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Engine oil increasing

43K views 100 replies 32 participants last post by  TyGurr86 
#1 · (Edited)
I bought my 2018 LX in Nov. in Ontario. Everything is fine except the engine oil is increasing. I found this issue in last month, mileage was 2500 kilometers. The engine oil exceeded the whole plastic part of the dipstick and with strong gasoline smell.

I told this to my dealer, they reported to KIA Canada and told me no any other user reported similar problem. After I complained to KIA Canada directly, they agreeded to changing oil for free and recording engine oil consumption after driving another 1000 kilometers. Today I checked the dipstick, the oil level exceeded the F mark again.

I was wondering there is no one found this issue until now. Since in China, as I know, many people found this problem and Honda CR-V Hybrid has same issue.
Engine oil increasing with gasoline smell means gasoline leaking into oil. It is no a good thing. Even the user manual says, "Don not overfill the engine oil. It may damage the engine."

I don't want the bad thing happened on me, and to you guys neither.

Check your engine oil, if it's same as me, report to your dealer and KIA.
 
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#37 ·
I highly recommend keeping close eye on your oil level. With dipstick design its difficult to gage if filled full. I have been putting in 120 oz. ( 8oz less than 4 qt.) This places level in the middle of dipstick, and its alot easier to see the rise in level. I always check cold after running engine for 1 minute. I have also changed viscosity from 0w20 to 5w30, now to 10w30. The 10w30 is the thickest oil the manuel recommends. For those interested since getting car back from dealer, my dilution seems to have improved. Yet they are not owning up to fixing anything. The only thing done other than checks stated previously, I forgot to mention they performed a battery management update which there was a recall on. I'm having a difficult time believing just that has improved my oil dilution.
 
#42 ·
My dealer overfilled it on first oil change. Try requesting they go slow and change oil according to dipstick rather than the specified amount (when "dry" - I think that is where the error is, oil changes don't need as much as a dry engine). That said, the dipstick was high from the factory.
 
#43 ·
CBEAR, I hope that they also replaced the oil filter when they drained the oil. I believe that the 3.92 quarts is the correct amount with an oil filter change. If they did not change the oil filter, than this would account for the high level showing up on the dip stick.
 
#45 ·
I have same experience with my 2015 Outback. I suspect that they are not allowing enough time for full drainage of old oil. Typically it can take up to 30 minutes for 99% of old oil to drain -- longer if the engine isn't hot. I doubt if most dealerships let em drain for more than 5-10 mins. Then they put in the full replacement amount
 
#46 ·
Sorry to add to the confusion, but...


I took my PHEV in for an oil change in late April (or maybe it was early May). I drove home on the ICE. The day after I got the car back, I checked the oil with the car in my garage (level) and the ICE cold. The level on the dipstick was within a few mm of full, I don't recall if it was a tad low or a tad high but it was close enough that I didn't worry about it.


I've driven less than a 1000 miles since then, and about half of that was pure EV, so less than 500 on the ICE since Oil change. I checked the oil the other day under the same conditions (parked in same place, ICE cold), and the reading on the dipstick was about a half inch above full. I sniffed the dipstick and my take was oil smell with no gas smell. I'm pretty sure that I know the difference: I've been twisting wrenches on my own cars for the past 40 years or so. It had probably been at least a week since the ICE started, so in my case I'm wondering if the surplus might be coming from just having the ICE shut down for an extended period and allowing a more-than-usual amount of oil to drip down into the crankcase because of that.



I should probably fire up the ICE and then check the oil the next day, which would be comparable to what happened with my recent oil change/check experience.
 
