Oil type, no big difference | GDI carbon

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Originally Posted By: caprice_2nv
My best friend that still works in the oil change bay I used to, says pretty well all the Hyundai's and kia GDI engines he sees have black oil before and usually even after he changes it. Texted me about one the other day that runs full synthetic and was only at about 4500 miles and the oil was black like a diesel before and after the change. They've also seen 2 personally come in with the famous failed rod bearings that the NHTSA safety recall is all about. I'm sure the dealership sees a lot more than an independent garage since most people should have gotten their recall notice by now.

I'm just concerned about whether the black as tar oil is just because of the direct injection or if her engine is going to fail like so many others have.

The freshly changed oil in her car looks much worse than the dirty oil with 5k miles I drained out of my 83 Caprice which is a carbureted engine and probably has some fuel dilution issues of it's own.


Why is your friend texting you about an oils appearance from his work?

Edit: I see your gf owns one.

Concerning the oils color on my two Hyundai...nothing out of the ordinary when compared to previous, non-GDI I've owned
 
That's very helpful to hear Wemay. In the other thread some of our members had thoughts about that. I do think it can matter at times. Like when a vehicle is short tripped a whole lot and the oil has a strong smell of gasoline. Versus my car which looks far, far different because of a lot of long trips, seeing operating temps for a long time, and doesn't smell like gasoline much at all. Running pattern does make a big difference in how it looks and smells. If it never ever changed then it would not matter. Or if it changed extremely quickly then it would not mean anything either. Kind of like exercising and blood pressure. Changes do happen. Systolic pressure does increase with exercise normally. A very high amount if increase over and above a normal expected range is not normal or safe. So changes outside of a normal range are concerning. The opposite is true has well. If it drops it is very concerning has well. My step father who had open heart surgery to help with his atrial fibrillation had a systolic pressure of 72 and diastolic pressure of 38. His heart rate was 150s all the way down to the 40s. The AFib was still present and causing him a serious issue. He was rushed across the street into the ER to get IV Cardizem to help get his heart rate back into a normal range and rhythm and IV fluid bolus to help get his pressure back up.
 
Just drove my girlfriend's 13 Sonata around town today after dropping her off at work, so I could install her winter tires. When you turn the radio and heater fan off there is very noticeable spark knock happening under acceleration (usually every time it upshifts). It has just under 100,000kms so 62k miles on it.

She adds a fuel system additive occasionally because a mechanic where she used to get her oil changes told her about the issues with these engines. I would be willing to bet that most of these cars driving around have spark knock and the driver's don't notice. First of all you would have to know what spark knock is and sounds like and turn off the radio etc to listen for it, second of all most people with these cats don't know or care about maintenance related stuff. I think this is part of why so many of them are grenading now.

That and they should have installed a low oil level sensor. Maybe when they designed it they didn't do enough testing to realize that they are all going to start burning oil eventually.

Since my girlfriend is not a car person and doesn't want to put any extra $ into using better oil in her car, I'm just going to let it play out and see how long before it seizes up on the highway like so many others are.
 
In some Chrysler manuals they write in there that minor spark nock is perfectly acceptable. I'm not sure I would be ok with it but just so you know.
 
I have always been in the camp of never liking spark knock. It was so prevalent in the 70's and 80's especially with Chrysler lean burn motors. The experts said then that light or occasional spark knock meant you were at peak efficiency for fuel economy.

I'll take a quiet engine any day.
 
I had a fair amount of spark knock in the 05 Matrix which was solved by replacing the intake manifold gasket. So glad I had that taken care of. Whew!

caprice_2nv, I start using some CRC Intake and GDI cleaner right before the next oil change. I'd also monitor oil level weekly since those engines can become a big risk at that mileage. Maybe use or start using Valvoline Maxlife, top tier fuel, etc...
 
Well I don't do the oil changes on this one. Since we will likely be needing the recall coverage we want the receipts for all the oil changes. I know they aren't being that picky about it from all the stories I've read, but we're in Canada and they likely could get away with not covering as much here.

Also right after the oil change it was half a qt low (probably they didn't know about the updated oil capacity) but now after 600 miles and 1 month it's above the full. So the fuel dilution is obviously helping to keep the level up.
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I had spark knock (slight ping) on a previous 2.4 Sonata GLS. I changed the plugs and battery (battery needed replacing) and in that case, the knock went away. Not sure why but it did happen, thankfully. Hyundai also told me "slight pinging" was normal.
 
