2020+ (classic) Ioniq: Low-conductivity coolant crystallizing + low-coolant level warning ...

There is a bit of a s-storm brewing at IoniqForum.com regarding an issue with the low-conductivity coolant on the above-mentioned models. For some reason it's "creating crystals", blocking circulation and triggering the low-coolant level warning.

No indication yet on if this affects the blue-coolant Kona or all Ioniq 5 models but it's worth a read for those who have the time.

Personally I was mostly interested in how the low-coolant warning is triggered since it's come up quite a few times on this forum and I was flummoxed as to how it worked since there is no dedicated sensor.

https://www.ioniqforum.com/threads/coolant-warning.38495/

 

They may be flushing the system with water which would be difficult to remove completely before installing the low-conductivity coolant.
I would find it hard to believe that this later version of the classic Ioniq with a liquid cooled battery is any different an application than the Kona, Niro, Ioniq 5, EV6, etc.
I would also expect that reverting back to conventional green would be entirely possible without making any other changes.

 

Which is what they installed in mine last week. Now its pink with a hint of green.

 

So, today a Germany-based Ioniq 38kWh owner with this issue reported that the dealer flushed the low-conductivity blue coolant out of the system and installed "pink" coolant which is certainly the same stuff as the conventional fill for all Hyundai ICE. It sounds like they've given up trying to fix it, at least for the time being.

I'm sure we'll hear more about it in the next few weeks as there are quite a few Ioniq owners in the same boat.

 

One related note from a recent Munro Associates video about the underside of the new Kia Niro EV. Kia appears to have incorporated the cooling panel on the outside of the battery pack instead of inside as in the current Kona. It may be that they have determined that the risk of avoiding a coolant spill inside the pack is more important than protecting the cooling panel from road damage. By all accounts that I've seen Kia deviate from Hyundai by not using LC coolant in either the Niro or the EV6.

 

We now have a factory-issued TSB for this issue, posted thanks to an alert Ioniq owner on ioniqforum.com. Note the applicability range indicates it was caught during production 12 Oct 2021 so many later examples should be OK. Full TSB in the PDF.

 

It's not entirely clear who wrote the TSB but it may be that it was Hyundai Motor America rather than Hyundai SK. The fact that it's not indicated anywhere and the US date format both seem to support that theory.