Quietest oil used/oil recommendation for '16 KIA Forte

I used to run 5W20, and then 5W30, and currently 5W40. My upward trend was not to eliminate engine noise, but I did noticed the 5W40 seems to run smoother above 40 MPH. The LS3 in my car has always had initial lifter type’ noise on start-ups for 5~7 seconds. Not sure if a 10W30 would do much, but it might be interesting to know. 🤷‍♂️
 
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MR 22 said:
Hi everyone; long time lurker, first time posting. :) I have had my '16 Forte for 3 years... but I've always noticed the engine is not as quiet as it could be. Sometimes it ticks on cold start or maybe has minor piston slap, especially when the engine is cold. Initially it was louder when I first bought the car (used), but I still notice it at times. I have 52,XXX miles, it burns no oil & my oil change interval is 5,000 miles or less with full synthetic as my driving is "severe." Mostly city stop/go driving & idling in extreme temps (100-115°F Summers).

I know my car accepts 5W-20, 5W-30 & 10W-30, but I'm currently running Mobil 1 FS Euro 0W-40. I decided to try it once because the Cerato (also known as the Forte in other markets) accepts 0W-40 (as well as 5W-40, 15W-40 etc.).

So, what oil made your KIA quieter, or what oil would you recommend? Thank you all in advance. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
--Michael(y)
Click to expand...
QSUD 5w40
 
Try
Valvoline EP 5W-30 and
M1 EP 10W-30
and report back.
Both good oils but not the cheapest ...
We'll wait for your sound report.

Central CA, I ditch the 0W.
 
Danno said:
Interesting long post, but....
As a long time lurker you would have seen thd post by a FRAM engineer on the following.
Use OE filters to ensure engine gets proper oil pressure. Kia/Hyundai engines are unusual in their oil pressure setup. That also removes one variable in you noise reduction quest.
Click to expand...

Gee, that is really really strange, as I spent 20 mins on the phone with the Fram rep that was on here 4-5 years ago "something King" was his handle and he said the direct opposite. Back then, Fram did a complete redo in engineering on the full line of their oil filters to match and exceed the factory specs and he said the Fram Ultra far exceeded the flow of the OEM Hyundai/Kia filter, even with Hyundai/Kia OEM bad filtering specs. He laughed about it.

What "unusual oil pressure setup? Do you mean added oil PSI for a Hail Mary try to fix their badly designed engine and bad metallurgy choice? The Fram Ultra would help you out there even more as it can out flow the OEM by a good margin. I always say, "The blind love for Hyundai/Kia oil filters for no reason is out right astonishing".
 
What's the flow and filter rate for a Honda 15400-PCX-306 for an S2000? (replaced the 15400-PCX-004). They have the same threads, not sure on bypass valve psi. They fit my '19 Pilot which also takes the Fram Ultra XG7317 which some use in place of the XG9688 for the Hyundai's and Kia's.

I think I remember reading here somewhere that If you couldn't find the 9688 that the 7317 was the same bypass. 7317 is a little narrower but longer. About the same filter media area.
 
OilUzer said:
Try
Valvoline EP 5W-30 and
M1 EP 10W-30
and report back.
Both good oils but not the cheapest ...
We'll wait for your sound report.

Central CA, I ditch the 0W.
Click to expand...
Valvoline is having a 5$ cash back sale right now. All you have to do is upload proof of purchase and they pay through venmo/paypal. 5$ per 5qt jug.
 
I quit Valvoline due to their higher Calcium numbers (1400+). In my opinion these S. Korean four cylinder engines of 2011-2019 are what sent oil scientists back into their chemistry set drawing rooms, to develop add-packs where Calcium was sub-1000 and Magnesium was increased significantly.

Thats when I went oil shopping again and settled on Castrol Edge, Mobil-1 and Pennzoil Platinum, because their add-packs followed suit with lowered Calcium and higher Magnesium.

