This fixed my rough idle (will it fix my oil consumption?)

[MrBaumTastic]

No photos this time around, but I did a flush, intake cleaning and change on my 2019 Kia sportage with 105k miles, initially filled with dealer oil 5W20 when we got it last month. Then, over the last 6k miles ives topped off with what I had, which was about 3 qts of QS Euro 5W40 and then probably another 4qts of Valvoline Restore and Protect 5W30.

I started by putting 1 bottle of Redline in a nearly empty tank and filled with 93 TopTier fuel from Citgo. (side note: I had previously ran Royal Purple's Max Clean with a full tank of 93 TT and their max atomizer back to back with 93 TT in half tanks each)

About half a tank and a day later, this morning I added 1 can of BG EPR and ran that through for about 15 minutes at 1200 rpm.

Next, without draining the sump, I used CRC for 1 second bursts at 2000 rpm into the throttle body until empty.

While it was heat soaking, I drained the oil and filled with 5qts of Valvoline Restore and Protect 5W30, and replaced the dealer oil filter (forgot the brand, it was a generic looking white canister) with a Fram 10k filter. I let it soak some more, about 30 minutes, until it was time to test drive it. I also replaced the PCV valve.

After about 40 miles since the CRC and oil flush/change, I think the rough idle has finally been resolved. Will be interesting to see how this effects the oil consumption too.

Doing my next change at 110k miles (about a 5k oci).

 

[walterjay]

Let us know the outcome.

 

[MrBaumTastic]

Let us know the outcome.

Thank you I appreciate your interest. I like sharing what I do and I'm glad there's still some people who enjoy others people's work. So I will!

 

[StarCaller]

It's always interesting to see the outcome if someone puts that much effort in something /

 

[ltslimjim]

When was the last time spark plugs were changed? Sometimes they can back out if not torqued properly and cause a rough idle at minimum.

Also, are you saying that it burned 7 Quarts in 6k miles?

 

[MrBaumTastic]

When was the last time spark plugs were changed? Sometimes they can back out if not torqued properly and cause a rough idle at minimum.

Also, are you saying that it burned 7 Quarts in 6k miles?

I think so but it could have been 6qts. I can't remember how much oil I had left to that jug of QS. The thing is too, it wasn't a steady burn, it fluctuated a lot. Something I haven't seen in my 2017 Sonata with the same engine and mileage that also burned oil.

I can't verify, but I'm certain the plugs I changed out were original to the car. I went ahead and put in NGK Rutheniums. I know, it's not OEM but the car is already over a 100k so if it was going to be plugs that did this engine in it would've happened already lol Though I'm quite sure I couldn't notice a difference between those and OEM Laser Iridiums.

 

[AZjeff]

Did you have a sequence mapped out or was it done on the fly? How did you decide what to do first, second, etc?

 

[MrBaumTastic]

Did you have a sequence mapped out or was it done on the fly? How did you decide what to do first, second, etc?

Nope, I didn't do any of that. Its been running fine tho, at least as far as spark plugs would be any indication of something wrong.

 

[jcy]

Thank you I appreciate your interest. I like sharing what I do and I'm glad there's still some people who enjoy others people's work. So I will!

what do you think about the RP max clean and atomizer?

 

[ltslimjim]

I think so but it could have been 6qts. I can't remember how much oil I had left to that jug of QS. The thing is too, it wasn't a steady burn, it fluctuated a lot. Something I haven't seen in my 2017 Sonata with the same engine and mileage that also burned oil.

I can't verify, but I'm certain the plugs I changed out were original to the car. I went ahead and put in NGK Rutheniums. I know, it's not OEM but the car is already over a 100k so if it was going to be plugs that did this engine in it would've happened already lol Though I'm quite sure I couldn't notice a difference between those and OEM Laser Iridiums.

Is this Kia equipped with one of the engines with known low tension control ring design flaws that cause excessive oil consumption? If I’m even saying that right.

https://www.kiaenginesettlement.com/

https://www.kia-forums.com/threads/2017-kia-sportage-oil-burning-issue-need-advice.364578/

Seems like a common problem.

 

[MrBaumTastic]

what do you think about the RP max clean and atomizer?

I thought they were quality products that worked before but now I don't know. Imagine using their products in three tanks of TopTier back to back and nothing about the operation of the engine or fuel economy changing.