#55 ·
You all have made me go check mine. :) I've had it for 7 weeks, 2132 miles. No ICE use today, and not certain if it ever ran yesterday. Two days ago it was used a lot. Anyway, the oil is just a shade above the full mark, still on the flat part of the stick before it starts going round again. Maybe 3-4 mm at the most. Of course, it hasn't had an oil change yet, so the dealer hasn't touched it. In fact, I think this is the first time I've opened the hood at all. :D
 
#57 ·
I've been thinking about getting a Niro this fall. This issue and Kia not jumping on it to figure out what it is and solve it and the pathetic response of the dealers when someone brings this problem in might be enough to keep me from buying one. I'll be watching to see if this gets solved.
 
#59 ·
Hey Datarock, how long did it take to get the kit from blackstone? I just became aware of this issue via reddit and sure enough my 2018 PHEV is overfilled and smells of gas. I'm just under 14k miles and was going to schedule an oil change but now want to hold off until I can get a sample to the lab. Is it pretty quick?
 
#61 ·
When you get your report look at the levels closely compared to the criteria. Engine oil is going to have some gas in it. it is impossible not to. You just don't want excessive amounts. In the one members report it showed .8 and the Blackstone criteria was <2. Gas in the oil in small amounts is normal.
 
#62 ·
I have been posting of this issue since February. Dealership and kia tech great at not wanting to even recognize theres a problem. Since February, I have had no peace of mind with this purchase. What I have learned... I no longer use 0w20. I use 10w30. With breakdown in viscosity, I want most They allow. When doing OC, I put in 120 oz. That registers at midpoint on dipstick. Alot easier to monitor your oil level increase. I've went to full in as little as 700 mi. Condition has improved with last oil change. After they did " Battery management update"
Never, ever owned a car that fuel got in oil. STAY ON YOUR LEVELS and check reguarly. Keep going to dealership.
 
#71 ·
When doing OC, I put in 120 oz. That registers at midpoint on dipstick. Alot easier to monitor your oil level increase. I've went to full in as little as 700 mi.

I would worry about putting in less oil into a car. The oil inside you engine isn't just inside the oil pan and filter, but has quite a bit of the engine that it covers. When you drain the oil, it is likely that you do not get all the oil out of your car, rather it mixes with the other oil inside the car that didn't drain. You oil doesn't circulate by magic but through some form of oil pump and pickup by moving parts. So depending on when and how to the engine stops you can have more or less oil trapped in different parts of the engine. If in your case you are sure that in putting in far less oil to only the 1/2 way point on your stick and now it's full, then you should by your own measurements have a very high level of contamination, Why did you not drain your oil right there and then to send it away for testing? An oil change yourself costs you what? $20 for oil if that. The filter should be fine, so just pour out this contaminated oil out and send some of it off for testing and refill the engine back up with clean oil.. Get your piece of mind that your oil is not full of gasoline or other contaminats. I think you will find that it's likely more in your own mind.
 
#64 ·
Is it possible that dealership techs working on an oil level issue would not think to drop the filter? Nothing would surprise me anymore. I think I'm just going to do the next one ( oil +filter) myself and just fill to halfway up the scale and measure how much extra oil is left in the container. Then watch over time. Crazy issue for a brand new vehicle.
 
#66 ·
Those of you that have the oil level increasing, can you please post your typical driving habits? Primarily, how far do you typically drive each time you start your Niro?


I’ll be checking mine soon but don’t expect it to be over due to how far it gets driven. Mine has 15,000 miles on it and was bought new just over 6 months ago.
 
#67 ·
After seeing this thread I decided to check the oil on my 3 month old HEV (3000 miles). Sure enough it was way over the maximum. Due to the poor design of the dipstick it is hard to measure the exact position of the oil (shiney orange plastic and no measuring perforations after max). I found a better way to measure the level was to only insert the dipstick up to the black o-ring on the handle so you can see the level, then add the 1.4cm distance from the o-ring to the end stop. I my case it was about 1cm over the max.

I smelt the oil and although the smell was very strong it was not much different in character from the oil in our other car. Certainly not the same smell as from the fuel tank.

I took it into Kia and they checked it. They said they couldn't detect any fuel either and suggested it must have been overfilled at the factory. They have removed the excess oil and it is now at the correct level. Needless to say I shall be watching the level like a hawk in the coming weeks.

