1st of all. this link is talking about the sedan 3.8. So make sure you are comparing apples, because there may be variations in the 2 engines (like oil pan size) that would cause one variant to hold more oil than the other.

2nd, I always use the suggested oil amount in the owners manual only as a guide line. In other words., put the majority of the oil in & just use the last quart to top off as needed. When approaching full, stop filling & run the car for a couple of minutes & recheck, then fill more as needed.

Lastly, you don't have to fill to the top mark on the dipstick, but rather have it anywhere in between 2 hash marks present on the stick. If you are reading above the top mark on the dip stick after the oil has been filled & settled, I would say that it is overfilled.

__________________
If it ain't fast, I'm not happy.

'04 Honda 450R (stupid fast)

'87 Rockrawlin Wrangler
All mods, little left factory

No offense, but did you even read the link Tufast? Or did you even compare the oil levels?

They are same for both the coupe and the sedan. We both have the same problem. The dealerships are putting 5.5 Qt's in. At 5.5 Qt's it readswell above full on the dipstick.

Please actually read the link.

The statement that the Owners Manual should 'only be a guideline' is bullshit. Every car i've ever owned, the Owners Manual was fairly spot on. It wasn't a full quart off. Putting 5.5 Qt's in - Which the OM reccomends results in an unreadable dipstick as the amount the dipstick shows is well above the Full mark.

So we have one of two problems here.
A.) 5.5 Qt's is the wrong amount and 4.5 Qt's is the right amount. (This is a pretty huge difference; However, the dipstick indicates as such)
B.) 5.5 Qt's is the correct amount but the dipstick is wrong.

Also, I don't appreciate being treated like an idiot. I've owned and maintained a good amount of cars in my day. All the way from a TR3 to my Genesis Coupe. My GenCoupe is the only car that i've seen this issue.

I behoove anyone posting on this topic to actually read the thread, and make your way to hmaservice and compare the values under both the OM and numbers HMAService describes under the shop area.

So then Hyundai is indeed wrong and the value is not 5.5 Qt's but instead 4.5 Qt's? Think about what you are saying. Thats a HUGE discrepancy. Every car i've ever owned is at least between the low and full values on the dipstick using the manufacturers numbers.

I'm doing the oil changes myself. This is why I have issue with the fact that using 5.5 Qt's is well above the Full line. If Hyundai is indeed wrong - We need to be informed.

I've seen plenty of cars that had to short of dipsticks, and later on the dipsticks were replaced on a recall.

If you would bother to read the thread, and if you would bother to see what i've described; You would realize there is an issue somewhere. The cars come NEW potentially overfilled with 5.5Qt's.

So once again, we have one of two situations which need to be addressed.

A.) The dipstick isn't correct for this car.
B.) 5.5 Qt's is indeed overfilling, and Hyundai needs to address said issue considering that cars come new from the factory like this, and service-departments nation-wide are filling all 3.8l's to this amount.

So yes, I am 'THINKING ABOUT IT'. Thats the point of this thread.

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HGC Light Blue 2.0T Built on 12 / 23 / 08 Accepted on: 4 / 7 / 2009

Sorry, I did not read the entire thread in your link the 1st time, just the original post. I did skim through the entire thing this round. I will have to do a few things tomorrow at work:
1) confirm both coupe & sedan 3.8L are identical regarding oil volume.
2) compare & contrast owners manual vs HMA svc.
3) then pull a new 3.8 in the shop to check myself.

But, at this point I can hypothesize..... I believe the that the 5.5 qts is the correct amount based on the fact that cars are being designed to use more oil to lubricate components these days, not less.

I've seen misprints in owners manuals before, but have yet to see a dipstick that is off, but that's just me.

As for the oil residue line that you are seeing on the dipstick, those usually occur from hot oil being burned on there. Since the new car engines have less than 20mi on them prior to arriving to the dealership, I would assume that the line occurs after driving & parking the vehicle. In other words, once you have taken ownership.

You are supposed to check the oil after the vehicle has been running & is still hot. Therefore, if the fluid reads correctly on the dipstick at that point, I would say that is correct. Keep in mind that these engines use a canister style filter up top (unlike the 2.0t does) & the oil from the filter housing will drain back down into the pan. This is probably the difference that you are seeing.

I will follow up & keep you posted on what I learn.
Thanks

P.S I wasn't trying to treat you like an idiot or a child & apologize if I came off that way, because it was not my intention. I can be rather coarse sometimes in my wording. I'm sorry for any offense I may have caused.

__________________
If it ain't fast, I'm not happy.

'04 Honda 450R (stupid fast)

'87 Rockrawlin Wrangler
All mods, little left factory