I think the Redline was better, and cheaper than the Max Clean. Buy it on amazon

 

[MrBaumTastic]

Is this Kia equipped with one of the engines with known low tension control ring design flaws that cause excessive oil consumption? If I’m even saying that right.

https://www.kiaenginesettlement.com/

https://www.kia-forums.com/threads/2017-kia-sportage-oil-burning-issue-need-advice.364578/

Seems like a common problem.

Yeah, I had that with the Sonata too, same engine. And I knew what I was getting into with the KIA. It was actually part of my decision-making process; I figured either I would get lucky and have no oil consumption or it would burn oil and I would know what to do. Even at its worst, about a qt in 500 miles (seen in both cars), for an anal-retentive car nut like me, it's no problem.

 

[MrBaumTastic]

Here's an update of what I did to my 2019 Kia Sportage with 108k miles (previous post was at 105k miles). I wanted to go 5k miles on this OCI with the Valvoline R&P but I got impatient.

For this maintenance cycle, I completed the following steps in this order:

1. CRC Intake Valve Cleaner: Cleaned intake valves by spraying CRC in short bursts into the throttle body at 2000 RPM until the can was empty. Let it heat soak for an hour.


2. BG 44K: Added BG 44K to the gas tank with 93 octane Top Tier fuel from Citgo.


3. Atomex Total Flush: Ran Atomex Total Flush in the last fill for 90 miles to deep clean the engine, since this change was a good 1500 miles ahead of schedule.


4. Berryman B12 Piston Soak: Performed a piston soak using Berryman B12. I added 2 oz per cylinder and let it sit for 2 hours.


5. Drained Oil: While the soak was happening, I drained the old oil.


6. Filled with Valvoline High Mileage: After the soak, I filled the engine with Valvoline High Mileage Full Synthetic as part of the second flush.


7. Performed Second Flush with BG EPR: Ran BG EPR at 1500 RPM for over 30 minutes to finish (hopefully) cleaning out the engine of whatever the soak dissolves/broke loose.


8. Oil Change: Finally, I drained the flush oil and replaced it with 5 quarts of Valvoline Restore and Protect 5W30 and a Kia OEM filter.



Additional Notes:

Cleaned spark plugs (NGK Rutheniums with <10k miles on them) using a toothbrush and B12. There was a light carbon build-up.

PCV valve was replaced during the previous oil change at 105k miles.

I’ve continued to use only high-octane Top Tier fuel.


The rough idle was definitely resolved even before I did all this yesterday, now I'm mainly preoccupied with reducing or eliminating oil consumption. The next oil change is scheduled for 113k miles (around 5k OCI). On one hand, I'm confident that by now there will be some, even if only a little, progress on reducing the oil consumption. On the other, I'm tempering my expectations that all that will have done jack. Either way, Im sticking with Valvoline Restore and Protect for now and will retreat with piston soak in the future, going much longer than what I had time for on a Sunday.

Excited to see how it goes.

 

[MrBaumTastic]

Did you have a sequence mapped out or was it done on the fly? How did you decide what to do first, second, etc?

Sorry man, when I first saw your post, I for some reason read "sequence" to mean the sequence of pistons firing. Lol

I did have all this planned out. Every oil change I do usually involves an extra step or two I like to take (like using the CRC) and is determined shortly after the oil change that preceded it.

 

[Bladecutter]

Well, no one will ever accuse you of not trying.
That seems like a lot, maybe just this side the border of too much.

 

[MrBaumTastic]

Well, no one will ever accuse you of not trying.
That seems like a lot, maybe just this side the border of too much.

I'll take that as a compliment. Most of my love and excitement for something most people think twice about stems from hanging around buddies in the Marines, most of who knows a lot more about cars than I do.

I still need their help on things from time to time, but I enjoy the peace of mind a well maintained vehicle gives.

 

[MrBaumTastic]

Quick update: Photos attached are from Sunday (the 29th). As you can see, on Trip A (That's my makeshift oil consumption monitor, shows me how many driven miles between adding a quart) I was over 700 miles when I checked the oil to find that I was at "L", so about a quart low. Is that an improvement? Barely. Not entirely promising but a little frustrating. Trip B shows how many miles I've driven on the Valvoline Restore and Protect (VRP) total so far. As of writing this, I'm over 6500 miles one the second change.

The first change to VRP was preceded by a flush of the dealer bulk 5W20 oil with BG EPR, and I replaced the generic canister oil filter with a Frame Extra Guard. The PCV valve was also replaced, although the one I took off the car honestly looked fine to me.

