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Tips on how to change my radiator coolant

1K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  elacaba 
#1 ·
Hi guys,

Any tips would be highly appreciated on how to change my radiator coolant. Do i have to mix water with coolant? Thanks guys...
 
#2 ·
Depends on what type of coolant you are replacing it with. Hondas coolant comes pre-mixed. Not sure if your standard auto coolant is kosher in a bike (never bothered to check...) but those (assuming non 50/50 premix) would require adding water. The coolant itself should tell you if it's diluted or not. If it's not, pretty sure you can check your owners manual for the appropriate mix if 50/50 won't fly.
 
#4 ·
You live in the Philippines ?
And it never freezes ?
Run 75 distilled water and 25 % glycol just for water pump seal lubrication.
Your cooling system is better with more water in it.
The ONLY reason to run 50/50 is for pure anti freeze properties in extreme sub zero conditions like - 35.
50/50 as a heat transfer fluid is actually quite poor in comparison to water.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I use Engine Ice. No muss, no fuss. Drain, rinse what you can.....maybe throw a bit of compressed air in there though not much to blow out any remnants, fill rad, run, thermostat open, top off, ride to temp, fill overflow tank to full/hot level. Have a cold beer.
 
#6 ·
what i did is drained the system completly... replaced with pure distilled water, ran it around the block for a coupla min to heat it up nuff to open the tstat to do a flush of the system, drained again. Then put in my blend. (being that i like you never live in a place that freezes... you more so than me)

Nd4's blend =

~70% distilled water
~30% glycol
And the respective amount of Water Wetter.

I think what i did was fill the empty gallon jug of distilled water from the first flush up halfway with 50/50 premix. then filled the rest with distilled water from another new jug of distilled. so i had 1 part glycol to 3 parts distilled... or around about 70:30 75:25 mix then just added the right amount of water wetter for the gallon of coolant i made.

Note, dont be alarmed if the system as a whole (engine / rad + coolant overflow) doesnt take the amount listed in the book... i have no idea how they fit the 3.38L in JUST the engine / rad... it was more like 3.38L for both the engine and coolant overflow.
 
#7 ·
....
Nd4's blend =

~70% distilled water
~30% glycol
And the respective amount of Water Wetter.

...
This is what I did, too.


There is a small bolt near the bottom of the water pump; this is a drain bolt.
When the bike is on its side-stand, using this bolt does a great job of draining the system to as near empty as possible.
 
#9 ·
There is a good thread on this here somewhere .....

Did mine recently, some tips.

Order a new crush washer (copper) for the pump drain bolt first (cheap).

Get set-up with the tank up, luids ready etc before removing the drain bolt.

With catch tray in hand and you positioned on the drain hole side of the bike reach over and unscrew the coolant cap - coolant will now piss out with some force from the drain hole.

Hand screw the drain bolt back in - fill the bike with clean water (distilled if u have it) and repeat the drain - this pretty much clears the old fluid.

If you remove the overflow tube that goes into the fluid reservoir under the seat and unthread the tube you can syphon the coolant from the container (a quick suck and gravity does the rest - don't swallow if you get some in your mouth - rinse it out with fresh beer!). Flush with fresh water as it drains and once clear return the hose to it's former position.

Very slowly fill the system with fresh coolant/water mix - I recommend using a funnel of some type as it is a bit fiddly under the tank even when fully raised. Do it slowly to avoid spills (bad for paint) and air bubbles. Once full, check all is tight and also fill the reservoir tank under the seat to the high mark level.

Cap still off and bike vertical, fire it up - someone posted a really good idea of adding a old bicycle inner tube to the top of the cap mouth at this stage - I used about 6 inches and held it vertically - heat the engine (and fluid up) for 3 - 4 minutes and blip the throttle a few times to remove any air from the system.

Recheck fluid level, add if necessary and replace the cap. Should be all good now.
 
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