Inspect reduction gear oil

T

Texas Niro EV

Active Member
My Niro EV is coming up on 22,500 miles and I have been going through the recommended maintenance. The Owners Manual says you are suppose to inspect the Reduction Gear Oil at 22,500 miles but doesn't tell you how. I can't find anything on the internet about inspecting the reduction gear oil.

Does anyone know how to inspect the reduction gear oil as recommended by the owners manual?
 
It's not something you can easily test yourself. There is drain plug under the car. See my older post in the Kona forum for some Korean links. You might need to open the untranslated links for photos to load.

When the dealer tests it, he can check color and look for metal particles indicating that your gearbox is disintegrating. Unfortunately, that's not an uncommon issue with the eNiro/Kona gearbox design. You can read more about that here.
 
I purchased a service manual for my Niro EV. The service manual indicates that there are two plugs on the drivers side of the reduction gear just under the left drive shaft, the bottom one is for draining the oil and the top one is for filling: you have to remove the "Under Cover" to get to the plugs. To "Inspect" the oil all you have to do is stick your finger in the filler hole and make sure you can touch oil.

Be careful when trying to get dealer service departments to check the "Reduction Gear Oil" or any of the other items in the "Normal Maintenance Schedule", the dealerships I talked to didn't have a clue how to check the reduction gear oil. I am very disappointed with how service at the dealerships works, you can't just go into a dealership and tell them you want a 30,000 mile maintenance as indicated in the owners manual. Dealerships ignore the "Normal Maintenance Schedule" in the owners manual and just offer their standard checks which may be very different from maintenance items identified in the owners manual.
 
Texas Niro EV said:
I am very disappointed with how service at the dealerships works, you can't just go into a dealership and tell them you want a 30,000 mile maintenance as indicated in the owners manual. Dealerships ignore the "Normal Maintenance Schedule" in the owners manual and just offer their standard checks which may be very different from maintenance items identified in the owners manual.
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Be careful what your local dealer is bundling into the 'x mile maintenance package'. My local Hyundai dealer (for my Santa Fe) has this, but has added extra maintenance not required in the service schedule. Like flushing the brake fluid and coolant more frequently than required. It's a cash-grab if you ask me.
 
Does anyone know what is actually considered required maintenance at 15k miles (which I hit this week)? Last time I was at the dealership and asked them about the next scheduled maintenance the mechanic laughed and told me there wasn’t any because it was an EV.
 
daveinca said:
Does anyone know what is actually considered required maintenance at 15k miles (which I hit this week)? Last time I was at the dealership and asked them about the next scheduled maintenance the mechanic laughed and told me there wasn’t any because it was an EV.
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I think it is just a tire rotation. Maybe a cabin air filter change.
 
daveinca said:
Does anyone know what is actually considered required maintenance at 15k miles?
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Oh come on, don't ever look at your owners manual or the UVO app? In addition to rotating your tires and replacing your cabin air filter for the 15k maintenance, there are eleven different inspections you are suppose to perform. If you plan on keeping your Niro EV you should seriously consider getting a service manual; the owners manual tells you what maintenance you have to perform but the service manual tells you how to perform the maintenance (like how to inspect the reduction gear oil).
 
Texas Niro EV said:
I purchased a service manual for my Niro EV. The service manual indicates that there are two plugs on the drivers side of the reduction gear just under the left drive shaft, the bottom one is for draining the oil and the top one is for filling: you have to remove the "Under Cover" to get to the plugs. To "Inspect" the oil all you have to do is stick your finger in the filler hole and make sure you can touch oil.

Be careful when trying to get dealer service departments to check the "Reduction Gear Oil" or any of the other items in the "Normal Maintenance Schedule", the dealerships I talked to didn't have a clue how to check the reduction gear oil. I am very disappointed with how service at the dealerships works, you can't just go into a dealership and tell them you want a 30,000 mile maintenance as indicated in the owners manual. Dealerships ignore the "Normal Maintenance Schedule" in the owners manual and just offer their standard checks which may be very different from maintenance items identified in the owners manual.
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where did you get manual from I just hit 93k and would like to do an oil change I found video online for hyundai ioniq ev 2017 but would like some more detail info specific to kia niro EV
looks simple enough what type oil and how many quarts.
does the manual have pictures ?
Screenshot_20211207-044047_Kia Access.webp
 
www.factory-manuals.com. Yes, there are lots of pictures. The current price for the Kia Niro service manual is $69.99 but this is a full factory service manual, not an owner's manual or cheap parts store service manual. Considering I've paid over $300 for real factory service manuals in the past I think this is a pretty good deal.

When you first go to the website and look up your car it looks like the manual may not be for the EV but the website custom creates the service manual based on your VIN. I was skeptical at first but I have found the manual to be very detailed and through.
 
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Rudy Melgar said:
... I just hit 93k and would like to do an oil change ...
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Just pop over to the Kona forum Rudy, we have an ongoing discussion on this subject and two of us have changed the oil twice now. The Niro procedure will be nearly identical. Several pages of posts start here, with a video that can be watched on YouTube. There's really nothing complicated about it.

BTW, I take "inspection" to only mean check the level.
 
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Texas Niro EV said:
www.factory-manuals.com. Yes, there are lots of pictures. The current price for the Kia Niro service manual is $69.99 but this is a full factory service manual, not an owner's manual or cheap parts store service manual. Considering I've paid over $300 for real factory service manuals in the past I think this is a pretty good deal.

When you first go to the website and look up your car it looks like the manual may not be for the EV but the website custom creates the service manual based on your VIN. I was skeptical at first but I have found the manual to be very detailed and through.
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Is that an actual full service manual? That’s a steal and very worth it. Usually they cost hundreds.

edit: seems like they only have the ICE version?
 
snowy2020 said:
Is that an actual full service manual? That’s a steal and very worth it. Usually they cost hundreds.

edit: seems like they only have the ICE version?
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Yes, it's a full-service manual, it comes in pdf format and contains 2149 pages. At first, I thought the manual was for the ICE version also, but the website uses the VIN to select the correct full BEV manual. There is a detailed full section in the manual on the high voltage battery including a full description of the battery components, diagnostics, removal and disassembly.
 
Texas Niro, I am in Yukon, Canada where the dealer has no experience with the Niro EV. Not very reassuring. You refer to a full-service manual which interests me. Can you give a link where it is available? As a second question, do you know how you jack the front half of the vehicle? There's nothing in the drivers manual that came with the car about this common need :-(.
 
Stuart Clark said:
Texas Niro, I am in Yukon, Canada where the dealer has no experience with the Niro EV. Not very reassuring. You refer to a full-service manual which interests me. Can you give a link where it is available? As a second question, do you know how you jack the front half of the vehicle? There's nothing in the drivers manual that came with the car about this common need :-(.
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www.factory-manuals.com, see additional information above. The manual identifies hard points that you can use to jack up the car.


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