For starters it depends what colour it is!

"Super Long Life" coolant is BLUE. "Long Life" coolant is GREEN.

Blue coolant is replaced every EIGHT years.
Green coolant is replaced every THREE years.

To make things more confusing, mine appears to be TURQUOISE but must be Green since it was replaced at the three year service!

And to make things more confusing still, the handbook only refers to "SUZUKI LLC: Super (Blue) Coolant" in the "Recommended fuel/ lubricants and capacities" section - page 11-5.

However page 7-29 refers to both - including "SUZUKI LLC: Standard (Green) coolant" - which appears to require dilution 50/50 with antifreeze.

Unhelpfully it doesn't say what the amount required to top up from "LOW" to "FULL".

And nowhere in the book can I find any specification!

Halfords' configurator suggests:

Halfords OAT Ready Mixed Antifreeze 2 Litres | Halfords UK - "This product is an exact fit for your car "

What is the right coolant for your vehicle? :

• Green coolant is your conventional coolant (Ethylene Glycol base) and is the most common type of coolant found.
• Red coolant is typically has a base of Organic Acid Technology which has a different chemical makeup of green coolant and is designed to be suitable for aluminium radiators. Red coolant is often silicate and phosphate free for use in later Japanese and Euro vehicles.
• Blue coolant is usually an Organic Acid Technology base and what makes it different from red coolant is that they’re normally Borate free which is a requirement for modern day Japanese vehicles that are supplied with blue coolant from factory.
• Yellow or Orange coolants are the latest in technology and are normally a universal product. Some universal coolants will allow top up mixing to a certain percentage of the overall capacity of the cooling system, so it’s important to keep this in mind when topping up.

 

Do NOT mix coolants.

The Coolant level should rise and fall depending on engine temp. When cold, it should be down at the Cold Full line and when hot, it should be up at the Hot Full line. Drive your car to op temp, then stop and immediately open the bonnet to see the level. Then over the next 10-20 mins, the level will drop as the Coolant contracts and is drawn back into the engine and is quite normal, as the bottle is an expansion tank.

 

Sorry that's wrong. My car's just been serviced and the coolant is on FULL when cold

 

Depends on which system your car has. My Iggies are all 2000-2004 and have the first system demonstrated in this movie;

 

The question came from someone who has a 2017 car...

 

How am I to know that? When I joined here in 2010, the 2017 model didn't exist.

Please enlighten me with which system the 2017 model has. A picture of the bottle and lid would be good too please.

 

Well I knew he had a 2017 car didn't I?

 

That information is not stated anywhere in this thread.

 

I know.

 

The Ignis is factory filled with Ecstar Super Coolant. This is blue and Suzuki part number 990F0-59J44-EC1. Dealers buy coolant in bulk and the part number is for a 5L container - they don't supply anything smaller. Like any other part, the dealer may need to order the coolant. The coolant in the Ignis should first be changed at 100000 miles / 8 years and thereafter every 50000 miles / 4 years. Refer to coolants by specification not colour as different manufacturers use different colours for the same spec coolant. The Suzuki coolant is an ethylene glycol base with OAT additives and a common alternative is Comma XstreamG30. However it's best not to mix coolants, never mix coolants of different specifications and never top up with water. The Suzuki coolant is marginally more expensive than a good quality alternative so given the infrequent need to refill - I'd suggest sticking to the Suzuki coolant.

With a non-pressurised expansion bottle as on the Ignis - add coolant so the level is at the max mark when the engine is hot. When cold, the level will then be somewhere between min and max. Don't fill to the max mark with the engine cold. It might not matter too much on the ignis but expansion bottles on many cars filled to the max when cold will overflow when hot! The Ignis bottle doesn't have hot and cold markings on the expansion bottle. Suzuki have a tendency to factory fill cars up to around the minimum mark when cold so the Ignis bottle because of it's shape looks pretty empty when cold.

 

<SNIP> and never top up with water.<SNIP>

What is your reason for this recommendation? As far as I'm aware, most common automotive coolants are water based and topping up with water is permissible, within reason.

The only problem that I'm aware of is that frequent topping up, with water, will cause dilution of the coolant which can lead to freezing in cold weather - if you do have to top up frequently that would indicate a leak in the cooling system which would need to be repaired, but under those circumstances topping up with water is not only acceptable, it would be preferable to running with low coolant levels and risking overheating. Once the leak has been repaired, the cooling system can be replenished with the correct strength coolant.

Personally I prefer to buy coolant as a concentrate and dilute it myself, using mineral free water - this is in my opinion the only way to guarantee the recommended strength of the coolant.

 

This does not appear to be the coolant specification for my car since they changed it after three years with green.

 

The Ignis is filled with an 8 year life coolant and there would be no point in replacing it with an inferior / shorter life coolant at 3 years. Looking at your service sheet I suspect that it's just a pen mark rather than a tick on the R at the three year service. The parts manual only lists 990F0-59J44-EC1 (blue) as the coolant for the EU in the Ignis. The green coolant appears to be antifreeze rather than coolant and needs dilution with an equal amount of deionised water before use.

 

The recommended dilution in the Uk is 50% which gives a freezing point of ethanol glycol of -37degC. Each 5% further dilution results in 5deg C change in freezing point. If the intention is a 50% solution then top up with 50% coolant to ensure the cooling system stays at 50%. If you buy coolant in Europe it’s by definition a 50% solution.

