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Oil change frequency - synthetic oil.

51K views 36 replies 28 participants last post by  Rhino12Tuscon 
#1 ·
Hi all

I bought my Tucson 2013 in August 2012 and have decided to do the oil changes myself and use synthetic oil which I figured would let me stretch them out to once every six months.

I do around 8000-10000 kms (5000-6000 miles) in that time - 70% highway/30% streets.

Does that make sense or am I asking for trouble by not doing it frequently enough?

Thanks

Paul
 
#5 ·
Warranty!

Regardless if you're using Synthetic or regular oil, I suggest you follow the recommended Hyundai schedule and recommendation until your car is under warranty.

There's tons of threads about this subject with all kinds of recommendation; good and bad.

Cover your *** and follow the Hyundai prescription. :)
 
#6 ·
Regardless if you're using Synthetic or regular oil, I suggest you follow the recommended Hyundai schedule and recommendation until your car is under warranty.

There's tons of threads about this subject with all kinds of recommendation; good and bad.

Cover your *** and follow the Hyundai prescription. :)

I've actually been using Hyundai for my oil changes and required maintenance while my car still has the 5yr/60k warranty. I bring my own synthetic oil in but use the dealer provided Hyundai oil filter (I'm already there anyhow). The service department actually adjusts my "next oil change" requirement to 5000 miles or 6 months on the revisit sticker. I didn't ask them to do that, they did it on their own because of the synthetic.
 
#9 ·
Let so go one better... how long AFTER the warranty will you keep the car? Do you plan on keeping it tip the motor kicks? or do you typically trade them in every 5 years?

Any why bring your own oil? Might as well just use Hyundai's until the warranty is up.

Do serious research on this. Believe it or not, some cheap oil filters out performed expensive brand named filters in testing. Same goes with air filters. One of the better air filters for the money is Specte. Kinda like K&N, but not as expensive, yet AC Delco beats all of them in testing for average use.
Myself, I use either Wix or Napa Gold (Made by Wix) for oil filters in my vehicles. Right now, my Hyundai is still under warranty, so she still gets brought in (early) for oil.
and keep in mind, while synthetic CAN last 7500 miles, doesn't mean your filter can FILTER effectively that long. And thats were people make a mistake. I still change the filter around the 4000 mile mark and top the oil off.
 
#28 ·
What drives me nuts is that in Canada, the dealership keeps putting a sticker on the car for an oil change every 5000K. I have told them point blank that I will change the oil (full synthetic) every 10k or six months, whichever is first. That is 6200 miles, well below the min threshold of 7500. One caution for Canadian drivers: GM won a case (2013) in court that voided a warranty because a heavy duty auto mechanic did his own oil changes at his shop. Since he could not produce reciepts proving the oil changes were being done, GM won. So if you don't get it done at the dealership, make sure you keep every single reciept to prove you have done your changes on a regular schedule.
 
#10 ·
I use synthetic paired up with a mobil 1 oil filter. Autozone usually has some sort of deal for both oil and filter for $30 or so. There's a couple bucks extra charge if you upgrade to a mobil 1 or K&N oil filter. I tend to buy the name brand stuff since I beat up the motor pretty good when merging onto the freeway or passing traffic. I figure if Hyundai advertises the car making 176hp at 6,000rpm - the car better hold up to being rev'd that high. I go to 5,000 miles per interval and run 5w-30 in winter and 10w-30 in summer.
 
#12 ·
Hi all

I bought my Tucson 2013 in August 2012 and have decided to do the oil changes myself and use synthetic oil which I figured would let me stretch them out to once every six months.

I do around 8000-10000 kms (5000-6000 miles) in that time - 70% highway/30% streets.

Does that make sense or am I asking for trouble by not doing it frequently enough?
I assume you're not doing a lot of towing (considered severe driving conditions). As long as you are using a premium oil filter you should be fine. I like Purolator PureOne filters, Bosch, and Napa Gold. Change your oil by the number of kilometers or miles driven, not the number of months. Always stay within the recommendations of your owners manual for maintenance, especially during the warranty period, and keep all your receipts.

Synthetic oils contain greater quantities of detergents and dispersants which along with superior lubricating properties enable longer oil change intervals. Independent lab testing of engine oil used during the range of miles you indicate has shown the oil still has plenty of "life" left in it.

Even though I use synthetic oil, I prefer to be a bit conservative and limit intervals to five thousand miles (Hyundai says I can go 7500 on my 2007 Santa Fe). The lubricating properties are still good at 5000 miles, but the oil is holding a lot of combustion products in suspension (it's getting very dirty).

