Hey Scotty,
I got a 2015 Kia Soul Automatic transmission with a 129000 miles and a 1.6 engine. How do the coolant get dirty? I checked it two weeks ago and its still green. I never changed the coolant 😅
Thank you Scotty,
Lorenzo
Cape Coral Florida
How do the coolant get dirty? I checked it two weeks ago and its still green. I never changed the coolant
By the time it gets dirty, it's waaaaaay too late. It means things have started rusting. You want to change it out every few years to replenish the anti-corrosion stuff in there. Two years or 30k miles for the green stuff I believe, but check your manual. Also see our FAQ there's a whole article about regular maintenance.
I never changed the coolant
If you have not changed the coolant in a decade better do it soon or you're going to have some serious corrosion problems in that engine. (That may have already begun.) It sounds like that thing is being treated to a serious lack of maintenance overall.
@chucktobias well just so you know I always have the coolant checked out, matter of fact I had it checked couple of days a ago with a mechanic who has been fixing car for 50 plus years and was friend of my grandfathers. He checked it and he told me it was fine. Now, I don't think I ever seen or hear kias having problems with the cooling system. Thats why I was asking scotty what can cause it to go bad? Besides u don't know the level of maintenance I have put in this car. This thing is almost 10 years old and it still runs good as new. Why? Because I always take care of it. I make sure it needs everything before I use it. So, even know I never cleaned the cooling system, that doesn't mean it wasn't properly taking care of. All I wanted was just an a opinion on how it happens. Appreciate your concern on my vehicle though.
@lorenzorocks Well we don't know what people don't tell us, from appearances it looked like the cooling system wasn't being maintained. Bear in mind you can't necessarily judge coolant condition by its color. Good to hear that's not the case. All fluids go bad with time and use, most modern coolants need to be changed at 5 to 10 year intervals depending on their formulation.
For a general reason why things wear out, research "entropy".
How do the coolant get dirty? I checked it two weeks ago and its still green.
It should still be green, unless it has other problems. The corrosion inhibitors will start breaking down after a limited number of years, and the coolant becomes acidic. Green coolant usually means you need to change it every 3 to 5 years, or 36k miles. Take litmus paper and draw a sample of coolant. Put the sample on this litmus paper. It will be acidic. Change the coolant.
@justin-shepherd I have to wonder if the oil has ever been changed in this thing. "What causes oil to wear out?"
Most people know to change oil, but lots people tend to neglect coolant. My father-in-law never changed the coolant in that old Pontiac I bought from him. I changed the coolant after I bought it.
@justin-shepherd At least the Pontiac has a cast-iron lump for an engine. Modern aluminum engines don't take kindly to that sort of thing.
I was going to say, I thought cast iron was more forgiving than aluminum, but I wasn't entirely sure about that, lol.
@justin-shepherd It is. Back in the day many people just ran plain tap water in their cooling systems during the warm months. That wasn't a problem for the vast majority of engines which were cast iron but caused corrosion problems in early aluminum engines.
@justin-shepherd appreciate it. I had a mechanic check it out and its still clean and green. I am thinking of just change the cooling system soon as I do a tune up.
Well coolant gets dirty from corrosion. The anti-corrosion additives wear out and then it gets dirty
@scottykilmer thank u scotty like to hear from your perspective on lot of things. I learned from guys like u on how to take care of a car.