I just purchased a 2020 Kia Stinger GT1 a week ago and have read from some people that you should go easy on the engine for the first 500-1000 miles and do an oil change thereafter to make sure small metal particles are removed from the engine before pushing the engine with more aggressive driving. I had also heard from a dealer on a different brand on a new car I leased a year ago that the initial oil in new cars have special conditioners and you should not do an oil change until it gets down to 5% on the indicator to get maximum benefit. Can someone tell me how best to service my KIA on it's first oil change and when to do it?
RE: first oil change
- Thread starter Goz2Fast
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oddball
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Do whatever you want. It doesn't, really, matter.
Factory new fill is not break-in oil. It's just standard oil like you find on the shelf - whatever standard blend they're currently marketing. Changes from time to time depending on the corporate agreements. Maybe brands like BMW and Merc do something different, especially for their top tier engines, but I kind of doubt it.
Oil "conditioners", for the most part, are snake oil. Some of them, like Marvel Mystery Oil, certainly do something! But that's not something you want done on a new or healthy engine (dramatically thin down the oil and dissolve sludge/chunks/carbon ).
Modern engines are very different than decades ago, so they're more-or-less ready to go right out of the factory. I think it's wise to drive like a sane adult for a couple hundred miles to let everything settle in and make sure there's no instant death. An early oil change (in the 200 to 500 mile range) can be a good idea, just in case there was any debris in the engine when it was built, or the assembler used way too much assembly goo, or if you inspect the oil and filter it's a good way to make sure the engine isn't falling apart due to an assembly error. I'm guilty of using half a bottle of assembly goo on every engine build - I love that sticky stuff. The engine can sit for months before it gets fired off with no problem and pre-lubing isn't nearly as big of a deal, but that goo clogs up the filter, and it's not a good lubricant, so want to get it out of there. BUT, that's a hobbyist assembled engine, not an assembly line engine.
I'm a bona fides gear head, so I dumped the factory oil and put in a synthetic blend for 500 miles, then went back to synthetic. I'm running Red Line but that's just because it has a wonderfully low NOACK number - that means less oil in the catch can, so I don't have to open it but once every 2,000 miles or so.
Fun fact: "break in oil" is actually *worse* at being a lubricant than normal oil! It's true! The whole point is to encourage certain wear parts - rings, especially - to quickly wear down to their final fit dimensions. You can't run that as a normal oil because it's not actually a very good oil.
Factory new fill is not break-in oil. It's just standard oil like you find on the shelf - whatever standard blend they're currently marketing. Changes from time to time depending on the corporate agreements. Maybe brands like BMW and Merc do something different, especially for their top tier engines, but I kind of doubt it.
Oil "conditioners", for the most part, are snake oil. Some of them, like Marvel Mystery Oil, certainly do something! But that's not something you want done on a new or healthy engine (dramatically thin down the oil and dissolve sludge/chunks/carbon ).
Modern engines are very different than decades ago, so they're more-or-less ready to go right out of the factory. I think it's wise to drive like a sane adult for a couple hundred miles to let everything settle in and make sure there's no instant death. An early oil change (in the 200 to 500 mile range) can be a good idea, just in case there was any debris in the engine when it was built, or the assembler used way too much assembly goo, or if you inspect the oil and filter it's a good way to make sure the engine isn't falling apart due to an assembly error. I'm guilty of using half a bottle of assembly goo on every engine build - I love that sticky stuff. The engine can sit for months before it gets fired off with no problem and pre-lubing isn't nearly as big of a deal, but that goo clogs up the filter, and it's not a good lubricant, so want to get it out of there. BUT, that's a hobbyist assembled engine, not an assembly line engine.
I'm a bona fides gear head, so I dumped the factory oil and put in a synthetic blend for 500 miles, then went back to synthetic. I'm running Red Line but that's just because it has a wonderfully low NOACK number - that means less oil in the catch can, so I don't have to open it but once every 2,000 miles or so.
Fun fact: "break in oil" is actually *worse* at being a lubricant than normal oil! It's true! The whole point is to encourage certain wear parts - rings, especially - to quickly wear down to their final fit dimensions. You can't run that as a normal oil because it's not actually a very good oil.
