I've had my Kona for a couple of months (it was parked for 2.5 weeks during that time) and I have just checked my coolant. The level is midway between the min and max. Is this normal? I was surprised to see that it had gone down that much. Also what coolant are people using? I read you can top up with distilled deionized water, should I mix that with anti-freeze? Thanks,
If it's between MIN and MAX then it is normal 'enough'. It should not 'use' any coolant. If it goes below MIN I would take it to the dealer rather than mask a potential issue. There's been one case reported of a coolant pump failing.
That's exactly where the level has been on mine since Feb 25. When you say it went down what level was it at when you purchased? The mix ratio recommendation in the manual is 50% water and 50% antifreeze for -35 C and higher, no more than 60% antifreeze or less than 35% antifreeze, if you must top it up.
I don’t actually recall what the level was when I purchased the car, I just assumed it would’ve been at max. I’ll keep an eye on it. Thanks for your reply.
In my opinion it's unlikely that was the case. The MAX marking is not to be exceeded when hot; when cold the level should not be below MIN marking.
coolant volume changes with temperature so you can't actually tell that there's a leak just because one time you look at it and it's at max and another time it's halfway between the two. you need to always check when coolant is at the same temperature. If you had a coolant loss you'd have colored liquid under your car in your driveway. Do you see anything?
well then you may still have a slow drip. if you want to make sure, you need to do a long term check, and compare the liquid level under same circumstances, let's say in the morning when vehicle is unused and outside temperatures are similar. and of course the liquid should not drop below the min level no matter what.
