Break in Oil for 2011 Sonata
 

Hi,

Called my dealer from whom I bought my 2011 Sonata to inquire about the first oil change. A service adviser said I should wait until 5-6k miles in order to allow the break in oil to do its thing and help improve miles per gallon. Have any of you heard of such a thing?

Thanks in advance,
Reever

There is no break-in oil but he's right about going with 5-6k miles between oil changes. Modern oil is much better and will easily last that long.

I was told 3750 by my dealer for first change and that the factory fill isn't a "break in".
Because I was bored one Saturday, I changed it myself, along with filter.

I am going to stay with conventional 5W30 until 7500, then merge into Liqui Moly 4200 5W30 synth.

'Break-in' oil went away back in the '60's for all, except those with flat-tappet camshafts.

Follow the manufacture's 'severe conditions' oil change intervals for when to change your oil/filter & stick with the factory recommended weights & it'll all be fine.

Going easy on an engine during warm-up & during the first 500 - 1000 miles is a better way of insuring longevity. Your engine will start to see it's best mileage after several thousand miles of driving as the rest of the drive train will have settled in then also.

Hello. I'm new here, and a new Sonata owner. Nevertheless, lubes are something I believe I have some experience and knowledge about. I am responsible for a fleet at work, and we use regular analysis of the used oil from that fleet. I do the same thing with my vehicles at home, and have for many years. Even used to do that with farm equipment, way back.

Anyway, I disagree with the notion of running the factory-filled motor oil for a full 3750 mile interval. I do agree that it is not 'break-in oil' (and that nobody's oil is 'break-in oil' any more), and that it's nothing special; just motor oil. That's one reason I don't think it needs to be left in. The reasons I believe it should be changed very soon after you get home are:

1) I've seen high wear metals and contaminants in every UOA (used oil analysis) I've ever run on a new vehicle engine, both personal and fleet, for at least several thousand miles, and many times up to 10 - 15k miles.

2) Given the higher wear metals and contaminants, and also just logically, it makes no sense to let that material circulate through the engine any longer than necessary. It cannot do any good, and it certainly can do harm.

So, when we got our new Sonata home Thursday, I went and got oil and a filter for it. I changed it the next day, IIRC, when it had under 150 miles on it. I'd have changed it at even lower mileage, but even though we first test-drove it at ~8 miles, it had ~120 on it by the time we decided it was the one for us.

I may change the oil again one more time before the first factory-recommended change, and then I'll just stay with the factory schedule based upon our driving habits. I do my own routine maintenance, so it's slightly less expensive for me than taking it to the dealer or *iffy-lube, so others may not change quite as often as I do.
Cheers!

The factory maintenance schedule that comes with the car as 7500/12mo per oil change. There was a report on Yahoo that Jiffy Lube is even moving away from the 3000/3mo oil change and recommending the factory specs for cars in general.

That's for "regular" service. "Severe" service is more often and most cars on the road today drive under "severe" conditions (stop and go traffic, short trips, lots of idling, salt covered roads in teh winter, etc).