Kia engines ...some 5w-20 ..some 10w-40 - why?

[Gary Allan]

Not being intimately acquainted with either Kia or Hyundai ..I'm given the impression that they share some engines and other running gear.

It appears that some spec our market wide 5w-20 for recommendation ..yet some engines, at least in the Kia offerings, spec 10w-40. I know that there has to be a post that covered this, but I searched 250 Kia's and didn't find this discussed.

Any help here? If one were to assume that the like displacement engines offered in Hyundai were the same ..it appears that they use two radically different weights for the respective labels. The Kia line appears to be far more temp specific for some of the engines ..and not at all for others.

I put this here since I'm not really discussing the oil ..but rather the engines

 

[sciphi]

Hyundai and Kia shared things before they merged a few years back. From about 2002 or 2003 all Kias are re-badged Hyundais. The current strategy is to move Kia into the youth market, and keep Hyundai as the mainstream brand while sharing engines and platforms between the brands.

I have personal experience with the 2.0l engine in the Elantra and Tiburon known as the Beta, having owned an Elantra for the past 3 years. It happily runs 5 or 10w30. Seems to like the 5 better than the 10.

The different oils are likely due to different areas of the country. I know for a fact my owner's manual does not explicitly list what oil to run. It provides a temperature chart with the different viscosities of oil recommended for particular situations. 5w30 covers the whole chart, though.

 

[Gary Allan]

Here's what Amsoil recommends for a Spectra
Engine Oil
Grade 1......API*
Synthetic 5W-40 European Engine Oil
SAE 10W-40 Synthetic High Performance Motor Oil
SAE 10W-40 XL Synthetic Motor Oil
-25 To 40°F......10W-30
Above 14°F......15W-40
Above -13°F......10W-40
Below 50°F......5w30
Below 14°F......5W-20
Below 68°F......5W-40

Now this must be a different 2.0 in a Sportage

LUBRICANTS & FLUIDS
Engine Oil
Grade 1......API*
100% Synthetic 0W-20 Motor Oil
SAE 5W-20 XL Synthetic Motor Oil
Series 2000 Synthetic 0w30 Motor Oil
Above 9°F......15W-40
Above 0°F......10W-30
Above 19°F......20W-50
All Temps......5W-20

2.0 in an Elantra

LUBRICANTS & FLUIDS
Engine Oil
Grade 1......API*
100% Synthetic 0W-20 Motor Oil
SAE 5W-20 XL Synthetic Motor Oil
Series 2000 Synthetic 0w30 Motor Oil
Above 32°F......10W-30
All Temps......5W-20[1]

 

[Chris142]

My mom's 99 Sportage recomends pretty much any weight in it's Mazda built engine. 15w40 does drop the MPG though.

 

[JTK]

My 2002 Isuzu Rodeo 3.2L was the same way. The manual showed 5w30 through 20w-50 being OK based on ambient temps. I experimented with 5w-20 - 15w40. To me it felt like the engine didn't rev as freely with the 15w40, but it was probably my imagination. I eventually stuck with 5w-20 to try to squeeze every ounce out of the gas tank.

Joel