2014 Kia Forte EX Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Read the full story here

actualsize

Odd that the odometer is in miles and the service minder is in kilometers. I'd have though a global "units" personalization setting would keep them synchronized. Also, KIA, please don't advocate removal of the oil drain plug with an adjustable Crescent wrench. That's a kitchen-drawer tool. Honda's warning depicts an open-end-box combination wrench, at least. Hint: use the closed box end.

banhugh

So what fuel additive do they add and why? To "clean" the injectors? I'ven never heard of a manufacturer using a fuel additive for an engine with only 7500 miles...

banhugh

It seems that you omitted to mention that the additive is recommended, per car's manual, only if you have not been using top tier gas...

allthingshonda

Hyundai/Kia recommends using a fuel system cleaner in their direct injection engines every oil change if you DO NOT use Top Tier gasoline on a regular basis. Carbon deposit and build up are the major downside to direct injection and this is meant to prevent it from building up. Cold start any DI engine (especially in cold weather) and you will see some faint black smoke from the exhaust for a few seconds. If you have a DI engine a bottle of fuel system cleaner every oil change is a cheap maintenance investment. And the engine can't be too clean. The additive that they supply to the dealer has "Techron" on the label. Cheaper to go to the auto parts store and buy Chevron's fuel system cleaner with Techron than get it from the dealer.

And the wrench symbol seems to be universal. Ford, GM and others have also used this symbol. They don't change the icons too often. Oil pressure light is still an oil can (when is the last time you've seen an oil can) and some check engine lights still have a carb/breather on top of the engine.

fordson1

"Carbon deposit and build up are the major downside to direct injection and this is meant to prevent it from building up." Building up where? On the intake valves. From the hydrocarbons going through the EGR system but mostly blowby from the PCV. What good is a fuel system cleaner in a DI engine - no fuel goes in through the intake valves. None of the cleaning additives that make up Techron make it through the combustion process to come around again in the exhaust gas through EGR recirculation (whether by a dedicated EGR system or getting EGR via valve overlap) to clean the backside of the valves. The only way to keep these deposits from forming is using a water/meth injection kit, where the methanol cleans the backsides of the valves. Some research indicates that getting the cylinder head temps higher than we here in the U.S. normally do also helps. Some newer DI engines use a hybrid system with a small fuel injector (port injector, basically) upstream of the valves.