Hyundai i20 Active Diesel: Service Center Used Petrol Engine Oil

[zvhipp]

Hello, I own I20 Active Diesel and had 1st oil change couple of months back. My friend has an oil shop so while visiting him, he advised me to pick up a bucket of oil as it would save me good few hundred bucks. He made a call to his cousin who works in hyundai in a different city to confirm oil grade 15w40 Shell Rimula R3x will be ok after I told him the grade suggested from the manual. He said that will be perfect.

So, after that I went to get my car serviced for 10,000km schedule. I handed oil to the service guy but they refused to use it. They told me that this is not for cars, its for heavy vehicles like trucks. They use 5w30 grade only for diesel engine. I told them that Hyundai's website is suggesting 15w40 for diesel engine and 5w30 for petrol, how can you not recommend it? They didn't trust my word, so I showed them oil recommendations page on hyundai's site. After that too they said, well we don't use this grade, and if you want to put this oil, we will not take any responsibility later on if any issue arises. I didn't wanna argue and asked them to use their oil. I knew they were wrong.

Now, I feel car is engine has little more noise and its not smooth as it was. Even my bike feels smooth when oil change is done, but car doesn't give same feeling.

I read that this can be caused due to oil grade only. I have emailed hyundai customer care regarding this and asked them how can service centers not follow your recommended grade, they are yet to get back with me.

Does it have a long time effect on engine? Thanks

 

[krishna6239]

Re: I20 Active Diesel - Service Center used Petrol Engine Oil

Well most of time it won't cause any problems. There is no conclusive evidence that it will damage your engine. Since it has a 5W30 reading at hot condition, oil will be thinner than 15W40.

Thinner engine oil means rougher engine. Since they have installed 30grade oil in a diesel engine, oil may degrade faster. Worst case, oil will start to burn. Turbo bearings and other stuff are lubricated by engine oil only, so be on a look out.

Regularly check engine oil level and on first sign of trouble, take it to ASC asap

 

[zvhipp]

Thank you. Hyundai Customer Care from service center contacted me. They agreed to change the oil to recommended grade (to be brought by me) and also agreed to issue a future service credit for the cost of oil I paid as I requested.

I had returned the Shell Rimula R3X a few weeks back. Now debating which one should I buy and looks like choice is between Shell Helix HX5 or Rimula R4L. Any recommendations? Thanks.

 

[Prads]

Go with shell hx5 diesel15w40

 

[zvhipp]

done. Got it changed with HX5 and felt the difference right away. The engine felt smoother and Vibrations are gone, less noise.

 

[Prads]

That's good! Make sure it's the diesel HX 5. I have seen other types of HX5 also. As for the petrol engine oil used, don't worry too much it won't harm your engine if your dint rev it above 3000rpm too much or drove under 4000kms on it. I have been looking into the engine oil business so been educating myself. Hyundai use barrels from Servo.

And beware of fakes. People want the best price but don't bother sourcing it from the right place.

 

[zvhipp]

Yes visited quite few oil shops and picked one for diesel ch4. Service Manager at hyundai took me along while putting oil in so I can see. He did ask me why I bought from outside, we use servo which is good too, I told him but grade that was put in was wrong. He said that we use 15w40 only! I said how come they used 5w30 in mine then? He was like no must be a misunderstanding. I said I was here with 7ltr bucket of 15w40 and was told clearly this is not the grade we use, so there was no misunderstanding there. They were confused then.

But, now I can be sure that putting a right grade of oil in the engine does make engine smooth. And about the grades, unless you are living in north India, where weather goes below 5 degrees then you may use 5w40 as it will flow smooth without freezing up.

 

[Prads]

It's very good you took time to know what is best for your car. And yes hx5 diesel has API of Ch. Even the servo barrels used by Hyundai 15w40 are same. I guess you went for Rimula as they were Ci rated.

I have an i20 with same type engine(52000km) as yours & some months back wanted to change the oil early at 6000kms in due to age & instance of emergency rash driving.

I took it to Shell pump for an oil change & asked the guy for hx5. He said yes. After draining the oil to my horror I saw it was a different one. And I saw so many outdated engine oils on the shelf. And a lot of nice cars use to pull up for a quick oil change. Including other Hyundai cars.Finally settled for a Cf rated hx7 10w40 in annoyance. But car became smoother some 40 kms into the drive. And cold starts easier.
Will change it in a few months though.

Also Servo has futura D which is Ci rated 15w40. But I got a bad feeling from the stocks at the pump so I did not buy them.

 

[zvhipp]

Yes, 10w40 will do fine. Even 15w40 is good for 1-2 degree temperature, but if living in such area where it dips that low than best to put 5w40. I live in Gujarat so 15w40 is perfect as the temperature doesn't go that low and winter is fading away anyway.

I got Shell Helix HX5 Diesel Engine Oil with CH4 api and was packed just 4 months back. Earlier which they refused to use was Shell Rimula R3X 15w40 with CH4 too.

 

[Prads]

Well in i20 the cold weather affects gear smoothness. I notice this when I use different parking spots which have different exposure to cold weather. If you want ultimate engine smoothness go with Castrol Magnatec as I heard one i20 with it & bonnet open. Petrol engines would be ashamed. But the 1.4 is the most silent diesel on the market. Just pick your oil carefully. Since I am looking into the oil business I have heard of crazy fakes across India.

The Servo from Hyundai is good for 8 months regardless of kms, please change it after that.

 

[gearhead2]

Hello, I own I20 Active Diesel and had 1st oil change couple of months back. My friend has an oil shop ................. I have emailed hyundai customer care regarding this and asked them how can service centers not follow your recommended grade, they are yet to get back with me.
Does it have a long time effect on engine? Thanks

Hello zvhipp,
I just read your post and followed the rest of the thread with a lot of interest and felt relieved that you took prompt action and replaced the oil quickly. As a retired marine engineer I (as most of us in the profession) have often faced the issues related to diesel engine lubrication. The main difference in the lubs for petrol & diesel engine has to do with the relative amounts of sulphur in the two fuels. As per the Govt's regulatory bodies :-

"India currently has two fuel quality standards: one that applies to places that meet BS IV and other for the once that follows BS III. Nearly half of the country now requires 50 ppm sulfur in gasoline[1]. The rest of the country allows up to 150 ppm sulfur gasoline and 350 ppm sulfur diesel."

So it is clear that apart from the lead content (bad for the environment and for catalytic convertors), sulphur is the culprit for causing major problems in diesel cars (corrosion in exh. manifold trunking, t/charger components and tail-pipe corrosion), aside from the severe environmental concerns.

For this reason, diesel engine lubs have higher acid (sulphur) neutralizing additives than petrol engine lubs. This additive is marked by TBN nomenclature, the acronym standing for Total Base Number - the higher the TBN, the higher the Lub's ability to neutralize sulphur contaminants in the fuel. Typical TBN figures range from 6–80 mg KOH/g in modern lubricants - 7 to 10 mg KOH/g for general automotive use and 10 to 15 mg KOH/g for diesel operations. KOH (or Potassium Hydroxide) being the alkali of choice selected as a standard.

Obviously, the TBN value deteriorates over time, as the sulphur neutralizes the KOH value of the lub in your engine sump. And this is a major reason for timely replacement of the engine oil. And also why the manufacturers recommendation for oil change should be adhered to (the no. of kilometers between oil changes).