Hyundai/Kia GDi engine sound

[Carguy21]

Hi all, I friend of mine is about to buy an used but on mint condition 2014 Kia Sorento with the standard 2.4 GDi engine but doing some research with him, we've discovered on many forums Hyundai/Kia owners complaining about the sound when that engine is cold or when its driven hard.

Is that sound normal or my friend should look for another vehicle???

 

[skyactiv]

It's 100000000000000% normal.

 

[SrDriver]

I have a 2015 Kia Sorento and the sound is normal.

My wife and I are well pleased with the vehicle.

 

[BobFout]

What does it sound like?

 

[Carguy21]

This video is from the Turbo model, but the sound is very much the same on the aspirated engine model.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW6HwCIPY2E

 

[BobFout]

Ya, GDI engines sound very diesel-like.

 

[Nick1994]

Hyundai engines sound terrible, like they're about to croak. But that's just the normal sound of them.

 

[Vuflanovsky]

For most of these engines, they're loud until the GDI fuel pump warms up and then they quiet down to varying degrees. My Hyundai 1.6 GDI is only loud ( relatively ) until the engine/fuel pump warms up and then it's as quiet as any other small displacement four cylinder I've had...and it's also one of the smoothest.

 

[KrisZ]

Normal or not, it sounds terrible. Brand new cars should not sound like this.

 

[gabriel9766]

The GDI motor in my malibu is also a bit loud when u first start it until the idle drops.

 

[Carguy21]

Thank you all for your answers, but what about the carbon formation??? Should he use Fuel Injector Cleaner often or not?

 

[Jetronic]

I've never had issues with any hyundai GDI engine and carbon formation. But over here people doing more than 10k miles per year tend to buy diesels.

Not a huge problem anyway. Just stay on top of oil changes though I suspect the change interval is shorter in the US.

 

[Vuflanovsky]

Originally Posted By: Carguy21
Thank you all for your answers, but what about the carbon formation??? Should he use Fuel Injector Cleaner often or not?


The DI engine start up/fuel pump noise issue is a fairly common one to other makes as well. Whether the H/K engines are noisier on that front than others, I couldn't say. Mine is not a noisy engine after warm up.

I think the notion of carbon deposit death is playing out as considerably overblown in more recent direct injection engine designs. I only put top quality fuel in mine and drop in a bottle of Techron every 10K miles...even if it only indirectly deals w/ the potential deposit problem. I think Chevron and Gumout both say that a PEA-based fuel system cleaner ( like Techron and Regane ) is the only cleaner that will impact direct injection engines. The question might be how much?? I've had no issues with mine and at this point I'm not anticipating any...

 

[Carguy21]

Those Theta II GDi engines have been around since 2011 with the Sonata, regardless the sound of the engine, how has been the reliability of them over the years?

For example, since 2012, I've a 09 Highlander V6...a nice vehicle I've driven 50K miles with it and is now counting 95k on the odometer and the only thing that I've had to replace is the water pump.

Can we spect a simmilar reliability from a GDi Sorento/Santa Fe??

 

[Thax]

All the Hyundai/KIA GDI motors are a little loud during start up. I wouldnt be concerned at all. As far as fuel injector cleaner , KIA recommends using a dose every 15K if top tier fuel is not available. I have seen few problems with the N/A theta II , so would not doubt their long term reliability. Have seen a few failures on the 2.0T , this is due mainly to infrequent oil changes .