Before any comment that it never gets as low as ~37degC in Europe, this is the freezing point and the coolant will resemble slush well above this temperature.

 

First - it took me less than 10 seconds to find a supplier in the UK selling undiluted coolant - the very first web site I went to, and out of eighteen offerings, eight were undiluted, roughly 50%, so undiluted coolant appears to be readily available.

Here's the scenario - you have no coolant on hand, the cooling system is low, are you going to top it up with water, or are you going to take your own advice, never top it up with water and risk overheating the engine and possible damage?

 

When should you NOT buy 50% diluted ready to use coolant?

If you're planning on flushing your cooling system and replacing the coolant, always]/i] buy undiluted coolant - here's the reason why.

The recommended procedure is usually to drain the existing coolant, then flush the cooling system with de-ionized water until it drains clear (colorless), and then refill with coolant - the problem with this procedure is that the flushing process leaves an unknown quantity of water trapped in the engine block. If you purchase undiluted coolant, you can lookup the manufacturer's spec for the cooling system capacity, divide that in half, measure that amount of undiluted coolant, add it to the cooling system and then top it up with de-ionized water - that will bring you a lot closer to the desired 50% coolant strength than if you simply fill with 50% diluted ready to use coolant.

You can now measure the remaining undiluted coolant, add an equal volume of de-ionized water - you now have 50% diluted coolant ready to use if you need to top up, and you know that it's compatible with what's already in the cooling system

 

When should you NOT buy 50% diluted ready to use coolant?

If you're planning on flushing your cooling system and replacing the coolant, always]/i] buy undiluted coolant - here's the reason why.

The recommended procedure is usually to drain the existing coolant, then flush the cooling system with de-ionized water until it drains clear (colorless), and then refill with coolant - the problem with this procedure is that the flushing process leaves an unknown quantity of water trapped in the engine block. If you purchase undiluted coolant, you can lookup the manufacturer's spec for the cooling system capacity, divide that in half, measure that amount of undiluted coolant, add it to the cooling system and then top it up with de-ionized water - that will bring you a lot closer to the desired 50% coolant strength than if you simply fill with 50% diluted ready to use coolant.

You can now measure the remaining undiluted coolant, add an equal volume of de-ionized water - you now have 50% diluted coolant ready to use if you need to top up, and you know that it's compatible with what's already in the cooling system

Modern, high quality coolants are loaded with inhibitors and provided you stick to the original fill coolant, there should be no need to flush the system before refill. Indeed the Ignis service sheet and maintenance section of the Suzuki workshop manual simply calls for drain and refill at the prescribed interval. The prescribed Suzuki coolant is only available in the 50% solution form so if you want to fill with an alternative coolant then you should follow the flushing and refilling procedure above.

 

Being a moderator does not mean I cannot respond to questions as if I were a normal user - I also have a responsibility to ensure that the advice given is correct, and you or any other forum member, can expect to be questioned if you post content that I consider misleading or just plain incorrect.

To bluntly state that water should never be used to top up a cooling system is misleading, water can be used if nothing else is available.

I suggest you read the discussion again - I simply asked you to explain the reason for your recommendation to never top up with water - rather than agreeing that water could be used in an emergency, you chose to further mislead by suggesting that undiluted coolant was not available for purchase.

 

I knew you'd have to have the last word so I'll not respond further to this post!

 

Personally I use concentrate and dilute with de-mineralized water harvested via my home dehumidifier.. 50/50 and checked with a hydrometer..

As a safety note, if you have a leak, do not leave your droppings on the ground, it is sweet and toxic, deadly to animals, children, and stupid adults..

 

Called into an other Suzuki dealer yesterday with the part number for the coolant. They had it in stock but they asked if I really wanted a five liter container or just a top up. I told them just a top up and they said that Suzuki never put enough in the reservoir just the bare minimum. Partsman disappears then comes back with a container of coolant around half full and some paper towels. Told me to top the Ignis and bring the container back. Took about a pint to bring it up to the full level engine hot. No charge great Suzuki dealer for next time!! For anyone wanting the correct coolant here it is

 

Hey bud, what’s the part number please ?

 

Any decent distilled water will do, deionised water can still contain organic particles. Deiinonising removes any ions (effectively minerals in the water) but does not remove organic particles unless its filtered. Distillation will remove both.
Any good quality home water filtration unit with a deionising filter will do good enough quality water for your battery and coolant.

 

Do not use distilled water in your automotive cooling system.
Why You Should Never Use Distilled Water in Your Cooling System | Rislone

 

Do not use distilled water in your automotive cooling system.
Why You Should Never Use Distilled Water in Your Cooling System | Rislone

You mix concentrate with distilled as per the manufacturers directions, i have yet to find one that tells you to use anything else. Distilled water is ph neutral, softened water is not. Pure Distilled water will attract ions from the metallic cooling system components, but when mixed with concentrate it is chemically balanced. That's the whole point of mixing it with Distilled water.

if you read the article its talking about the entire cooling system using distilled water Which is bad.

 

Infact Suzuki recommends deionised water to make up coolant!. Realistically distilled or deionised water will be fine - just avoid tap water. Better still use a coolant such as Suzuki Super Coolant (blue). This is pre diluted to the optimum concentration.

https://www.globalsuzuki.com/after_sales/automobile/pdf/engine_coolant_flyer.pdf