When Castrol Edge formula changed with SN Plus, their first recipe for 5w30 was 800 Calcium and 1400 Magnesium, along with 30 Titanium, which lowered their need for triple digit Boron. Not to mention Sodium in their recipes disappeared too.

I love Valvoline and it loved my Korean engines. But there's more to engine life than high Calcium and high Moly, Nothing detrimental / harming in those Valvoline recipes. It's just my personal taste and personal opinion on what's best for these Korean engines, aside from short OCIs and never letting the dipstick oil level fall below a half quart low.

Now I'm finding out my engines like the more robust 0w-30 and 0w40 Euro oils. So Im abandoning Dexos 1 / G3 and going on an Amsoil Euro investigative adventure for the next year or two. But I'm staying with SP and lowered Calcium.

When HPL includes SP in their 0w30s, I'll jump aboard and test it also.
 
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Triple_Se7en said:
I quit Valvoline due to their higher Calcium numbers (1400+). In my opinion these S. Korean four cylinder engines of 2011-2019 are what sent oil scientists back into their chemistry set drawing rooms, to develop add-packs where Calcium was sub-1000 and Magnesium was increased significantly.

Thats when I went oil shopping again and settled on Castrol Edge, Mobil-1 and Pennzoil Platinum, because their add-packs followed suit with lowered Calcium and higher Magnesium.

When Castrol Edge formula changed with SN Plus, their first recipe for 5w30 was 800 Calcium and 1400 Magnesium, along with 30 Titanium, which lowered their need for triple digit Boron. Not to mention Sodium in their recipes disappeared too.

I love Valvoline and it loved my Korean engines. But there's more to engine life than high Calcium and high Moly, Nothing detrimental / harming in those Valvoline recipes. It's just my personal taste and personal opinion on what's best for these Korean engines, aside from short OCIs and never letting the dipstick oil level fall below a half quart low.

Now I'm finding out my engines like the more robust 0w-30 and 0w40 Euro oils. So Im abandoning Dexos 1 / G3 and going on an Amsoil Euro investigative adventure for the next year or two. But I'm staying with SP and lowered Calcium.

When HPL includes SP in their 0w30s, I'll jump aboard and test it also.
Click to expand...
EP has like 1000-1100 and HM has 1200-1300...so 1400+ must be old formula, unless its fluctuating hard...which would warant some investigating for sure. And looking at recent UOA's neither castrol nor mobile go under 1000, with PUP going down to high 900's.
 
15w-40. Good to use until it hits 0f. Any at wm will do I've run them all. Whisper quiet in my 5.3 and 6.0 at hot idle, Would hear a bit more using 5w-30 at hot idle.
 
Crazy question- would a restricted exhaust add to start up noise/piston slap?

Son's '10 Forte is at exhaust shop currently for a leak. They said flex pipe was changed once before but they used an aftermarket 1 3/4" instead of 2 1/4" that the rest of the exhaust is. It also had some crappy welding done at other parts. I bought the car used a couple years ago.

This is a trusted shop I have used many times and fixed multiple vehicles for me instead of having to buy all new parts as other places and dealers wanted to do. They do custom work with racing headers/exhausts etc. They'll bend piping from computer as well as manually. They cut and weld flanges or weld a new pipe in place eliminating a rotted flanged area.
 
Ditch the M1. I’ve never had any motor run quiet with it. QSFS quieted my 5.0 when I had it.
 
I have had seven Kia/Hyundai NA engines and never had a problem with any of them. The newest one I'm driving is the 2020 Elantra with the CVT and I love that powertrain. I only have 60,000 miles on this one but I have had several in the upper 100s before swapping them or handing them down to a kid. So while I read about all these Hyundai/Kia engine problems, I keep on motoring.

In terms of oil, I use the Kirkland 5W30 and I've used a couple of different flavors but never noticed a difference in how loud the engine runs at startup or any other running condition. I also use only the OEM filters and I tend to change at 5000 miles.
 
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