time or mileage for coolant drain and fill

[james1950]

i own a 2011 hyundaia sonata.i retired a few years ago so i have only 15 thousand miles on the vehicle. i am concerned about the coolant being 5 years old.should i be concerned about time or mileage ? am i due for a drain and fill or good to go?
thx for any advice!

 

[69GTX]

I'd change it, even if only doing a couple drains and refill via the radiator. You can always get it tested first and see how well it's holding up...that might be a good data point to have. These 100K long life coolants sort of figure you're driving your car 12K-20K miles per year. I'd put time as more important over miles.

 

[Sayjac]

Two questions, what does your owners manual say for AF maintenance interval? Is the Sonata still under manufacturer's warranty?

Normally service intervals go with months or miles, whichever comes first. Not knowing OM recommendation I'd say 60k miles or 5 years would be about normal. At the least I'd think a simple radiator d&f using the spec AF would be in order. Sure couldn't hurt anything.

 

[doublebase]

I'd be concerned about time and or mileage. The additives drop out over time and mileage, so I'd just do a simple drain and fill...you'll replenish the additive package even if it doesn't need it. I imagine at that mileage the coolant won't be "dirty"...you shouldn't find sentiment flowing out of it...but the additives may be low.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Drain and refill. Zerex Asian Vehicle coolant now available at Walmart.

 

[HemiHawk]

Heres a question to go along with this... Does coolant break down as a result of heat? Would a turbo car that has a coolant line cause more stress to the coolant used?

 

[carock]

In an ideal world, no the turbo car does not degrade coolant faster. In the actual world, just about everything degrades faster with a turbo car. Everything is stretched a bit more for the added power per cubic inch and the heat that goes with it.

 

[Slick17601]

On my Toyotas I do a simple drain and fill every 4 years.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Use a test strip to determine.

 

[CharlieBauer]

Valvoline told me coolant is time limited because the ingredients break down, including in the bottle.

Of course, there must be a mileage aspect to it as well, otherwise there wouldn't be a 100,000 or more mileage limit as well.

But I would most definitely change according to the manufacturer time interval as well as confirm whether that change should be partial or full.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Maybe heat cycles affect it.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Time OR mileage... 5 yrs, its time to replace.