[Tooson]

Hi Captain, I too have fuel dilution since new, worst in the winter. I bet all the hybrid Tucson's do in winter (real winter!).

Lots of short cold drives, hard to get the engine up to operating temp especially in a hybrid. All the engine shutting off doesn't help I'm sure.

I stopped checking the dipstick and will change the oil a bit early once the weather warms up.

I've assumed Hyundai is well aware of the issue and designed it in a way that it doesn't cause damage. Time will tell.

I had similar levels of winter fuel dilution for 10 years in my Mazdaspeed3 and the engine was still in great shape after 140,000 hard miles.

That's the main reason I'm not too concerned about it at this point. In my experience, turbo + direct injection = winter fuel dilution, I expected it.

The 2017-2022 CRV has the winter dilution issue especially bad, as well as poor cabin heat. Happy I avoided that at least.

Another reason I'm not too concerned is the oil capacity. I believe the Tucson Hybrid capacity is 4.8 litres vs the CRV 3.5 litres. With the smaller oil capacity the dilution is a bigger problem.

Hyundai probably designed it that way, it's a lot of oil for a small engine. Aside from over full on the dipstick, I haven't had any other symptoms after 14K miles.

We'll see how the engine holds up long term.

 

[Tooson]

Every oil change I've had they've overfilled it to varying degrees. 2 different dealers. Even when I have them write on the service order do not overfill.

Pretty sure Hyundai's spec was wrong like Jay pointed out. I wouldn't be surprised if the mechanics put in 5qts instead of the 4.5 it would need to get to full. Agree 4.5 is closer to the real capacity.

 

[Tooson]

My Hyundai dealer insisted that 8k miles is all that's needed for the Santa Fe Hybrid for oil changes, even in an "extreme" climate. So they must have some way to account for this phenomenon.

Dealer is wrong, normal maintenance schedule is 8k miles/12 months interval.

Severe maintenance schedule is 5K miles/6 months interval.

Taken from owner's manual section 9-12.

 

[Tooson]

Oil change is 5,000miles/6 months for severe service interval, 8,000miles/12 months for normal.

That is the oil change interval, there's no uncertainty around it.

If you know where to look, you can access the correct service schedule info from HyundaiUSA website. It should be easier to find but it's there.

Tampa is right, the dealer can print whatever they want.

Don't trust what dealers tell you or provide to you, trust only what comes direct from the manufacturer. Usually dealers want to push more service not less.