What type of motor oil should I get for my car?

[wjeszy]

Hi, I bought a (2018) Hyundai Kona this January. I am at 3300 miles with it.

According to the oil cap, it uses SAE 5w-30 engine oil.

I only have 2 questions:

1, Is it synthetic oil and if so then when should I change it? It probably can do 6000 miles right?

2, I am living in a tropical area where the weather is always around 80-90F (No winter), should I get a different viscosity?

Thanks

 

[JLTD]

5w-30 would be fine, also a 10w-30 in Guam's tropical climate will also work well.
It does not HAVE to be synthetic, but it could be. With conventional oil, 6,000 miles is as far as I would go. Synthetic can go farther.

 

[littlehulkster]

Whatever 5w-30 synthetic is on sale where and when you go to buy.

They will all work fine, don't stress about it.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Do you have access to the PX?

 

[PimTac]

Any major brand of 5w30 will run just fine in that Kona.

 

[Bud]

Just stick with what your owners manual calls for.

 

[Nickdfresh]

I'd use whatever synthetic 5W-30 is on sale/rebate...

 

[pbm]

If you have the 1.6T (turbo) I would use synthetic.....if you have the 2.0 NA engine you can use either syn. or dino without problems.

 

[walterjay]

Looks like he has the 1.6 turbo which calls for 5-30. The 2.0 says 5-20 on the cap.

 

[Mainia]

Originally Posted by wjeszy
Hi, I bought a (2018) Hyundai Kona this January. I am at 3300 miles with it.

According to the oil cap, it uses SAE 5w-30 engine oil.

I only have 2 questions:

1, Is it synthetic oil and if so then when should I change it? It probably can do 6000 miles right?

2, I am living in a tropical area where the weather is always around 80-90F (No winter), should I get a different viscosity?

Thanks


If it is a turbo Kona Hyundai allows 5W-40 as per manual. I use Mobil1 5w-30 ESP because it is on the thick side of the 5-30 scale and I am on boost a bit more then most. ( I own a 1.6T AWD lowered Kona) FYI for some of you, If you had a larger different Hyundai with the 2.0T motor, there is a TSB from Hyundai that those motors need 5w-40 full time, up from 5w-30.

 

[wjeszy]

Thanks for the replies but no one answered my first question.
How can I tell what oil is in the car and when to do the first oil change?

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted by wjeszy
Thanks for the replies but no one answered my first question.
How can I tell what oil is in the car and when to do the first oil change?


No offense, but did your car not come with a manual? That will have the interval listed. What oil came in it? Does it matter? Maybe 5W-30 made by SOPUS? I know Hyundai had a thing with Quaker State for a while...

 

[wjeszy]

Yes, of course, I just don't really understand it. I am an IT person and I don't know much about cars.
In the manual, there are different interval charts. Some suggest less shorter and longer change intervals. Which one to use? And also it does not say if I have synthetic or regular in the car?

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted by wjeszy
Yes, of course, I just don't really understand it. I am an IT person and I don't know much about cars.
In the manual, there are different interval charts. Some suggest less shorter and longer change intervals. Which one to use? And also it does not say if I have synthetic or regular in the car?



I would change the oil now to flush out any of the debris from the initial break-in, then go the longer interval if using synthetic oil. I would go the shorter interval if using conventional or blend. If it doesn't say you have to use synthetic you don't. Personally, I change my own oil so I do not see the point of using conventional when I can get full syn at about the same cost with rebates...

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by wjeszy
Yes, of course, I just don't really understand it. I am an IT person and I don't know much about cars.
In the manual, there are different interval charts. Some suggest less shorter and longer change intervals. Which one to use? And also it does not say if I have synthetic or regular in the car?





It's probably synthetic. Where was the Kona assembled at?

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Originally Posted by wjeszy
Yes, of course, I just don't really understand it. I am an IT person and I don't know much about cars.
In the manual, there are different interval charts. Some suggest less shorter and longer change intervals. Which one to use? And also it does not say if I have synthetic or regular in the car?



Well how many hours does it take you to drive across Guam on the Freeway? How much Freeway driving do you do if the answer is zero you use the sever service schedule.

 

[wjeszy]

How can I tell that?

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted by wjeszy
How can I tell that?


It would say on the window sticker, if the dealer/salesman left it in your paperwork. More than likely, it might have been a syn-blend but it doesn't really matter...

 

[PimTac]

It should be on the sticker that was in the window. Also on a plate in the door jamb.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
Originally Posted by wjeszy
Yes, of course, I just don't really understand it. I am an IT person and I don't know much about cars.
In the manual, there are different interval charts. Some suggest less shorter and longer change intervals. Which one to use? And also it does not say if I have synthetic or regular in the car?



Well how many hours does it take you to drive across Guam on the Freeway? How much Freeway driving do you do if the answer is zero you use the sever service schedule.




Every time someone mentions Guam I am reminded of Hank Johnson, the Rep from Georgia who made that ultimately stupid suggestion about that island tipping over.

A thousand facepalms.