Do It Yourself Kia Stinger Oil Change

[Legendsk]

Good lord, unless your head and body are the thickness of a waffle, why would you even want to try? Beside having virtually no space to move your arms or tools, the car would almost be sitting on your nose.

There's not much room under. My dog chased a lizard under the car (parked on cement) and got his head wedged under the car. Had to heave up on the fender to get him loose enough to pull his head out.

 

[Rob M]

Has anyone tried removing oil filter from above engine bay? It seems very accessible from there.

If above possible then oil can also be extracted by pump from above which means no need to jack up vehicle.

You can easily see the filter housing from the top of the engine bay and you can even get your hand onto the filter housing. However, there is a radiator hose in the way that effectively prevents getting any normal wrench or socket onto the housing while actually being able to rotate with required torque to loosen or tighten. I employ a 'hybrid' oil change method... a topsider transfer pump/container to siphon the oil out while up on rhino ramps, then only the filter access hole to open.

 

[Rob M]

Anyone else notice how it can be tricky to get the filter housing end cap threads to grab the housing when using a new Kia (Mahle) filter cartridge? I seem to fumble with getting it started even though the cartridge is fully seated in the end cap (by pushing it on firmly to open the fleece-like material on the ends of the filter). Wix filters are a little different in design and should go on easier as has been discussed before. So what i did on my oil change today was to install the cartridge onto the end cap and then remove it and reinstall it in the other direction so that the hole on the cartridge end that goes into the housing is pre-expanded and allows the end cap to be threaded easily. Hope this helps someone along the way, especially any less experienced folks attempting to tackle a diy oil change.

 

[5tinger]

Are you referring to the V6 or 4cyl models?

 

[5tinger]

You can easily see the filter housing from the top of the engine bay and you can even get your hand onto the filter housing. However, there is a radiator hose in the way that effectively prevents getting any normal wrench or socket onto the housing while actually being able to rotate with required torque to loosen or tighten. I employ a 'hybrid' oil change method... a topsider transfer pump/container to siphon the oil out while up on rhino ramps, then only the filter access hole to open.

How much oil did you extract with the pump?

 

[eflyguy]

How much oil did you extract with the pump?

I know you're not asking me, but I got close to 6l out thru the dip stick hose. As I will change at every 5k (miles), I'm not worried about what little might be left. Been changing all my vehicles this way for many years now..

 

[Rob M]

How much oil did you extract with the pump?

3.3L engine. I extract more oil than any dealer or any oil change shop would even if they pull the drain plug. The reason is that once the oil coming out of the pan slows to a drip, they put the plug back in. I will pump oil out until i'm pumping air, then wait a few minutes and pump out a little more oil as it settles into the pan, and repeat. I also run with a couple ounces less of oil than the original fill of 7.3qt/6.9L. First oil change I extracted maybe 6.8X us qts, 2nd time approximately 6.6X qt. My strategy is to precisely spread 4-5qt bottles (20qts) across 3 oil changes. One thing you can do with the flexible tubing on the fluid transfer pump is to actually work ot around once it bottoms in the pan. With any luck you can get it positioned right by the plug. I am also assuming that there is approximately 1/2qt of oil that will always remain in the engine after any normal oil change.

 

[celwin]

So everyone who is changing their own oil is using ramps? I did a test run to see how easy it would be to put the car on jack stands and with my floor jack using thee pinch weld to raise the car from the side, I see no spots, where I can place the jack stand?

 

[Rynil2000]

So everyone who is changing their own oil is using ramps? I did a test run to see how easy it would be to put the car on jack stands and with my floor jack using thee pinch weld to raise the car from the side, I see no spots, where I can place the jack stand?

I use ramps - got a set of Gorilla Ramps off Amazon. Super easy to get up on and then shimmy under the car.

As for jack points, see the link: Jack Points

Look at the underside of the rocker panels, there are two 'notches', one front and one rear where you can put the jack. If you're like me, you may have to buy some pinch weld jack pads so that you don't damage the seam with your regular flat jack.

 

[celwin]

I use ramps - got a set of Gorilla Ramps off Amazon. Super easy to get up on and then shimmy under the car.

As for jack points, see the link: Jack Points

Look at the underside of the rocker panels, there are two 'notches', one front and one rear where you can put the jack. If you're like me, you may have to buy some pinch weld jack pads so that you don't damage the seam with your regular flat jack.