My driving style is 80% economical, 20% normal.
 
#68 ·
I too have had the oil increasing problem since I bought the Niro in 2017 and will be getting my oil checked by Blackstone for the 2nd time at 44K. My first sample at 29K miles only had 0.8% fuel . Blackstone list it should be <2%. I'll report back with the results when completed.
I drive ~ 50 miles a day and I am ~95% economical driving style in which I have been averaging ~ 56 MPG over the two years of Northeast weather.
 
#69 ·
In my previous post on this thread (#46), I mentioned that my oil read high, even though I tend to put on most of my miles in EV mode. I checked it again yesterday and it read almost normal.:confused:. (I double or triple checked on both occasions, wiping the dip stick and reinserting it fully for each check. Checked in the exact same spot in my garage on both occasions:level ground).



If you google for something like "oil in gas", you'll find a lot of hits on this topic: it's not unique to Niros, or even Kia/Hyundais. There are people with Hondas and Toyotas talking about this. But there are a fair number of hits for Kias and Hyundais too.



I read some of the hits that Google suggested. Over on the Hyundai Kona forum, there is a fair amount of discussion on this topic. Some of my takeaways from reviewing one of those threads:

  • Someone with a Hyundai Kona had an experience similar to mine: they read the dipstick one day and observed the oil was very high. They read it a week later and it was normal. WTF?
  • A different Kona owner had the impression that his oil level had increased significantly in just one week after an oil change.
  • Some of the Kona folks seem to think that it correlates with cold weather: more of a problem in winter than summer, at least for them.
  • Some of those folks think that upping their oil viscosity has helped with the problem. (But I'm left wondering if it might have been a coincidence: maybe the engine "break-in" was further along at the time they decided to try higher viscosity oil, or maybe ambient temp or something else changed. Correlation does not prove cause-and-effect).
  • At the risk of propagating a possibly unfair and unsubstantiated rumor: several people on that forum suggest that Blackstone's technique for assessing gas in oil under-reports the extent of fuel contamination. They suggest using Polaris instead. Anyone wanting to use either lab might want to inquire with the lab about this question. Apparently they use different lab procedures to develop this statistic.
  • At one point, a Kona owner's dealer tried replacing the fuel pump to correct the problem. Not sure what the thinking was there: some ancient Chevy's had a fuel pump design that could cause the pump to fail in a way that let gas into the oil, but I don't think many (any?) modern cars have mechanically driven fuel pumps connected to the crankcase anymore. Whatever the thought process was, apparently it didn't work.
Sorry: I wish I had answers, but I don't.
 
#73 ·
Not necessarily.


Even though engines of today have tight tolerances, when an engine is cold it does not have a perfect seal between the piston rings and the cylinder walls. As the engine heats up, piston rings seal better but there is never a 100% perfect seal. If there was, an engines oil change interval would be MUCH longer than 7,500 miles.

So with hybrids, the more the engines runs when it is cold, the more dilution of the oil you will have. Also, the more the engine runs when it is up to operating temperature, the more contaminates in the oil get burned or filtered out. The purpose of the PVC valve is to circulate crankcase fumes into the intake to be burned off in the combustion chamber. The PCV system works best when the engine is up to operating temperature. If the engine rarely gets up to operating temperature then contaminates will not be burned off as good as what they will when the engine is ran for a long time at operating temperature.

So no, direct injection does not solve fuel dilution.
 
#75 · (Edited)
It is nice to see a number of replies that recognize fuel in the oil is normal. It is not possible to have engine oil that doesn't have gas in it as the above replies recognize.

It is also why all the oil testing companies have an acceptable level of fuel in the oil - it is completely normal to have some fuel in the oil.

Abnormally high levels of fuel in the oil of course are a different issue and not normal.

I think 91cavgt give a good explanation of how fuel gets into the oil.
 
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