I've had 3 cars that went nearly 300k miles and a truck that went well over 200k miles. My wife's car had 220k miles when she traded it in. None of these vehicles experienced any engine trouble related to oil changes. I can't stress enough the importance of using a good oil filter especially during long intervals
 
#15 ·
^^^ Agreed. I know common sense seems to be going by the wayside in these newer generations. But it's always good to have around to draw from past experiences. Always consider months as seriously as you do miles. Keep them in perspective.
 
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#16 ·
I have a 2.7 Tucson 2005 & have done 10,000 miles with new oil filter each time. I do very little city driving (stop & go) mostly interstate hwy driving & at times 500 miles at a time. We have 136,000 miles & the 6 cylinder engine does well We get about 23 mpg at 65mph. Now that we have solved the clunk noise-shut down (no dash light) while traveling down the hwy.
 
#17 ·
The type of driving is really a key factor as it where you live. In Canada if you drive less then 10 miles when you start that engine in he winter then 5000 or less interval is probably the best with a 5W or 0W synthetic oil. Now the southern US, you can go longer but again driving type is key. I have gone 18 months between changes, UOA fine, also gone 15,000 miles with the same results. Also did a test at two 12,000 mile intervals, one I changed the filter half way and the other went the distance, UOA was the same. I use a quality filter but in reality, IMO most of the contaminants in oil today cannot be filtered out and other then some catastrophic issue IMO oil filters are pretty much useless in today's engines with today's oils. Pretty rare when you cut one open and see a lot of trapped particles in there.

Back to topic, OCI intervals should be geared more to driving style/type of driving then to miles or months. Fear of warranty is the main reason a lot of people change it too early. Yea, I too had a 200,000 mile car, changed every 7,500 miles. Just anecdotal evidence and means nothing, today's engines can easily go 200,000 + miles with 10,000 mile intervals using synthetics and the engine will outlive the rest of the vehicle. times have really changed in the manufacturing and in the oils we use and what we believed (or our father taught us) 10 years ago is probably no longer true or not needed to get the high mileage out of a vehicle. We are all guilty of the what worked for me in the past will work for me now.
 
#18 ·
A Tip For All Of You

All of you are paying waaay too much and changing it out waaay too frequently. Here's my secret: I use the cheapest off-brand oil filter and pair that with high quality vegetable oil from Costco. I'm good for 10,000 miles, or until it smells like burnt french fries.
:grin2:
 
#21 ·
"If" you have a potential gasket/seal leak, synthetic will find it!

You're free to use whatever filter you want. Hyundai does spec/build one of the better units on the retail market. Should I ever encounter an engine-related problem, first thing tech does in service is look underneath. Hyundai oil filter? Any (or, most) doubts of care are quickly dissipated. Off brand? They're gonna dig deeper and they're gonna ask questions and possibly ask for oil receipts.

Besides, $6 for an OEM filter provides a lot of peace of mind. What are you saving with an off-brand? A dollar? Does your discount store's generic filter include a crush washer? Buy four of those filters and you can treat yourself to caramel macchiato coffee at Starbucks with the money you saved.

The effect of coffee operates on the body for a few hours. Filters have to operate effectively on the engine for 5-10,000 miles.

A dollar!
 
#23 ·
I have a question. My 2010 Tucson (from Canada) has a maintenance schedule for oil changes every 6000kms. From what I am reading from others, you are changing every 5000, 6000, 7000 MILES. If you convert 6000km to miles it only 3600 miles. So why is my schedule so quick compared to others. The thing is I do feel that I need an oil change around 6000kms or it gets sluggish. I did use synthetic also. Any thoughts? I do about an even split on highway and city.
 
#32 ·
To clarify, dealer does not willy nilly ask for oil receipts and pull cover off at their discretion.. They submit PA for engine based on seized, knocking- fail bearing test. It is PA folks who come back ask for reciepts, and if no receipts, they will request valvetrain picture as point of further consideration toward approval of engine replacement,, dealer people just puppets
Synthetic oil change, 5000 mile here, maybe 6000 by time I get free time, though 90% of my everyday drive is interstate, plenty of good hot runtime.. city folks, change sooner
 
#36 ·
I go 5k miles on my Gen Coupe turbo and 7500 miles on my Accent. They are as clean as new inside and run like tops. Gen Coupe has 135k and the Accent 189k.

The Accent burnt oil when new, about a quart in 3k miles. Now it's half a quart in 7500 miles.

Say what you want about Mobil 1 but it's good stuff.
 
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