PSA if considering Hyundai/Kia models with the Gamma T-GDI engine.

[Alex_V]

2016 Hyundai Tucson 1.6 T-GDI and 7-speed DCT trans., 76,000 miles.

I recently tore down this engine to fix a burned valve, which I learned these engines are known to do at varying not-high mileage after diagnosing a misfire which revealed 0 compression on #4 cylinder. I have no idea how frequently the oil has been changed, but it did have a Valvoline sticker in the windshield with 3,500 mi. left on it, yet was close to 3 qts. low on oil with no visible external leaks. In addition to the burned valve, every cylinder had this spot worn smooth at 6:00 and 12:00. Upon fixing and test-driving about 25 miles, I observed it's tuned to stay below 2,500 RPM unless you really hammer on it. Even climbing a 5-6% grade at 65 MPH, it knuckles down in 7th gear @ 2,000 RPM - which feels great to the average driver, but that's a lot of low-end torque from such a small mill with (looked up pics) very short pistons without a full skirt. It really looks like side force on the pistons ovals out the cylinders which leads to the oil consumption they have an extended warranty for. I could be off base here but I feel like it's very unlikely this engine's just been maintained so poorly for its short life that neglect is the primary root cause.

For your consideration...

 

[fantastic]

Good deal on your findings. Nice to see first hand what went wrong & try to repair it. Is that the plan to rebuild it or did the warranty already replace the engine? I think Hyundai got too big for their britches & little too confident in their ability to produce an engine that doesn't burn large amounts of oil. Not sure what was spec'd for fuel but these engines should have been using 91 octane min. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Alex_V]

Good deal on your findings. Nice to see first hand what went wrong & try to repair it. Is that the plan to rebuild it or did the warranty already replace the engine? I think Hyundai got too big for their britches & little too confident in their ability to produce an engine that doesn't burn large amounts of oil. Not sure what was spec'd for fuel but these engines should have been using 91 octane min. Thanks for sharing.

Just R&R'd the head and put it back together. It's the sister of a regular customer that was on her way here for Christmas from 600 mi. away - options were to leave it here to fix>come back and drive it home, or pay to ship it back home just to pay more $$ to have it done there.

Once I determined the real problem I did advise her to check on a recall/warranty for it - I have a 3 month backlog and told her up front it'd be 3 weeks if I did the job, so for better or worse I wasn't interested in taking the time to confirm possible warranty coverage myself.

 

[walterjay]

I had a Tucson with that 1.6 turbo mill. I traded it at 90,000 miles. Did not use one drop of oil and ran like a top.

I quickly learned not to use 87 octane as the car did not run properly on it. I really liked the low end torque. It would have been interesting to see how the engine did longer term. I really miss the car but I was able to trade it when the car value was quite high.
It was among my favorite vehicles and I am picky. Also I did a yearly treatment of CRC turbo and intake valve cleaner on it.

 

[Alex_V]

I had a Tucson with that 1.6 turbo mill. I traded it at 90,000 miles. Did not use one drop of oil and ran like a top.

I quickly learned not to use 87 octane as the car did not run properly on it. I really liked the low end torque. It would have been interesting to see how the engine did longer term. I really miss the car but I was able to trade it when the car value was quite high.
It was among my favorite vehicles and I am picky.

What was your oil choice and change interval? I filled this one up with M1 EP 5w30 over a Wix 51334.

 

[walterjay]

What was your oil choice and change interval? I filled this one up with M1 EP 5w30 over a Wix 51334.

I used a straight diet of Quaker State Euro 5-40 and OEM filters. 5-40 was a factory recommended grade from Hyundai for that engine. I did 4,000 mile oil changes and ran the filter tor 8K.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Thanks for sharing. Your diagnostic seems sound.

My guess - and that is all it is - is based on the fact that they seem to have much better luck with all their engines overseas than here, where there often bolted to a manual transmission and / or have less stringent cafe rules, they bring them here, tune them to both make more power for our wide open roads, and at the same time use less gas - and we end up with early engine failure. Makes as much sense to me as anything.

 

[Propflux01]

I had a Tucson with that 1.6 turbo mill. I traded it at 90,000 miles. Did not use one drop of oil and ran like a top.

I quickly learned not to use 87 octane as the car did not run properly on it. I really liked the low end torque. It would have been interesting to see how the engine did longer term. I really miss the car but I was able to trade it when the car value was quite high.
It was among my favorite vehicles and I am picky. Also I did a yearly treatment of CRC turbo and intake valve cleaner on it.

Never had issues out of the wife's KONA either. No oil used. QSFS 5w-30 and one HPL 5w-30. OCI every 5K. I think it's a good possibility the OP's described engine might well have been neglected, or beat on. They have a pretty good history, normally. OP, ask the customer when the spark plugs were changed.

 

[walterjay]

BTW if she bought the car new it would have been 100% covered by manufacturers warranty.

 

[JustinH]

BTW if she bought the car new it would have been 100% covered by manufacturers warranty.

I dumped my 2017 Tuscon recently, but it had an extended 10 year 120k mile warranty since I had a bunch of recall work done on it, including bearing measurements.

They all use oil I checked mine once a week. People do not lift the hood on these things, and thats how they die.

 

[Rand]

If she purchased new it had a 10yr/100k mile warranty.
I wouldnt buy used one .. 5yr/60k and done.. and who knows if you are buying someone's problem.

 

[Alex_V]

Never had issues out of the wife's KONA either. No oil used. QSFS 5w-30 and one HPL 5w-30. OCI every 5K. I think it's a good possibility the OP's described engine might well have been neglected, or beat on. They have a pretty good history, normally. OP, ask the customer when the spark plugs were changed.

Should they have needed changed once already before the 76K at which I did the work? And replaced the plugs, of course.

 

[Propflux01]

Should they have needed changed once already before the 76K at which I did the work? And replaced the plugs, of course.

Turbo 1.6L engine plug change 45k. I was thinking if they haven’t changed them, then it wouldn’t surprise me if other maintenance wasn’t performed as well.

 

[Number_35]

It sounds like there are some inherent design flaws, exacerbated by the AT being programmed to keep the RPMs unhealthily low.