Oil puddling on stick after 2k miles, 11 months

[40flier]

I've seen that happen on the dipstick on a few of my vehicles before.

This is a good time to ask what it indicates when oil instead of being an even film on a surface forms "puddles" or "rivulets" I changed the oil immediately so no pics. Back in the "day" I saw this in an engine that hadn't had an oil change in years. I assume this oil, for lack of correct terminology on this technical site has lost it's lubricating qualities?

 

[ZeeOSix]

This is a good time to ask what it indicates when oil instead of being an even film on a surface forms "puddles" or "rivulets" I changed the oil immediately so no pics. Back in the "day" I saw this in an engine that hadn't had an oil change in years. I assume this oil, for lack of correct terminology on this technical site has lost it's lubricating qualities?

I've seen it happen on the dipstick on my Toyota Tacoma truck. Oil was very low mileage and clean. Oil was Mobil 1 full synthetic 5W-30. It really didn't concern me.

 

[Marcozi]

Seasonal vehicle, 19 Kia Sorrento, 10k miles. Oil changed at dlr before 5 mos storage 11mos ago. After 2k miles I noticed oil is dark and "puddling" on stick. Was supposed to be synthetic, adding to the question the 3.3 V6 takes 6.8 quarts. Uses a cartridge filter which is black. I think I got hosed somehow?

What oil did you put in the engine?

 

[Brons2]

When I had my 2012 Sonata, the oil stayed amber looking a lot longer when I switched to the Fram Ultra. As noted that doesn't necessarily mean the oil was in a better condition, but clearly it was taking something out.

 

[40flier]

What oil did you put in the engine?

I paid the Kia dlr for synthetic oil, I replaced it with Mobil-1, using a Fram Ultra filter. I'll be watching it closely.

 

[MrStamper]

It's a GDI engine they're well known for soot, that's why Hyundai recommends changing the oil every 3750 miles or 6 months for almost all driving conditions.

Man that’s so specific. 3750 miles.

 

[blufeb95]

Man that’s so specific. 3750 miles.

It's half of the "normal" service interval, on the TGDI engines it's 3000mi severe, 6000mi "normal"

 

[Rygrego]

Just drive it and enjoy it. Changing oil early is a waste of resources.

Could not agree more.

 

[Rygrego]

My GDI Kia oil starts looking dark around 2,000 miles and it’s coal black when I change it at 3,000. I think that’s pretty normal for GDI engines. If you did a lot of short trips on the car, I would change it out anyway because there’s probably some fuel in it.

Smell it.

 

[Rygrego]

Just drive it and enjoy it. Changing oil early is a waste of resources.

Finally some sanity.

 

[Hyundai Respecter]

Smell it.

I don’t notice it having an excessive fuel smell, if that’s what your getting at. The oil level stays put throughout the oci. But next time I change it I’ll give it some extra sniffs.

 

[Arcoril]

Man that’s so specific. 3750 miles.

I saw a video that went into some detail about that. It's in Korean but it has English subtitles:



In short, a number of Hyundai 2.5L engines were experiencing excessive oil consumption and eventual starvation. A teardown showed that among other things, a piston ring was failing leading to slap and scoring of the cylinder walls. As the damage built up so did the oil consumption.

To try and get the engines through the warranty period Hyundai halved the OCI hoping that starvation wouldn't occur if the oil was refilled more frequently. A 3750 mi OCI implies that the original interval was 7500 mi before getting halved. The OP has a 3.3L but I believe it also can suffer from oil consumption and carries the same shorter OCI recommendation.

 

[Hyundai Respecter]

3750 mile oil change intervals has been listed under the “severe maintenance schedule” for as long as I can remember. I know my old 2008 Elantra did and that was before the 2.4L Theta II issues.

 

[kschachn]

I still want to see what this puddling looks like.

 

[Arcoril]

3750 mile oil change intervals has been listed under the “severe maintenance schedule” for as long as I can remember. I know my old 2008 Elantra did and that was before the 2.4L Theta II issues.

That makes sense. Do you know if they made any changes to what counts as severe? Maybe it's just for Korea, but at around 7:45 in the video he mentions that "general driving" was classified as "harsh driving" under the new recommendations.

 

[Hyundai Respecter]

That makes sense. Do you know if they made any changes to what counts as severe? Maybe it's just for Korea, but at around 7:45 in the video he mentions that "general driving" was classified as "harsh driving" under the new recommendations.

Kia sent this notice to owners a couple years ago (Hyundai might have too?? Not sure). Saying most US drivers should use the severe schedule (I didn’t watch the video)

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10177729-0001.pdf

 

[blufeb95]

Kia sent this notice to owners a couple years ago (Hyundai might have too?? Not sure). Saying most US drivers should use the severe schedule (I didn’t watch the video)

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10177729-0001.pdf

In Canada all Hyundai/Kia owners are to follow the severe service interval all the time.

 

[Deleted member 89374]

To try and get the engines through the warranty period Hyundai halved the OCI hoping that starvation wouldn't occur if the oil was refilled more frequently. A 3750 mi OCI implies that the original interval was 7500 mi before getting halved. The OP has a 3.3L but I believe it also can suffer from oil consumption and carries the same shorter OCI recommendation.

That logic implies that no matter what type of motor oil is used, the problem still occurs. That just doesn't make any sense. Conclusevely, the problem lies with design, manufacturing, and quality control, not with the oil used and the length of the OCI. In other words, try telling AMSOIL or Mobil 1 engineers this story and they will laugh at it, or respectfully disagree at the very least.

 

[Arcoril]

That logic implies that no matter what type of motor oil is used, the problem still occurs. That just doesn't make any sense. Conclusevely, the problem lies with design, manufacturing, and quality control, not with the oil used and the length of the OCI. In other words, try telling AMSOIL or Mobil 1 engineers this story and they will laugh at it, or respectfully disagree at the very least.

I think there’s a misunderstanding here. I just wrote a summary of the video and it agrees with what you wrote. The oil consumption and failure has nothing to do with the oil being used. It’s all due to a design issue with the engine itself.

 

[ZeeOSix]

I still want to see what this puddling looks like.

Instead of the oil making a thin even coating on the surface, it looks like areas where the oil (maybe from the surface tension of the oil) have pooled together, and left areas where that oil was looking almost bare on the dipstick. Like said earlier, I've seen this happen on my Tacoma with Mobil 1, 5W-30 full synthetic.