Azera Forum

OK, I just changed the oil and filter in my Azera. It had 4200 miles on it. The oil wasn't all that dirty, but I couldn't wait to get rid of the 5W-20 and get some 10W-30 into it. It runs just slightly quieter with the slightly thicker oil. I'm going to be doing 5K oil changes on the 5's and 10's. The oil I just put in is actually going to go for about 5.8K. I also installed a 1/4 turn drain valve in place of the drain plug to make all future oil changes a snap.

Here's some helpful info for anyone else who wants to change their own.

1. The oil filter housing is accessed from the top of the engine by removing the decorative cover which is held on by 6 bolts/nuts. Facing the engine, the filter housing cover is a domed round plastic cap about 4" in diameter.

2. Note carefully that there's a white painted "match" mark somewhere on the more exposed side of the filter housing. When you twist the cap back on, you'll want to make sure you turn it far enough to get those marks to line up again.

3. There is apparently a special tool for removing the filter cap sold by Hyundai, but I was able to easily twist mine off my hand. Before starting to remove the cap, wrap rags around the housing below the cap to catch any oil that might drip during cartridge lift-out. Also, have a container of some sort handy into which you can lift the cartridge without trailing it across the top of the engine.

4. Change the filter BEFORE draining the oil out of the pan to enable the oil trapped in the housing to drain into the pan before the pan is emptied.

5. The cap takes several turns to get it off. When you lift it off, the filter will come with it since the filter is mounted on a hollow spindle that's attached to the cap and extends out of the bottom end of the filter a few inches. Once out of the housing, the old filter pulls straight off the spindle.

6. There are four o-rings to concern yourself with. They come with the replacement filter. Two are already installed inside the ends of the filter, there's one about 1/2" in diameter that can be found on the end of the spindle, and a large one the diameter of the cap seals the cap to the housing. The small one on the end of the spindle is sorta hard to get off and replace. Squeeze the o-ring, press it one direction, and get a nail under the loose part to help pry it off. Before putting on the new one, oil it to help it slip over the end of the spindle and back into its groove. The larger one is much easier to replace. Oil it too.

7. Before placing the new cartridge onto the spindle, oil the two o-rings inside the ends of the filter. This will help them slip into place. Push it on as far is it will go.

8. I've read on other forums how several people have had problems getting the cap cinched back down properly. That's because they fail to bathe the large o-ring with oil AND the inner surface of the housing where the o-ring will be required to twist/slide into place as the cap is screwed down. Trying to put the cap on with the o-ring and housing inner surface dry will be almost impossible, will probably damage the o-ring, and will most likely leak. Twist the cap/filter assembly down till it bottoms out on the housing, and the white marks are aligned.

8. Once that's done, drain your oil and refill as you would any other car. It holds 6 quarts. Don't forget to remove the rag from around the filter housing before replacing the decorative engine cover.

Gary in Sandy Eggo Wrote:I couldn't wait to get rid of the 5W-20 and get some 10W-30 into it.

It holds 6 quarts.

Why did you wait so long to change the break-in oil?

Even though the manufacture specifies 5W-20, you go to 10W-30. Why?

Are you sure that it takes six quarts?

Snaglepus Wrote:Why did you wait so long to change the break-in oil?

Cars have not come from the factory with a special "break in" oil for at least 40 years. When they did come with a "break-in" oil, it was usually a SAE-20 oil that was to be replaced with SAE-30 after a prescribed number of miles (usually 500 - 1000 miles). The low viscosity oil was used to allow "high spots" between mating surfaces to be quickly worn down and smoothed. After that, the higher viscosity oil was needed to keep those now "mated" surfaces from touching each other thereafter. Since then, materials have improved, tolerances have become better, multi-grade oils were introduced, and oils have steadily improved.

Your car came from the factory with the multi-grade of oil that's written on the oil filler cap. Most of the time the factory fill is conventional, sometimes it's synthetic.

That being said, there's still a school of thought that has one changing out the factory oil within 500-1000 miles in order to get rid of all the dirt and manufacturing debris left in the engine when it was built. I won't criticize that position as doing an oil and filter change at 500-1000 miles can't hurt, but I will tell you than the appearance of oil sez a LOT about it's condition. If the oil is still fairly clear at 1000 miles, it's still pretty clean. Mine didn't start taking on color until about 3000 miles. At 4200 miles it was a medium amber. I wasn't so much worried about the condition of the oil as I wanted to get rid of that watery thin 5W-20 which is TOTALLY unnecessary in Sandy Eggo where my starting temperatures seldom go below 50F for the garaged car.

Finally, the old oil filter had taken on the amber color of the oil, but there was no obvious evidence of dirt or any other debris. They clean engine internals pretty well these days before closing them up at the factory.

Snaglepus Wrote:Even though the manufacture specifies 5W-20, you go to 10W-30. Why?

Several reasons.

1. 10W-30 will provide better metal-to-metal protection than will 5W-20 at operating temperatures.

2. The owner's manual sez it's OK to use 10W-30 down to 0F degrees. My starting temperatures are at least 45F-85F degrees higher than that.

