Did a piston soak on the 18 Kia 2.4L this weekend

[K20FA5]

The oil consumption has gotten crazy on this car. I ended up ordering a can of the ACDelco spray Top Engine Cleaner. I removed the plugs and foamed all 4 cylinders with the spray. I went out every hour or so and filled them back up. I would turn over the engine a few turns every time as well. After letting it sit 24 hours, I cranked the engine to get any residual spray out of the cylinders. That ACDelco stuff STINKS!!! Put the plugs back in and tried to start the engine, and tried lol. It finally started and was blowing smelly white smoke. I held the RPMs to about 2,000 to 2,500 until the smoke stopped. Then changed the oil and left the filter. Took it for a drive and came home and changed the oil and filter.

We’ll see if this helps or not. At the point I’m at, it definitely won’t hurt anything! My entire garage and the engine bay of the Kia smells like that cleaner though, it’s nasty smelling stuff but it seems to dissolve carbon really well!

 

[JohnnyG]

Can't wait to hear the results.

 

[walterjay]

Please update us with the results

 

[vpr5703]

Good luck. These Hyundai/Kia engines are VERY well known for oil consumption. Among other problems

 

[FowVay]

Give the Valvoline Restore and Protect product a try. I have a gentleman using it in his 2009 Toyota Camry. It's an oil burner for known reasons and I'm hoping to see an improvement.

 

[michaelluscher]

I've got a can of that ACDelco engine cleaner, but it's a little pricy

I'm gonna try B12 Chemtool and or Kroil on a 2017 Optima 2.4 Theta

Keep us updated on how it works out for you

 

[dishdude]

I suspect the GDI system forces a small amount of fuel passed the rings causing the cylinder walls to get scuffed which causes the oil burning. Just a theory. I don't think it's a stuck ring that can be fixed with a piston soak.

 

[Reloader59]

Yes, If the walls are scored from fuel washing off the oil, then nothing will work. Can't repair worn cylinder walls.

 

[The Critic]

Yes, If the walls are scored from fuel washing off the oil, then nothing will work. Can't repair worn cylinder walls.

OP can check that pretty easily. $30 Amazon borescope.

 

[K20FA5]

OP can check that pretty easily. $30 Amazon borescope.

I have one on the way!

 

[Urshurak776]

OP can check that pretty easily. $30 Amazon borescope.

This is the exact issue with my sons KIA Rio.

Doing any of this stuff makes it WORSE. I have given up. Just add oil every weekend and dump a bottle of catalytic converter stuff in fuel tank every couple of months. Close to 155K now and 10 years old.

 

[jetman]

Hope it works for you.

I did a piston/combustion chamber soak w/Gunk brand Motor Medic to my 2007 GM 6.2L 5+ yrs ago. All 8 cylinders had stuck rings.
Cured it. No consumption since

 

[K20FA5]

Update!
It’s still really early on, but things are looking promising. My kid drives about 70 miles a day round trip to school Monday through Thursday. I just checked the oil when she got home and it’s still full! Also the oil is still really clean. Before it would get really dirty quickly with all the blow by. I’ll know a lot more if this trend continues, but it’s really promising so far! She was burning almost a quart a week before! So it should have been down by now.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Update!
It’s still really early on, but things are looking promising. My kid drives about 70 miles a day round trip to school Monday through Thursday. I just checked the oil when she got home and it’s still full! Also the oil is still really clean. Before it would get really dirty quickly with all the blow by. I’ll know a lot more if this trend continues, but it’s really promising so far! She was burning almost a quart a week before! So it should have been down by now.

You planning a repeat clean with the GM stuff just to make sure it’s as good as possible? Great progress so far!

 

[oilcandave]

Yes, If the walls are scored from fuel washing off the oil, then nothing will work. Can't repair worn cylinder walls.

I've been using aprox 300/1 top lube cause of this for many years. 150,000 mi on 1.6 accent..no oil consumption at all..yet..

 

[K20FA5]

You planning a repeat clean with the GM stuff just to make sure it’s as good as possible? Great progress so far!

That was my thought. I was going to see how things went this OCI. If I end up doing it again, I’ll probably use the liquid stuff in the can vs the spray stuff. Trav talks about the liquid stuff in his posts about piston soaks. I just had the foaming spray stuff already here, so I used that out of frustration more than anything

 

[Graham Piccinini]

Love success reports.

 

[incognito_2u]

Subscribed….
Thanks for keeping us updated and please continue to document this journey with hopefully a positive outcome.

 

[Donald]

What was the compression before & after?

 

[K20FA5]

What was the compression before & after?

Didn’t check. This was a fly by the seat of my pants move!