That's my point. the jack point is taken up by my jack. So where do you place the jack stand if the floor jack is occupying that jack point. Wish the car had a front center jack point like most cars I've had before.

 

[Rynil2000]

That's my point. the jack point is taking up by my jack. So where do you place the jack stand if the floor jack is occupying that jack point. Wish the car had a front center jack point like most cars I've had before.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Beats me, friend. But I feel your pain. Best I could do with my set up was to push the jack all the way to one side in the opening and then get the jack stand as close as possible. It was a very tight fit and not quite ideal. I would also like to know a center support point, but as far as I know, none are stated in the manual.

 

[SKStinger]

I use two jacks, one on each side and then put blocks under the wheels once it’s up.

Mine is lowered so the ramps I have don’t clear the front bumper.

 

[DrewU272]

Just need to invest in a drain valve.

KIA - EZ Oil Drain Valve| Oildrainvalve.net

Chris which model drain valve did you get to fit the stinger?

 

[Disco]

Couple of shade-tree mechanic tricks I've learned over my years of DIY-ing Trust me, I don't take risks or shortcuts, but these are cheap tricks that work. Just like the Fumoto drain valves, some of these things don't occur to people until they're pointed out. This is why car forums were created, right?

First: I inherited these ramps in a move one time, and they ended up being the only thing I could get my lowered Mustang up in the air with. I'd drive the car onto the ramps first to have enough clearance to get the jack under the center jacking point (the Mustang...apparently the Stinger doesn't have a center jacking point ). The car was too low to use my Rhino ramps.

They're made from several lengths of 2x10s screwed together. You can customize the length so that the effective ramp angle is less than your car's approach angle. Since according to this thread normal Rhino ramps work with the Stinger's stock ride height, this might only be a solution for those with lowered suspensions.

Solid and durable, and pretty cheap. The garage floor I used them on was so smooth that I glued an 8x10 sheet of sandpaper to the underside of the low end of each ramp to keep them from scooting across the floor in front of the tires.

Second: When the car still isn't high enough for you to get under with a mechanic's creeper, I slide a large sheet of cardboard (Chewy boxes are handy, or a large box from Christmas) under the car, and it makes sliding myself under the car easier than on bare pavement. It also works as a disposable oil catch for those messy oil changes where I can never manage to get it all in the drain pan. The Mustang's oil filter is above the steering rack and cross-member, and always makes a mess, as it sounds like it will be on the Stinger.

Cheers,

 

[Sybaritic]

Pretty crafty, Disco Inferno!

 

[David Truax]

I had success using these Gorilla Ramps https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0117EETEK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . there's just enough clearance for them. However, you may have an issue if you have one of the lips or front diffusers installed.

 

[tomred911]

I just bought a GTS and the service warranty, wheel and tire and extended warranty so it bumper to bumper for 100K. I would rather just take it to the dealer and have them do it. No mess. My wife has a soul turbo with the wheel and tire warranty, which was like 500.00. She had a nail in two tires and they replaced those, which would have been over 300.00. So the warranties are worth it IMHO.

On a side note this forum is great and the shipping from the kiastinger.com could not be faster!!! I bought the denso plugs and the BMS intake 2 days ago. The plugs came today and the intake is coming tomorrow. Next is the JB4. Just curious has anyone tried the race chips. Seems easy to install.

 

[Rynil2000]

I would rather just take it to the dealer and have them do it. No mess.

Don't be so sure about that. I'll be interested to hear about your experience, but from mine and others around the web, KIA dealerships have a reputation for not treating the Stinger with the level of service that the price tag and performance dictate. Their service techs are more used to wrenching on $20K econoboxes rather than $50K sports cars.

 

[tomred911]

Hopefully they take care of it. But from the other posts (no offense) I wouldn't cut my underbelly cover with a dremel to make my oil changes easier. I think that alone might make them not want to warranty the car if something happened. Now if I had a real car lift then I would do it myself but I would take the time to remove the cover. My first oil change is free then I use the service plan. I will be taking it in on 12/28/19 it will have 3K miles then.

 

[Rynil2000]

I wouldn't cut my underbelly cover with a dremel to make my oil changes easier

Haha, wow. I haven't seen this "hack", but it's a pretty dumb reason to damage the car. Removing the under body cover is not difficult; six bolts. A $35 set of ramps is an easy option to get under the car.

I understand wanting someone else to do it though. Shimmying around on the ground if you don't have a covered garage or lift can be unpleasant.

Good luck with your service appointment - hopefully your oil tech is better than mine was.