Coolant drain and fill

[mtrdrms]

So I am going to replace my TPS as per the sticky and wanted to get some other maintanence items checked off while I have the tank off.  Just wanted to hear back from folks that have done a coolant exchange per the manual.  It says to drain it from the cylinder and then refill.  This only yeilded about 1.5 quarts and I don't believe drained the radiator.  Is there a better way to do this or am I looking too much into it?

Andy

[Danny955i]

You CAN drain it from the cylinder, but you'll only get about 1/2 the coolant out of the bike... down on the water pump (the oval/triangular looking fixture by the shifter) there is a bolt with a slightly different head, it should be the bottom of the 3 bolts holding the cover on.

This is the base-drain bolt... you could also simply remove the large hose going to it and drain the coolant that way.

Remove the cylinder drain bolt, and the base drain bolt (or hose) and remove the radiator cap. This will completely drain the system. Also, remove the cap on the reservoir... if you notice some rust or crud in the reservoir, I strongly recommend removing it and flushing it out with some hot water and baking soda. (Figure 1 gallon of hot water with about a half-cup of baking soda dissolved in it.) This solution will help neutralize any acidity/rust in the tank.

Then, Plug the cylinder and base holes (re-attach the hose) and pour that hot water/soda mix into the radiator fill hole. This will help flush any crud out of the radiator/motor. Remove the BOTTOM bolt (you can leave the cylinder one in for now) and continue pouring in the mix until no more crud comes out.

Now, you can do one of two things... Get a garden hose, stick it in the filler hole and crank it up and power flush the system. OR, do it with more CLEAN hot-water... I suggest flushing out the bottom hole until it runs clean, plugging it back up, then removing the cylinder bolt and flushing until that one runs clean... then completely drain all water from the system.

Once everything's back together (remember to install the hoses on the reservoir correctly) fill it with some 50/50 antifreeze that is rated safe for Aluminum radiators (Prestone/Ice/etc...) You can also use 100% motorcycle stuff, but 99% of it does not come pre-mixed, so if you are going to get it, get some DISTILLED water to mix with... this will keep rust/sludge from forming in the system.

...

Of course, you could just drain and re-fill, but chances are the bike has never had a system flush... and you'll probably find some rusty bits in your reservoir.

Good luck!

[mtrdrms]

Thanks for the great reply.  I didnt think I got it all out!  There was some nastiness in my reservoir and the coolant that the PO used was orange - hard to disguish it from rust.  I'm off to flush it!

thanks again,


Andy

[Chris Canning]

Take the reservoir off and either use something like this.

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/8949/Magic-Balls

or a hand full of small stainless nuts.

But the real important bit is refilling,take your time becuase if you don't you'll be cursing when you have a airlock.

[Tom Krein]

Good info!  Thanks!!

Those magic balls look very similar to airgun BB's....