Very low coolant, concerned

[GetStung89]

Hello,

I have a 2019 GT1 AWD and really low coolant (green). Upon starting up the car recently after about a week of sitting, there is a very small bit of white smoke. Car has 10,400 miles on it and is driven normally. I do not know how long it has been so low, but the engine temperature stays normal long after the car warms up during a drive.

Is this anything I can troubleshoot myself?

My thoughts were to
1) Fill up the coolant to Full
2) Run the car and see if there is coolant bubbling.
3) Take it into the dealership to check things out.

Let me know your thoughts.

 

[socalvn]

if your warranty take it to the dealer if not fill up the coolant with the correct kind monitor the level ,check the dipstick oil for any bubbling or whiteness

 

[NS_Stinger]

Hello,

I have a 2019 GT1 AWD and really low coolant (green). Upon starting up the car recently after about a week of sitting, there is a very small bit of white smoke. Car has 10,400 miles on it and is driven normally. I do not know how long it has been so low, but the engine temperature stays normal long after the car warms up during a drive.

Is this anything I can troubleshoot myself?

My thoughts were to
1) Fill up the coolant to Full
2) Run the car and see if there is coolant bubbling.
3) Take it into the dealership to check things out.

Let me know your thoughts.

Are you sure it's low? The tank will have 2 lines, L and F, as long as your car is between those two lines when the engine is cold you're fine. If you do decide to add coolant, ensure you add the same colour coolant the car is already using, only add coolant when the engine is totally cold and never fill it past the F line. Even if your car is at the lower line when cold if you check it after driving youll notice the level goes up closer to the full line because coolant expands with engine heat.

 

[JSolo]

Post a pic of your reservoir level.

Is there any coolant smell around the car?

These cars seem to be prone to venting coolant vapors after shut off. I've had to had small amounts to keep it at the F line when cold. On a brand new car no less! A design feature apparently.

 

[5tinger]

The turbo engines from H/K seem to vent small amounts of coolant from the system, or perhaps the excess coolant?

The Stinger and the 1.6t Kia Forte turbo coolant levels drops gradually when the fluid is at the full level, however it tends to stabilise once it's between the low and full mark.

Perhaps they're designed to purge excess, not sure?

 

[oddball]

All coolant systems vent.

A bit of smoke on startup is normal. Especially on cool/cold days, there's a lot of moisture in the exhaust pipes that will get burned off as things warm up, and that can take several minutes. Constant clouds of white smoke, especially under power, while hot, is a bad sign. You'll often see the car actually spitting drops of water out the tailpipes.

BLUE smoke is a bad sign, especially if it smells like oil.

Note that the coolant reservoir on this car is a real PITA. It's extremely tall and the fluid level is supposed to be waaaaaaay down near the bottom. That's why it has a dipstick with tangs so you can see where, way down in there, the fluid level actually is. DO NOT FILL TO THE TOP.
And yes, you should check fluid levels every oil change and top off if necessary. Putting in, say, 16 to 32 ounces of water (distilled) every few thousand miles is no big deal.

 

[GetStung89]

Hello,

I have a 2019 GT1 AWD and really low coolant (green). Upon starting up the car recently after about a week of sitting, there is a very small bit of white smoke. Car has 10,400 miles on it and is driven normally. I do not know how long it has been so low, but the engine temperature stays normal long after the car warms up during a drive.

Is this anything I can troubleshoot myself?

My thoughts were to
1) Fill up the coolant to Full
2) Run the car and see if there is coolant bubbling.
3) Take it into the dealership to check things out.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks for your input guys, here is a pic of the reservoir

 

[NS_Stinger]

Yup you're definitely low but not alarmingly. If it were me I would go buy some coolant and fill it to the top line while the engine is cold and then just monitor it moving forward.

 

[JSolo]

@oddball, I've owned a number of cars in 3 decades of drivings. Not a single one produced a coolant odor when shut off unless it was leaking. With the last 2 recent cars ('12 G37 and '15 accord 4cyl), neither car ever needed to have coolant topped off due to evaporation.

This is the first car to have coolant venting as a feature.

@GetStung89 Your level is definitely low. Before you add more coolant, check the radiator level too. Open the cap when the car is cold and sight down with a flash light. The level should be right at the top.

If that's low, bring it up to level first, then top off the reservoir. For reference, the top red line is full, lower red line is L. Proper level should be somewhere between the two when cold. I keep mine at the F mark (or slightly above).

 

[oddball]

@oddball, I've owned a number of cars in 3 decades of drivings. Not a single one produced a coolant odor when shut off unless it was leaking. With the last 2 recent cars ('12 G37 and '15 accord 4cyl), neither car ever needed to have coolant topped off due to evaporation.

This is the first car to have coolant venting as a feature.

Depends on where you live, how you drive, etc etc. Down here in Texas, some venting is not uncommon. Just depends. I normally have to do a splash of top-off on the cars when doing oil changes. The time to expect it is the height of summer, shutting off the car when everything is nice and toasty and the A/C has been blasting. Underhood temps get *high*, so it's pretty easy to pop past the cap pressure.
e.g, similar with batteries. Getting 3 years out of a battery (normal engine compartment mounted, at least) is great! Anything more than 3 years is just a gift.

 

[killinghall]

That does look low. My 2022 came with pink coolant right at the 'L' level when cool. When driven sufficiently it goes exactly up to 'H'.



I've not bothered to check the level below the radiator cap but I assume it does have a mini dipstick from what I'm reading in the manual.

 

[oddball]

I've not bothered to check the level below the radiator cap but I assume it does have a mini dipstick from what I'm reading in the manual.

View attachment 70015

That picture is for the reservoir that you're already looking at - not the radiator. The manual doesn't guide you to pop open the radiator because a typical owner should never have to do that. The radiator cap is on your left as you're standing in front of the car - typical stamped metal radiator cap.

 

[WilliamFR]

Mine is pretty low too. Does it matter what brand of coolant to put in? I’m not familiar at all

 

[JSolo]

Brand doesn't matter, type does.

 

[WilliamFR]

Brand doesn't matter, type does.

Alrighty, what type am I looking for lol

 

[JSolo]

Check your owner's manual

 

[WilliamFR]

Check your owner's manual

Almost had you, dang

 

[5tinger]

Check your owner's manual

The manual doesn't specify the type. Just says to use a glycol based coolant which is very ambiguous.

 

[oddball]

Unless you're in an environment that gets extremely cold (like below 0 regularly), you can top off with distilled water.

The main thing you have to watch out for is the orange stuff - dexcool. Mixing that with "traditional" coolant can cause the mixture to turn into a gel. So if it's orange, use a dexcool coolant. Otherwise, I always use the good old Prestone "Universal".
I noticed some newer cars are using a purple coolant. Very oo-la-la. Haven't bothered to figure out WTF is going on with that yet.

 

[JSolo]

^^It's more like pink (unless the gt's do use something purple). I just got a gal from the dealer rather than try to figure it out.