[thundercraft]

Hi there,

Has anyone switched over to Synthetic oil in theri new 2010 Santa Fe? If so have you found any difference in the gas mileage? In addition the changes are less frequent so does the extra cost for the synthetic balance out over the year?

Comments would be appreciated.

 

[lovemysantafe]

:00000732:

All Hyundai engines made in the Alabama factory come with synthetic fill. I know this for a fact because I toured it last year.

To all others...please keep this thread decent. I don't want this to turn into another conventional-vs.-synthetic argument and if it gets out of hand, I will not hesitate to come down hard. Keep it pleasant and you've got nothing to worry about.

 

[canderson]

QUOTE (lovemysantafe @ Jun 3 2010, 06:01 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=329365

:00000732:

All Hyundai engines made in the Alabama factory come with synthetic fill. I know this for a fact because I toured it last year.

Synthetic or some sort of synthetic blend?

If it's a pure synthetic, they must be assuming ZERO break-in required between rings and cylinder walls. That would seem to imply that there is no harm in putting pure synthetic in a Hyundai engine at the first oil change and ever thereafter, ignoring the usual 1500 mile minimum break-in rule for synthetics.

Did they happen to mention why they fill with synthetic and then recommend dino oil to the buyer of the vehicle?

 

[jsinton]

QUOTE (canderson @ Jun 3 2010, 08:25 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=329372

Synthetic or some sort of synthetic blend?

If it's a pure synthetic, they must be assuming ZERO break-in required between rings and cylinder walls. That would seem to imply that there is no harm in putting pure synthetic in a Hyundai engine at the first oil change and ever thereafter, ignoring the usual 1500 mile minimum break-in rule for synthetics.

Did they happen to mention why they fill with synthetic and then recommend dino oil to the buyer of the vehicle?

Actually, the owners manual doesn't recommend oil either way, it simply gives the oil specification with a plug for Quaker State:

API Service SM*3,
ILSAC GF-4 or above

A lot of manufacturers are shipping new cars with synthetic. It's because engines are machined to such fine tolerances anymore that there is very little to "break in". It's an industry trend, along with sealed transmissions.

 

[Don67]

I have used synthetic oil in the past, and found absolutely no difference in consumption. Switching to a lighter viscosity (say from 10w30 to 5w20) can improve efficiency by a fraction of a mpg, but that's about it.

The plain truth is that fuel efficiency doesn't come in a bottle; it comes through behaviour modification. It's kind of like weight loss. :grin:

 

[CanuckGLS]

QUOTE (Don67 @ Jun 4 2010, 04:48 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=329509

The plain truth is that fuel efficiency doesn't come in a bottle; it comes through behaviour modification. It's kind of like weight loss. :grin:

Tell me about it...lol

I don't use synthetic in my daily drivers purely for economic reasons. A good quality dino oil is more than sufficient. I do use synthetic in my '98 Cobra cus I only change the oil once a yr. I also changed from the Ford recommended 5w20 to 10w30 and stopped some minor oil consumption.

 

[Haith]

I'm at 9,000 kms and the SF is 2 months old next week. Just had the oil changed last week and used dino.
However I will be switching to synthetic in the fall. In my previous vehicles, the difference that synthetic makes in the wintertime when temps are well below freezing, is obvious.

 

[thundercraft]

Thanks for the comments guys much appreciated!

Not sure of what the difference is in the cost but is there a difference in the longevity of the synthetic over the dino? They recommend 3000miles for the dino however I am under the impression that the change period on the synthetic is some what longer?

Thanks

 

[canderson]

QUOTE (SFLTD @ Jun 5 2010, 07:56 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=329936

Thanks for the comments guys much appreciated!

Not sure of what the difference is in the cost but is there a difference in the longevity of the synthetic over the dino? They recommend 3000miles for the dino however I am under the impression that the change period on the synthetic is some what longer?

Thanks

There are three reasons for replacing standard oil. 1- Dino oil molecules break down into smaller chains and oxidize, reducing lubricating properties 2- anticorrosion inhibitors, detergents and other good additives are eventually used/lost/depleted, and 3- byproducts of combustion and other guck eventually contaminates the oil.

The real benefit of synthetic oil is a major improvement in #1. The other two problems remain to be managed.

