McLaren Artura Faces Recall Shortly After Launch

According to Automotive News, McLaren needs to address potential fuel leaks in their latest supercar. The root cause of concern is a defective nut found on the high-pressure fuel line of the vehicle leading to fuel leakage. The recall documents filed with the NHTSA indicate that the faulty nut may loosen, compromising the seal between the flare on the fuel line and the fuel pump outlet.

The issue becomes more critical due to the leak’s proximity to hot engine parts, raising the fire risk. The defect report articulately states, “If fuel is discharged near these components, it could trigger thermal activity.” The notification highlights that nuts are most prone to loosening “during dynamic driving maneuvers commonly associated with track usage.”

McLaren discovered that the specified cold-formed nuts with rolled threads were unsuitable for the task. To address the issue, the automaker will swap out the current components with a new fuel line comprising an elongated, fully-machined nut with cut threads instead. These new nuts are projected to maintain proper torque without loosening over time.

Interestingly, McLaren had initially designated a fully-machined nut. However, due to an imminent shortage of fully-machined nuts from McLaren’s supplier, cold-formed nuts were substituted in March 2021. These cold-formed nuts had passed McLaren’s durability tests.

Nevertheless, in June 2022, it was discovered that they could fail during operation. A new Artura, with only 1,000 km (621 miles) driven, experienced a fuel leak after being on the track. The leak was traced back to the left-side high-pressure fuel pipe, where the nut connecting the line to the pump outlet had loosened. An investigation revealed that the nut was inadequately torqued during installation.

McLaren created a special tightening procedure for the cold-formed nuts to address the issue. This was implemented before the production vehicles were released to the public. Despite this step, in November 2022, another Artura, with 2,800 km logged, experienced a similar leak after track use. Even though this vehicle had nuts installed using the special tightening procedure, it was deemed insufficient. Consequently, this led to the recall, involving the replacement of the cold-formed nuts with fully-machined parts.

A McLaren representative told Automotive News that fewer than 50 vehicles delivered to customers are affected. The remaining affected vehicles are either still at dealerships or part of the company’s marketing and press fleets. McLaren is unaware of any injuries resulting from this issue. The incidents reported have only occurred during track usage.

McLaren will manage the recall process without any cost to affected customers. While test driving an Artura in the coming days, it may be prudent to keep an eye out for smoke in the rear-view mirror just in case.

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