I planned to take that initial fill to 5k miles, but repeated the same procedure (BG EPR flush before changing) after consumption failed to improve, maintaining a consumption rate of 1qt/500 miles over 3k miles.

I'm more than halfway through the second fill of VRP, and at my third change I'm going to do a piston soak, aiming for at least 8-12 hrs. I already did one before I put the current fill oil in, but it was more of a proof of concept, a rehearsal of you will. I only had time for it to soak a grand total of 2hrs and I'm quite certain that it didn't do much. But I encountered two issues that discouraged me from promising myself I will do the soak no matter what. That was the engine not cranking when started with the plugs out. Obviously I did something wrong but I'm not sure what and it doesn't seem anyone has been able to tell me. Every video I've seen and every forum I've ever read through about the process, it seems fool-proof, turn key, blow solvent out of the cylinders through the spark plug holes (cover with a towel). The other issue was many people dont mention re-lubricating the cylinder walls with oil to build compression. My wife and I nearly cried when I tried starting and, well it didn't. It took 3 minutes of cranking on and off to get it to start, and another minute or two of it starting and stalling before it operated like normal. So if I don't get at least an 8 hour window to let the Berryman B12 soak, I may just not do it at all.

I plan to stick with the VRP for at least four complete oil changes before trying HPL (which I want to do anyway). I'm going to switch from the Kia OEM filter next change to a Fram Endurance if I can get one from Walmart, or the Fram Titanium if not. It only recently occurred to me if these oils clean as well as they do, then superior filtration efficiency should be a concern. Either one I put on, I plan to leave them on for 10k miles each, so two oil changes 5k miles apart. I'm not worried about a filter clogging because I know the VRP cleans gently and gradually enough where that shouldn't be a problem over a reasonable OCI. But I do want to make sure that what ever particles are floating around, both from the cleaning of carbon deposits and by products of normal operation (soot?), are caught and not allowed into places where they can cause excessive wear (bearings and cylinder walls).

And I guess just continue to monitor consumption and keep this updated. Oh I also tried Gumout's intake cleaner (ordered from Amazon, haven't seen it anywhere else) on Tuesday and re-treated with Redline SI-1. To keep a long post from getting longer, I'll just say I think I like the Gumout better. Application process is faster and car didn't sputter on the test drive. My main critique would be the can's spray nozzle and trigger assembly seem really cheap, it broke on me at the bitter end. There wasn't much product left before squeezing the trigger resulted in a soft hiss versus a spray of foam. Other than that, if you've ever used CRC (or wanted to try it) give it a go.

 

[Astro14]

While folks have had luck reducing consumption through use of VR&P or HPL, those folks had stuck rings, which worked themselves free after using those products.

There is another possibility for which you should be prepared - wear. At over 100,000 miles on an engine not know for longevity, you may well have excessive wear in the rings, valve guides, and/or cylinder walls. In which case, no product will improve your consumption.

I may have missed it - what are your compression readings? Good compression means you have a chance of fixing this, but poor compression means you don’t. Even if the compression is good, worn valves guides will continue to leak oil.

 

[MrBaumTastic]

While folks have had luck reducing consumption through use of VR&P or HPL, those folks had stuck rings, which worked themselves free after using those products.

There is another possibility for which you should be prepared - wear. At over 100,000 miles on an engine not know for longevity, you may well have excessive wear in the rings, valve guides, and/or cylinder walls. In which case, no product will improve your consumption.

I may have missed it - what are your compression readings? Good compression means you have a chance of fixing this, but poor compression means you don’t. Even if the compression is good, worn valves guides will continue to leak oil.

I'm not sure honestly. And you're absolutely right, I've fully considered that and prepared myself to accept that as a possibility.

I don't have anything for testing compression but I should.

 

[Brons2]

I think one of these Hyun/Kia cars can do better on the oil burning if treated well throughout it's life. I had a 2012 Sonata with the 2.4 Theta II DI engine that I got with like 30K and had a steady diet of 5w and 10w30 Havoline ProDS synthetic along with old school Fram Ultra filters. In a 5K OCI the oil would go down about halfway between the low mark and full mark and never had to add any, ever! One time I went 7K not meaning to, hey I was busy, I still didn't have to add any oil.

It's possible if I kept it longer that it would have eventually started burning enough oil that I would have to put some in between changes. But I sold it to my BIL to sell at his used car lot during Covid, he gave me more money for the car than it was worth to me with 95K on a known questionable engine and some front end damage from hitting a deer. It was also a manual, which I loved but my wife hated, which helped with the decision to get rid of it.