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If it was my car I would definitely try the colder plugs and do a decarbon treatment but since it's hers and as I said she's only willing to do the regular scheduled maintenance as that's what she has budgeted for. The spark plugs are a long ways from being due for replacement.

The battery is likely going to be replaced soon after it gets tested at the garage I used to work at. The place she had her oil changes done at said it tested weak and I agree it sounds a little weak sometimes. I can't imagine how that would help a pinging situation other than forcing the ECM to relearn but the battery was recently disconnected long enough for that anyways.

I rarely drive the car so I won't know if that fixes it short term or not.
 
I'm sure slight pinging is normal for these cars because they are all going to have at least some amount of carbon buildup. That's what you get with direct injection.

But it's definitely going to have an effect on longevity. Check out www.carcomplaints.com if you want to see the amount of reported engine failures and compare it to pretty well any other vehicle.
 
It's possible but the most likely cause is carbon buildup. It does 95% city driving/very short trips and never gets full throttle.

I don't have easy access to a scanner. There is no check engine light on and the pinging is only loud enough to notice with the radio and everything off.

The most I'm going to do is suggest she put another bottle of techron or similar fuel additive in it.
 
Sorry to hear. I've had excellent results from our Hyundai (the KIA is my first) vehicles. Our Santa Fe 2.0T is getting close to 150K miles with zero issues while driving 95% city, idles extensively and has two oil changes where VWB was used. Other than the Sonata ping mentioned earlier, no other issues from our previous 3 Hyundai. But i stay on top of the maintenance religiously. Not necessarily syn oil but more so OCI and TT fuel.

I wonder if colder climates are harder on di vehicles.
 
I would definitely say the cold climate is worse on her car. Last winter her oil would be completely black within a week after an oil change. Once the weather warmed up and I also got her to start changing it at 3 or 4 months max instead of waiting for 3k miles then the oil started to just look a bit dirty but not black like it was last winter.

We'll see if it goes black again once the temperature drops despite the 3 month oil change schedule. I wish I could take over the maintenance and put good stuff in it doing it myself here in the driveway but I don't want to be blamed when it fails anyways. I know that I could reduce the chance of it failing.

She doesn't mind if I go crazy on the maintenance on my cars but she also knows we can jump in them and drive 4 hours on the highway in either one and not worry about making it there and back even though the cars are 35 years old.
 
My 2017 Santa Fe 3.3L V6 is nudging 35k miles. No sign of pinging even with the radio off and windows up/down.

But then again, I run TT 92 Octane fuel, change the oil according to sever service intervals, and I wind it out at least once a week.

One thing I have noticed is the lack of cold start up timing chain rattle on this engine. My 06 Colorado 3.5L I-5 would always rattle for a split second upon cold start up. Same oil in both - syn 5W30.
 
I wanted to wind hers out the other day when I was driving it alone just to see if it blows black smoke because of the carbon buildup but I'm honestly afraid of taking out a rod bearing while I'm driving it or having it fail the day after I drove it and have her think I caused it, so I drove it gently and just listened for the pinging (for science).

I haven't heard of any issues with the v6 versions but the 2.4 and 2.0t are blowing up quite regularly according to the reading I've done. They are even having a huge increase in fires lately which could possibly be due to the amount that are getting engine replacements, and possibly resultant fuel leaks from something left loose after (very high pressure on any direct injection engine).
 
*Are you referring to late model Hyundai / Kia 2.0 turbos and 2.4 non - turbo GDI engines ?... I run 5w30 D1 Gen 2 synthetic oils at 2 bottle of CRC intake valve cleaner through the vacuum PCV line going back into the engine ... So far at 20K miles in my '17 Sonata 2.4 non - turbo GDI I have experienced zero issues . My protocol is probably a bit much but so far it has been working for me .
Originally Posted by caprice_2nv
I wanted to wind hers out the other day when I was driving it alone just to see if it blows black smoke because of the carbon buildup but I'm honestly afraid of taking out a rod bearing while I'm driving it or having it fail the day after I drove it and have her think I caused it, so I drove it gently and just listened for the pinging (for science).

I haven't heard of any issues with the v6 versions but the 2.4 and 2.0t are blowing up quite regularly according to the reading I've done. They are even having a huge increase in fires lately which could possibly be due to the amount that are getting engine replacements, and possibly resultant fuel leaks from something left loose after (very high pressure on any direct injection engine).
 
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