3. Whereas the watery-thin oils being promoted by manufacturers these days provide a slight improvement in fuel economy by virtue of their lower viscosity, they do so at the risk of increased engine wear at operating temperatures.

Snaglepus Wrote:Are you sure that it takes six quarts?

That's what the owner's manual sez. After putting in 5 quarts it showed full on the dipstick. I then started the engine and ran it until the oil pressure light went off and rechecked the oil level. It had dropped from the full mark to the add mark (1 quart). I put in the final 6th quart, and it again registered full on the dipstick.

I bought a STP brand filter for my first oil change for $8.99. I didn't think there were many companies making the cartridge filter. Seems there are. I took someone's advice and looked at Pep Boys. Seems they have two branded filters for the Azera - Purolator and Proline. Turns out they are one and the same filter. They didn't even make any effort to disguise that fact. Same markings, same little red ring on the filter element on the inside, etc. The Proline is $5.99 and the Purolator is $9.99. Both are boxed with the same part number. I went ahead and bought a few even though my 5000-mile change interval will probably span six months.

On my first change, I went from the factory fill 5W-20 to Syntec 10W-30 synthetic (mainly because I got a 6-pack for less than conventional oil would cost. In the future I'll be using conventional 10W-30 Pennzoil in the winter and will probably go to Pennzoil SAE-30 mono-grade in the summer.

Gary in Sandy Eggo Wrote:I bought a STP brand filter for my first oil change for $8.99. I didn't think there were many companies making the cartridge filter. Seems there are. I took someone's advice and looked at Pep Boys. Seems they have two branded filters for the Azera - Purolator and Proline. Turns out they are one and the same filter. They didn't even make any effort to disguise that fact. Same markings, same little red ring on the filter element on the inside, etc. The Proline is $5.99 and the Purolator is $9.99. Both are boxed with the same part number. I went ahead and bought a few even though my 5000-mile change interval will probably span six months.

Update on the Purolator filters. The supplied small 0-ring that goes onto the end of the filter spindle did not have sufficient cross-section to actually rise a little above the recess it sets in. I discovered this on the 10K oil change. This would provide an inadequate seal at that point (may or may not have been a problem). So I re-used the old STP supplied o-ring. I've since gone back to Pep Boys to swap the other two Purolator filters for Fram filters. I can see that the small o-ring supplied with the Fram filters IS slightly thicker than the one supplied with the Purolator. Just a heads up.

I went out and bought a FRAM for it since I didn't want to wait...hated doing it but it seems no one (checked probably 10 places) has the Wix one in stock. I figured at least it would be better than the FRAM. I really wished Mobil 1, or K&N or someone with better/smaller micron filtration capability made one for this car...guess there just aren't enough of them out there to make it worthwhile for them.

Skyview Wrote:I went out and bought a FRAM for it since I didn't want to wait...hated doing it but it seems no one (checked probably 10 places) has the Wix one in stock. I figured at least it would be better than the FRAM.

I'm under the impression that Fram filtration has always been good, but that their spin-on filters are kinda crappily made with cardboard end-caps.

With a filter cartridge the size the Azera takes, there's no reason why the micron level couldn't go down quite low, and the filtration be by-pass mode. I don't know if the Azera filtration is by-pass or full-flow. I assume it's full flow.

Mostly i used servo 4t for my bike, But recently my bike got a problem and i put it at the garage and garage Mackinac has change my oil other so what is that, i don't know.
No any other oil could damage our engine.

Have it well..

pearsbent Wrote:Mostly i used servo 4t for my bike, But recently my bike got a problem and i put it at the garage and garage Mackinac has change my oil other so what is that, i don't know. No any other oil could damage our engine.

Where did motorcycles come into the picture? Regarding motorcycles, I have an Intruder 1400. I don't run the recommended 10W-40, or even 20W-50 in the Intruder because the multi-grade oils have viscosity enhancing polymers that get sheared quickly by the motorcycle's transmission gears. I run mono-grade SAE-40 in my motorcycle and preheat it to approximately 100F before every ride by placing a 100-watt light bulb under it the night before. And then, I don't go out when the temperatures are below 60F anyway. I do NOT recommend this to anyone else because very few would have the discipline (or would take the time) to preheat their engines.

Regarding my Azera, I'm still using 10W-30 oil in my temperate zone of San Diego. The car never starts below 50F, and seldom operates in ambient temperatures above 85F.

Update: Just did my 25K oil change. Since that filter's SO big compared to the tiny spin-ons, I decided I'm going to change the filter every other time. All I did was change the oil this time. The Fumoto valve replacing the oil pan drain valve made it a clean easy job, done in several minutes without me having to do anything more than reach under the car behind its right front wheel and flip the valve, then return it to closed when it was done draining. My hands never got dirty.

The only reason I'm posting this is because I got a great big surprise. A whole six quarts drained out. I expected only five since I never broke the seal on the oil filter housing. It would seem that when the rest of the oil drains out of the pan, that which is captured in the oil filter housing drains out too. This was confirmed by the oil light remaining lit for a couple seconds on the start-up after the oil change. When the crankcase is full, the light goes out immediately.

THAT'S GREAT. There wasn't a residual quart of old oil left behind. I feel even more comfortable doing a filter change every other oil change from now on.