Did KIA use 100% antifreeze from the factory?

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Originally Posted By: boom10ful
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
Originally Posted By: boom10ful
I just tested the factory coolant just for fun with a Prestone tester. Instead of getting 50/50 the needle pegged all the way to the top. From what I know this stuff is just regular antifreeze, not anything special. Would this affect anything and is this something that I would take up with the dealer?


Is it the green stuff? I ask because I did a coolant change on a friend's Kia recently and the OEM stuff was the darkest green I have ever seen. It almost looked like it was NOT diluted.


Yeah its the dark green stuff. I thought it was the darkest I've seen until I changed out my daily drivers antifreeze with Pentofrost A2. Now that stuff is a darker shade of green!


Aha! Maybe they forgot to dilute it at the factory and put in 100%? Let us know what you find.
 
If you have a spare bottle of coolant, you can use that to calibrate your tester using the spare coolant.
 
Those testers are fairly accurate. I use to test plastic float balls that our company sent to the Navy for use on sub batteries. Very few of the balls got busted......
 
Originally Posted By: mightymousetech
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
I would think factory fill would be closer to 60/40. 50/50 isn't good enough for the extreme cold of say Canada.


Sure it is. Our factory coolant comes premixed 50/50.


There is no point using the phrase "extreme cold" and Ontario in the same sentence. There are a half dozen US states that are colder than Toronto. Extreme Cold exists in Canada, but not in southern Ontario (which is where everyone in that province lives).
 
Originally Posted By: Lolvoguy
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Originally Posted By: mightymousetech
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
I would think factory fill would be closer to 60/40. 50/50 isn't good enough for the extreme cold of say Canada.


Sure it is. Our factory coolant comes premixed 50/50.
So what temp is that good for? And what do you do at -40F?


that's what block heaters are for


If you need a block heater to insure your vehicle will start at -40, it's not been properly winterized.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad

If you need a block heater to insure your vehicle will start at -40, it's not been properly winterized.



IIRC the question was regarding protection, not "how to ensure the vehicle will start at -40 degrees".
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Originally Posted By: mightymousetech
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
I would think factory fill would be closer to 60/40. 50/50 isn't good enough for the extreme cold of say Canada.

Sure it is. Our factory coolant comes premixed 50/50.

For extreme cold climates Honda recommends you add a bottle of their cold weather concentrate along with the regular Type 2.
 
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Originally Posted By: mightymousetech
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
I would think factory fill would be closer to 60/40. 50/50 isn't good enough for the extreme cold of say Canada.


Sure it is. Our factory coolant comes premixed 50/50.
So what temp is that good for? And what do you do at -40F?


Says rated for -37C on the bottle. Has never been an issue. Although, I have seen frozen rads in Northern Alberta. Just have to stop every once in a while and let the rad thaw out when it is colder than that.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Originally Posted By: mightymousetech
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
I would think factory fill would be closer to 60/40. 50/50 isn't good enough for the extreme cold of say Canada.


Sure it is. Our factory coolant comes premixed 50/50.


There is no point using the phrase "extreme cold" and Ontario in the same sentence. There are a half dozen US states that are colder than Toronto. Extreme Cold exists in Canada, but not in southern Ontario (which is where everyone in that province lives).


Not all of us live in that [censored].
smile.gif
 
I'm not too much a fan of those bobble testers. They're too temperature sensitive for my taste and generally inaccurate even barring that.

Use either a refractometer or chemical test strips IMO
 
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Just be sure to factor in the wind chill.......
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Windchill has nothing to do with it. It only represents the rate of cooling. A car left outdoors still only cools to the actual temperature.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Originally Posted By: Lolvoguy
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Originally Posted By: mightymousetech


Sure it is. Our factory coolant comes premixed 50/50.
So what temp is that good for? And what do you do at -40F?


that's what block heaters are for


If you need a block heater to insure your vehicle will start at -40, it's not been properly winterized.


Is that -40*F or -40*C ?
grin.gif


Very few diesels are going to start at -40.
Many years experience with various equipment in those temps.

Hope you caught the humor.
 
Originally Posted By: mightymousetech
Although, I have seen frozen rads in Northern Alberta. Just have to stop every once in a while and let the rad thaw out when it is colder than that.

I froze my radiator once in Saskatchewan. What you say is true. You just have to stop and let the heat of the engine thaw the radiator. Works like a charm.

I think the problem arises because the thermostat doesn't open for a very long time. When it's -40 or so the internal circulation, with warming of the block and heater uses up all the heat being generated. In my case the first indication of a frozen radiator was probably half an hour into the drive. My radiator suddenly "boiled over". I remember it well.
 
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
I would think factory fill would be closer to 60/40. 50/50 isn't good enough for the extreme cold of say Canada.

50/50 will be fine almost everywhere in Canada. For extreme cold 60/40 works better. As I recall, 100% antifreeze isn't very good at cooling or resistance to freezing (though jelling would be the more accurate term).
 
Take a sample and dilute it 1:1 then run the test again. "Should be" 25% by then. Heck, throw it in your freezer!
 
So I measured a couple of antifreeze mixes and it looks like the KIA antifreeze is around 70%-80% antifreeze. I'll add some water and dilute it tomorrow.
 
Originally Posted By: boom10ful
So I measured a couple of antifreeze mixes and it looks like the KIA antifreeze is around 70%-80% antifreeze. I'll add some water and dilute it tomorrow.


Out of curiosity, if you are wrong you will be diluting a 50/50 mix. I just don't see a car manufacturer adding a 70% anti-freeze concentration due to the loss of profits on all that extra coolant over the cost of water.

Why not just flush and fill with a good long-Life coolant now and be certain of your ratio?

What is the capacity of a Kia cooling system? 2-gallons pre-mix?
 
Originally Posted By: ArcticDriver
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Originally Posted By: ArcticDriver
A factory fill MIGHT not be 100% coolant, it SHOULD be diluted.

I would discuss with your dealer.


Fixed it for you....some weird stuff from the factory I wouldn't be surprised.


Thanks KUATO
thumbsup2.gif


Could you describe further? I didn't realize there were any applications where 100% coolant would be advantagous.

Thanks for insight.


Well....my sarcastic tone didn't come through, I meant that it could have come from factory with 100% because of a mistake or a lazy worker. 100% would actually carry a DIS advantage in cooling.
 
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Originally Posted By: ArcticDriver
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Originally Posted By: ArcticDriver
A factory fill MIGHT not be 100% coolant, it SHOULD be diluted.

I would discuss with your dealer.


Fixed it for you....some weird stuff from the factory I wouldn't be surprised.


Thanks KUATO
thumbsup2.gif


Could you describe further? I didn't realize there were any applications where 100% coolant would be advantagous.

Thanks for insight.


Well....my sarcastic tone didn't come through, I meant that it could have come from factory with 100% because of a mistake or a lazy worker. 100% would actually carry a DIS advantage in cooling.


Dang, I googled for 30 minutes trying to see what applications benefited from a high concentration.
grin.gif


Finally it dawned on me what you had meant.

The SBUX in our area are still closed from IRMA so I am even slower on the uptake than usual.

Cheers
 
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