Hi Scotty,
I am a big fan. I recently brought a Santafe 2013 4wd from a Friend with 140000 KMS. I am an Indian living in Kuwait. Those come with a sealed transmission. I called the dealership and they said those are lifetime Fluid. However, being a big fan of cars and yours, I am aware that its BS. Is it a wise thing to change the transmission oil now? It shifts perfect and there is no lag in any of those 6 gears. But, I want to do it as a preventive maintenance.
He had also put tyres 225 60 R 18 where it should have been 235 60 R 18. I do not want to spend a whole bunch changing the tyres. Should I change the tyres?
Go ahead with the transmission fluid change. See here for more guidance -
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/atf/
Replace your tyres with the factory OEM spec, whenever the vehicle is due for a new set. For now, the 225s won’t hurt anything apart from improving your gas mileage very slightly & worsening your high speed stability.
Are they all 225 sections or just a couple?
Thank you so much for the reply. Hope that transmission oil change wont hurt the tranny. The dealership is not wanting to do it apparently due to their "Lifetime" BS. Can I get it done outside with the transmission oil as per manual.
All four tires are 225. Also is it true that we have to change all 4 tyres for AWD if one goes bad. Mine is only partial time AWD 2.4 L 4 cylinder which drives FWD most of the time and uses back wheels during loss of traction on the front.
Absolutely you can get it done outside the dealer either by yourself or at your trusted independent mechanic. Yes, it’s a good idea to change all 4 tyres at once, to prevent damage to the AWD system.
Thanks for the reply. However, a lot of them have been saying that even in pairs it can be good but the front should have the best pair since it drives FWD mostly.
Is this ok? As you know, changing all four if just one goes bad can be expensive.
What does your owner’s manual say about it?
As in most manuals it says four are the best. But if not, in pairs. The thing is most of them say front should have the best since it drives FWD most of the time.
http://www.hsfmanual.com/tire_replacement-1402.html
In your specific case though, your vehicle currently has different size tyres compared to OEM. Even if you did replace 2 tyres with OEM specs, you’d be running a staggered setup, which your AWD wasn’t designed for. Your easiest solution would be to buy 4 new OEM spec tyres & then not have to worry about them till they’re due for replacement in the distant future.
That definitely I would not do to have different size tyres. But I am asking for the future if all tyres are oem spec and is in a situation to change one of the tyres, would it be ok if I changed front pair?