Zerex 50/50 for Asian cars

[redmed]

Thanks guys.
12L 12n & 10M not what I expected. Now I wonder myself.

My 2013 has 7P on the cap. Looks like a date code to me. My guess is that the number is either the week or month of manufacture, and the letter is the year. Probably L=2009, M=2010, N=2011, P=2012. 'O' is often skipped because it is too easily confused with zero. (The same goes for 'I', but that is irrelevant here.)

I think you may be right. That means my Kizashi was made December 2009. That sounds correct but I can't remember where it shows the build date. I thought it was on the drivers door sill but just found the tire pressures.

[bdleonard]

I think you may be right. That means my Kizashi was made December 2009. That sounds correct but I can't remember where it shows the build date. I thought it was on the drivers door sill but just found the tire pressures.

Well, it means the radiator cap was made then. The car would be made some time after that, probably within a month or two, but possibly much later depending on inventory. In theory, it means that the earliest your car could have been made is Dec 2009.

On my car, the black plackard with the manufacturing info is on the lower portion of the pillar between the front and rear doors on the driver's side. 08/12 for me, which means the '7P' on my cap would fit as 07/12.

[redmed]

I think you may be right. That means my Kizashi was made December 2009. That sounds correct but I can't remember where it shows the build date. I thought it was on the drivers door sill but just found the tire pressures.

Well, it means the radiator cap was made then. The car would be made some time after that, probably within a month or two, but possibly much later depending on inventory. In theory, it means that the earliest your car could have been made is Dec 2009.

On my car, the black plackard with the manufacturing info is on the lower portion of the pillar between the front and rear doors on the driver's side. 08/12 for me, which means the '7P' on my cap would fit as 07/12.

I took another look and I found the build date Jan 2010. My cap 12L (Dec 2009) so like yours it took a few weeks to get all the parts together.

[SamirD]

I'd go with the genuine Suzuki stuff and not worry. It's going to be a small difference in price to pay for knowing it's the exact right part. Japanese cars are pretty precise and won't have as much 'wiggle' room on the specs. Aftermarket parts ALWAYS cut corners on specs. I know this from selling aftermarket parts as a distributor. I always get dealer stuff--even spark plugs.

That is a completely reasonable (if pricey) way to go. The problem there is, what do you do if the OEM goes NLA? Or what if they don't offer the product you need? (For example, concentrated coolant to anybody who has ever added straight water to their cooling system. Adding 50/50 coolant can never get you back to 50%) Or what if the dealer is too far away to be a reasonable choice? I like to know what the viable options are.

You bring up some valid points, but I think we won't be facing a complete exhaustion of Suzuki parts in the US anytime soon. There are quite a few dealerships that have picked up the service business and have access to parts and even keep a lot in stock. Mail order parts hasn't dried up either, so I don't think this will really be an issue.

As far as what to do when you need some? Simplest solution=distilled water. It mixes with everything! Sure your coolant ratio might change a bit, but if you've lost a lot of coolant, you're going to do a full replacement fixing whatever caused such a large leak in the first place and you can get the good stuff then.

[SamirD]

Thanks guys.
12L 12n & 10M not what I expected. Now I wonder myself.

My 2013 has 7P on the cap. Looks like a date code to me. My guess is that the number is either the week or month of manufacture, and the letter is the year. Probably L=2009, M=2010, N=2011, P=2012. 'O' is often skipped because it is too easily confused with zero. (The same goes for 'I', but that is irrelevant here.)

I think you may be right. That means my Kizashi was made December 2009. That sounds correct but I can't remember where it shows the build date. I thought it was on the drivers door sill but just found the tire pressures.

You should be able to put your vin in a vin decoder to get the manufacturing date.

I used to use one from the pronto parts because it was so good, it was professional level. Pronto parts figured this out and stopped allowing the public to use it.

[redmed]

All this manufacture date talk is a side issue. It was started because O'Reilly shows not to use the Beck/Arnley - Engine Coolant / Antifreeze unless your radiator cap shows "FI22". Since no Kizashi cap shows FI22 we shouldn't use this stuff, I guess. A trip to the dealer ts the only way to be sure. Does antifreeze age sitting in the bottle? Can I get some and let it sit until needed?

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detai ... &ppt=C0059

[SamirD]

All this manufacture date talk is a side issue. It was started because O'Reilly shows not to use the Beck/Arnley - Engine Coolant / Antifreeze unless your radiator cap shows "FI22". Since no Kizashi cap shows FI22 we shouldn't use this stuff, I guess. A trip to the dealer ts the only way to be sure. Does antifreeze age sitting in the bottle? Can I get some and let it sit until needed?

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detai ... &ppt=C0059

That could be some sort of legal CYA since they only tested it in a car with a FI22 cap, not realizing that the number was a date code for the cap and nothing more.

Fluids can go bad over time, but I'm not sure if long-life antifreeze is as susceptible since it is designed to sit for long periods of time (but surrounded by a lot of aluminum though).

[redmed]

All this manufacture date talk is a side issue. It was started because O'Reilly shows not to use the Beck/Arnley - Engine Coolant / Antifreeze unless your radiator cap shows "FI22". Since no Kizashi cap shows FI22 we shouldn't use this stuff, I guess. A trip to the dealer ts the only way to be sure. Does antifreeze age sitting in the bottle? Can I get some and let it sit until needed?

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detai ... &ppt=C0059

That could be some sort of legal CYA since they only tested it in a car with a FI22 cap, not realizing that the number was a date code for the cap and nothing more.

Fluids can go bad over time, but I'm not sure if long-life antifreeze is as susceptible since it is designed to sit for long periods of time (but surrounded by a lot of aluminum though).

Your right it is called "Long-Life"