[ohbehave]

I just drove a brand new Soul+ home....20 miles on the odometer..I'm an oil change freak, so I looked under the car and see that plastic panel. It has an access for the oil filter, and an access for the drain plug.

The drain plug access is missing....I think....it's just an open space. I can reach up there and touch the drain plug. Is there supposed to be a little plastic peace to cover that hole?

 

[grege]

I just drove a brand new Soul+ home....20 miles on the odometer..I'm an oil change freak, so I looked under the car and see that plastic panel. It has an access for the oil filter, and an access for the drain plug.

The drain plug access is missing....I think....it's just an open space. I can reach up there and touch the drain plug. Is there supposed to be a little plastic peace to cover that hole?

LOL ohbehave and nothing to worry about. I had the same reaction with my 2014 soul+. KIA uses the same under-cowling for both the 1.6L soul and the 2.0L; with the 2.0L soul, the missing-cover-oil-drainplug-punchout is normal. The oil drain plug cover is there for the 1.6L soul. The filters, however, seem to be aligned identically and therefore the cover works for both the 2.0L and the 1.6L engines for those, just not for the oil drain plugs.

Greg

 

[ohbehave]

Thanks...but shucks...I just texted my salesman seconds before your response.

I didn't get a good enough look to determine how to remove that one panel (the oil filter panel). Is it done by hand?...or does it require a tool?

Also, I noticed that the owners manual only says "take it to the Kia dealer" for oil changes!

 

[grege]

Thanks...but shucks...I just texted my salesman seconds before your response.

I didn't get a good enough look to determine how to remove that one panel (the oil filter panel). Is it done by hand?...or does it require a tool?

Also, I noticed that the owners manual only says "take it to the Kia dealer" for oil changes!

Super easy; no tools required. Simply 3 "spring-loaded" pressure-tabs. Once you get close enough to fiddle with it, it'll be obvious and super easy.

Greg

 

[ohbehave]

Very cool! The "spring loaded" thing.
I was looking at a Honda Fit among other cars, and they all had tons of cheap clips and plastic screws to remove to get the job done.

 

[conwelpic]

 

[ohbehave]

Thanks for the photos...so your 2.0 didn't have the oil plug cover/panel, either? Just confirming.

Also, it looks like the oil drain plug is toward the rear of the oil pan....so tipping the car up on the ramps might actually assist with drainage.

 

[conwelpic]

I am assuming that the 2017 and 2018 are still the same as my 2016 SX with the 2.0L. You're correct there is no cover for the oil plug for the 2.0L, it's just a large opening towards the rear of the engine. The cover close to the oil filter excess door is for the 1.6L engine drain plug.

No underbody paneling has to be removed in order to do a normal oil change - besides wouldn't that be logical?

 

[ohbehave]

So far, I'm finding this 1 day old car to be very thoughtfully designed....lots of things make sense.
Even things like the hood raising and holding itself rather than having to use prop....unexpected.

 

[conwelpic]

So far, I'm finding this 1 day old car to be very thoughtfully designed....lots of things make sense.
Even things like the hood raising and holding itself rather than having to use prop....unexpected.

I like that feature too, not many small vehicles actually provide that. My 2012 had the manual prop, they switch to self-prop when they redesigned the hood for the G2 version in 2014.