WASHINGTON - Spiders whose webs clog up fuel tank vents have forced Suzuki (IW 1000/156) to recall some 19,000 2010-2013 Kizashi sedans in the United States.
The Japanese automaker said Wednesday that the arachnids can weave webs in a vent hose running from a car's gasoline tank, blocking it and causing the tank to build up negative pressure as fuel is used.
The result could be a crack in the tank and leaking fuel that poses a fire hazard, the company said.
In the recall it promises to replace tanks where spider web clogs are found, or replace the evaporative canister vent line on other cars with a safer model.
Suzuki did not say what kind of spider caused the problem, but in the past similar reports pinpointed the yellow sac spider, a poisonous species apparently attracted to gasoline fumes.
In 2011 Mazda recalled 65,000 cars in the United States, Canada and Mexico for an identical problem.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2014
