number 96330 P1200 (Quantity: 1 per speaker)

Owner Action

Since this is a Service Action without direct customer notification, owners of 2024 Kia Sportage vehicles who experience poor sound quality from their front door speaker(s) should contact their authorized Kia dealership. The dealer will perform the inspection and, if necessary, replace the faulty speaker(s) under warranty. The labor operation codes for this service action are 240A32I0 (inspection only), 240A32R0 (one speaker replacement), and 240A32R1 (both speakers replacement).

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NHTSA ID: 11009553