Hyundai Elantra Forum banner

Coolant type that hyundai suggest

[XD] 
38K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  sonic7777 
#1 ·
I own a used Hyundai Elantra 2004 and think it is supposed to have dexcool. I bought it used and found green type in the rad. Tomorrow I do have the long warm up times so I am having the t stat changed and going to use dexcool. Is dexcool what hyundai suggests???
 
#4 ·
^ Yeah... it's not a GM product.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Std. green stuff 50/50 is fine, as long as it is low in silicates AND you change it out every 2yr/24K miles. A phosphated OAT coolant is best, but it's tough to find in the aftermarket. Zerex makes an Asian POAT formula, but it's not stocked in a lot of parts stores and only comes in a premix 50/50 formula, which makes it quite expensive when doing a complete flush of the system.

I just opted to pick up a gallon of Genuine Hyundai coolant from the dealer (about $20), a couple gallons of distilled water ($2 more), and an hour of my time and did it myself. Also, you can safely go longer than 2yr/24k with the longlife formulation that Hyunda sells.
 
#8 ·
I just got the flush done. Checked with the shop they used the flush machine that is 100% fluid exchange....changed my t stat while it was being done and they put thankfully the yellow stuff in it. Its the long life coolant that is phosphate free. Thanks for the info now I have lots of heat! They said they flushed my car 3 times to make sure it was clean. It apparently was very slugged up. I figure it was the original coolant. So it was very old. From now on even though I have the long life coolant in I am going by what the manual says and change every 2 yrs regardless.
 
#9 ·
You said "phosphate free". I hope you meant "silicate free". My understanding is that phosphate is fine for our cars - even recommended. Silicates, however are not so good. On my first flush several yrs ago, I used Texaco standard green coolant, which is both low silicate and low phosphate. The reason I chose that was because that was what the Hyundai dealer used to top off cars they serviced, so I figured it must be OK. And it is OK, as long as you dont leave it in too long (2 yrs is fine). Since that time, I learned more about coolants and realized that the optimal coolant for most Asian cars is a phosphated OAT - which is sometimes harder to find. The dealers generally have it, but charge at least $20/gal for it. "If" you could find it in the aftermarket, a good POAT would cost you around $12 to $13. That's why I elected to cough up the $20 at the dealership for the overpriced "Genuine Hyundai coolant". After all, I'm only doing this every 3 yrs or so, so $25 for the coolant including 2 or 3 gals of distilled water is no issue.

Also, color of the coolant doesnt mean a thing - it's the chemistry that is important. That being said, and so folks dont worry unnecessarily, I firmly believe that coolant is a lot like motor oil; that is, the most important variable is how often you change it :) You would probably be better off using a non-preferred coolant and changing it every 2 yrs, than an ideal coolant and leaving it in for 6 yrs, for example. Also, keeping the ratio of coolant to water is more important than most think. Every shop that has ever flushed my coolant has replenished it with "way too strong a mixture of coolant to water". Most vehicles recommend 40 to 60% coolant to water. I've had cars come back with over 80% coolant, cause they just weren't careful. Then, I have to spend time draining the strong mixture, and replacing with distilled water, till I get it back down to 60%. So, I now just generally change my own coolant, cause I end up correcting the shop's errors anyway.

Remember - very important to ALWAYS use distilled, demineralized, deionized, etc. water. It's less than $1 a gallon, and I can get by with 2 gals for an Elantra. Tap water is a NO NO.
 
#11 ·
Its well worth it. Paid quite a bit to have a shop do it but it was with the machine that does 100% fluid exchange. I get tons of heat now. I can only look forward to the summer as I think my a/c will work better as well. Thanks for everyones comments on here so helpful. From now on I am changing every 2 yrs.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top