In an attempt to get more time out of synthetic oil due to #3, some will change filters at the regular dino oil change interval and lose just the quart of oil in the filter and try to retain the rest to keep the cost down. Back when synthetics hit the market (ages ago), companies like Franz got into the game and tried to produce a secondary filter that could be changed easily without all of the engine oil coming out the bottom end. Some folks still do filter without oil change at alternate intervals.

So while the oil itself lasts much longer, you're still faced with some of the other issues that are common to anything you could put into your crankcase. Managing these is always a compromise.

 

[lovemysantafe]

QUOTE (SFLTD @ Jun 5 2010, 06:56 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=329936

Thanks for the comments guys much appreciated!

Not sure of what the difference is in the cost but is there a difference in the longevity of the synthetic over the dino? They recommend 3000miles for the dino however I am under the impression that the change period on the synthetic is some what longer?

Thanks

When I made the switch from dino to full synthetic, I did some tests on how long to go in between changes. I've always believed that 3,000 miles is much too soon to be changing out the oil and so I decided to try out the 7,500 mile interval. By the time I hit 6,800 miles, the car wasn't performing well, had troubles starting and was returning very poor mileage. I chickened out and changed the oil right away and all the problems went away with it. I now change the oil and filter every 5,000 miles using Mobil1 10W30 (per the manual for my area's climate) and a genuine Hyundai oil filter.

I switched at 50,000 miles and I'm now at 140,500 and have had no ill effects from it.

 

[canderson]

QUOTE (lovemysantafe @ Jun 5 2010, 07:23 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=330148

By the time I hit 6,800 miles, the car wasn't performing well, had troubles starting and was returning very poor mileage.

??? Now that's strange. Any thoughts on cause?

 

[lovemysantafe]

QUOTE (canderson @ Jun 5 2010, 06:44 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=330154

??? Now that's strange. Any thoughts on cause?

Not sure even to this day. I always figured it had to do with the oil being dirty but it may have had nothing to do with it. Regardless, it hasn't happened since.

 

[rowemesp]

Since the variable valve timing in these engines rely on hydraulics (using the engine oil) to effect the valve timing, it makes sense that as the oil goes out of spec with mileage, it could adversely affect engine performance as the oil thickens / thins with age. . .that's the only thing I could think of, and in my mind it's quite likely the cause of your problems. Remember, these engines aren't the same as what was in your father's / grandfather's Toyota from the 70s--there's a lot more going on under the hood than there used to be. . . .

Rob








QUOTE (lovemysantafe @ Jun 6 2010, 01:10 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=330209

Not sure even to this day. I always figured it had to do with the oil being dirty but it may have had nothing to do with it. Regardless, it hasn't happened since.

 

[canderson]

QUOTE (RT Pilot @ Jun 6 2010, 05:06 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=330427

Since the variable valve timing in these engines rely on hydraulics (using the engine oil) to effect the valve timing, it makes sense that as the oil goes out of spec with mileage, it could adversely affect engine performance as the oil thickens / thins with age. . .

Rob

The viscosity of dino oil is reduced with age as the molecules are slowly broken apart into shorter chains. Of course, synthetics start out with a much lower viscosity, so if that were the important factor ...

 

[rowemesp]

Regardless of which way (thickens or thins) it goes, if the oil varies from the original spec, it seems it could reduce the efficiency of the valve timing. A 5w-20 dino and same weight in a synth meet the 5w-20 specs when new, which is how the engines were likely tested. Granted, the viscosity between oils will vary slightly within a certain spec and will remain in spec for different periods of time depending on whether they start out as syn or dino, type of use etc. I'm no engineer, but that's the only plausible explanation I can come up with for bad performance on old oil.




QUOTE (canderson @ Jun 6 2010, 07:46 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=330433

The viscosity of dino oil is reduced with age as the molecules are slowly broken apart into shorter chains. Of course, synthetics start out with a much lower viscosity, so if that were the important factor ...

 

[thundercraft]

QUOTE (lovemysantafe @ Jun 3 2010, 08:01 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=329365

:00000732:

All Hyundai engines made in the Alabama factory come with synthetic fill. I know this for a fact because I toured it last year.

