The Lamborghini Aventador is one hot machine. In fact, the car in some circumstances can get a bit too hot—as in fiery—so it's been hit with a recall.
It seems there’s the risk of fuel leaking if the tank is filled. Should this leaked fuel come into contact with an ignition source, such as the exhaust system, a fire could result.
There are 1,453 examples of the Aventador in the United States, and they’ll need to head on in to the local dealership for a free fix. Cars outside the U.S. are also affected, bringing the total up to around 5,900 cars. Potential buyers of the Aventador S need not worry as Lamborghini has already rectified the issue on the latest cars.
According to Bloomberg, the limited edition Veneno is among the 5,900 affected cars. We’re talking four Veneno coupes and nine Veneno Roadsters.
Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadsters in Miami, Florida
You might be wondering how the fuel tank could actually leak. It turns out that during certain “handling situations” you could have liquid fuel splashing about the carbon canister of the evaporative portion of the emissions setup. If that happens, then you get into an issue with purge valves. Now, if you're sitting there revving the engine you'll have fuel vapor building up and that's where it all turns the heat up.
This issue is exacerbated if the owner has installed an aftermarket exhaust system. That's why you can search for videos on YouTube of Aventador owners basically roasting their rear fascia. They sit there as a crowd of onlookers gather and rev and rev the engine. One result is cool fireballs shooting out the back of the car. The other is melted bits of body work, at best... at worst, you have a hefty insurance claim resembling a pile of ash on the side of the road.
To fix the issue, dealers will install purge valves that do their job better and a new valve in the fuel filler area that prevents overfilling of the fuel tank. The recall kicks off on February 24, so during that time Aventador and Veneno owners will have to make do with one of their, we assume, ten other cars... or possibly a helicopter.
For further information you can contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at 1-888-327-4236 (reference recall number 17V073000) or Lamborghini at 1-866-681-6276.
