Coolant Leak Issue in 2024 Kia Niro Hybrid – EHRS Problem
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Hello, this is Geoff from geoffmobile.com
Today I’m going to do a very short video about a particular issue with the Kia Niro hybrid cars made by Kia.
We have a 2024 Niro with about 90,000 kilometers on it, and we noticed that the coolant level for the engine coolant—the one on the left side of the hood when you open up the engine—was very low. On the left side there’s a tank with a line that says “min” and a line that says “max.” I noticed the coolant level was actually way below the min. It was actually almost all gone.
If I hadn’t noticed that the coolant was low, it might have all leaked out and we would have been unable to drive anymore. So the question that I had was: where is this coolant going?
Finding the Cause
Searching on Gemini and online, I found one possible cause is that the coolant could be leaking out of what’s called the Exhaust Heat Recovery System (EHRS). This is a place where the coolant actually goes into the catalytic converter area and heat is exchanged with the exhaust air, and then it comes back through into the engine.
It turns out that we took the car to the dealer and this was the problem. There was a coolant leak in the exhaust heat recovery system. Because the car is less than 100,000 km, this repair is covered by warranty.
Key Takeaway: Check Your Fluids Regularly
I guess the key takeaway is: if you see in your engine—like, always open up your engine every week and look at all the different containers of liquids and fluids. If you notice any that are below the min, you should definitely investigate the cause, especially for the coolant, because the coolant should never decrease below the min on its own unless there’s a leak.
The engine does not actually consume coolant. It’s a closed system. The coolant just flows through. So if the coolant is getting really low, that means that there is a leak somewhere. You really need to take it into a Kia authorized service center, like a dealership that has a service department, to have them diagnose where this leak is, because it could be a leak in many different places.
In my case, it was in the exhaust heat recovery system, which is a common issue on older Niros, but it looks like it’s also an issue on the newer generation of Niro hybrids as well. But the leak could also be in, say, your heater core—if you smell some sweet smell coming into your cabin—or it could be in a hose anywhere throughout the engine.
So definitely, if you have a leak or low fluid level, don’t just top it up and think you’re fine. Really have a dealer do an investigation into where it’s leaking, because that can be very important to discover the problem.
Our Repair Experience
In our case, the dealer was able to diagnose the problem successfully and they ordered the parts to fix it. But unfortunately, there was only one of these heat exchangers left in Canada, and it was already taken by a different dealer. So right now, we’re waiting up to 8 weeks for the part to come from Korea.
They would not agree to do a bypass of the EHRS because that was not really the policy of Kia. They don’t ever bypass the EHRS. But if you do have a mechanic you trust who could do the bypass, that’s one way to work around this problem. It may decrease your engine efficiency a little bit by bypassing the EHRS, but if you search on Gemini or Google for “Kia Niro coolant EHRS bypass,” you’ll get a lot of resources and even some YouTube videos on how that can be done. But don’t do it yourself—I recommend having a trusted mechanic do that.
In the meantime, we are driving a courtesy car which is provided for free from the dealer. It’s amazing that they have great service, and obviously since it’s under 100,000 km, it’s covered by warranty, so we’re lucky in this case.
Final Thoughts
The moral of the story is: if you have any kind of vehicle, always go into the engine and just check the visible coolant levels of all the different tanks. Make sure you’re not running low on any of them, because that could indicate a serious issue with your engine or some leak somewhere, and it’s really good to investigate that.
If you have any questions about the Kia Niro hybrids and any low coolant levels or leaks, as well as this exhaust heat recovery system, please let me know in the comments below. Happy to answer your questions. Have a great day and talk to you soon.
Don’t forget to subscribe. Bye!
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