To all others...please keep this thread decent. I don't want this to turn into another conventional-vs.-synthetic argument and if it gets out of hand, I will not hesitate to come down hard. Keep it pleasant and you've got nothing to worry about.

Well I picked up my new 2010 SF Limited on Monday. Before I left the dealer had a good talk to the Service Manager and this is what he told me re the synthetic oil;

1. Contrary to the above statement they do not ship the SF's with synthetic or any blend of the oil. The SF are shipped with dino. Due to the great viscosity value of the synthetic oil the engines would not break in properly without regular oil for the first few changes. The first change is at 1000 miles and the cost of that change is for the oil and filter only no labour.

2. He highly recommends switching to synthetic however not until the 12,000 km (7200 miles) oil change. They want the engine to break in and ensure that everything seats properly before switching. He indicated the synthetic that they have at this dealership and if there was another brand I wanted I could bring it along and they will use it for the conversion.

3. Cost of the synthetic over the dino is almost double. However the change for dino is at 3000 miles and the synthetic is at 7,000 miles so the cost is equal. As I mentioned above he indicated that I could watch for a deal on the synthetic and bring it with me for the change.

So "Thanks" for all the comments on this as I really appreciate it. Will continue to post on my experience with my new SF. :thumbsup:

 

[canderson]

Above post squares with everything I've ever known about engine block manufacturing and piston rings, past and present. If this version is accurate, I'll sleep a lot better. The tolerances that would be required to avoid the cross-hatch honing of a new cylinder were just something I couldn't get my brain wrapped around, and THAT requires dino oil for break-in.

 

[rico567]

QUOTE (lovemysantafe @ Jun 5 2010, 08:23 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=330148

When I made the switch from dino to full synthetic, I did some tests on how long to go in between changes. I've always believed that 3,000 miles is much too soon to be changing out the oil and so I decided to try out the 7,500 mile interval. By the time I hit 6,800 miles, the car wasn't performing well, had troubles starting and was returning very poor mileage. I chickened out and changed the oil right away and all the problems went away with it. I now change the oil and filter every 5,000 miles using Mobil1 10W30 (per the manual for my area's climate) and a genuine Hyundai oil filter.

I switched at 50,000 miles and I'm now at 140,500 and have had no ill effects from it.

Interesting that this is more or less what has been learned by bitter experience by SAAB owners like us. Regardless of what the manual says, smart owners change using Mobil 1 0W-40 and a quality filter, and do it every 5K.
Our Hyundai '09 Santa Fe comes to us as a babysitting job for a son's family transferred overseas. While we won't be putting anything like 5K on it in 6 months, I plan to change at that time using M1 5W-20 or 5W-30 and the Hyundai filter.

 

[jsinton]

QUOTE (canderson @ Jun 5 2010, 09:44 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=330154

??? Now that's strange. Any thoughts on cause?

You have to change the filter a lot to maintain oil pressure. Synthetic doesn't wear out really. I got almost 20,000 miles on my oil now with no appreciable degradation. I plan to leave it there another 10K.

 

[thundercraft]

QUOTE (SFLTD @ Jun 9 2010, 07:22 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=331477

Well I picked up my new 2010 SF Limited on Monday. Before I left the dealer had a good talk to the Service Manager and this is what he told me re the synthetic oil;

1. Contrary to the above statement they do not ship the SF's with synthetic or any blend of the oil. The SF are shipped with dino. Due to the great viscosity value of the synthetic oil the engines would not break in properly without regular oil for the first few changes. The first change is at 1000 miles and the cost of that change is for the oil and filter only no labour.

2. He highly recommends switching to synthetic however not until the 12,000 km (7200 miles) oil change. They want the engine to break in and ensure that everything seats properly before switching. He indicated the synthetic that they have at this dealership and if there was another brand I wanted I could bring it along and they will use it for the conversion.

3. Cost of the synthetic over the dino is almost double. However the change for dino is at 3000 miles and the synthetic is at 7,000 miles so the cost is equal. As I mentioned above he indicated that I could watch for a deal on the synthetic and bring it with me for the change.

So "Thanks" for all the comments on this as I really appreciate it. Will continue to post on my experience with my new SF. :thumbsup:

Hi...just came across this website re the synthetics. Interesting comments and I though may be of interest to some as it was for me.

http://www.bestcovery.com/best-synthetic-oil