FJR 04 Radiator flush

[Nightshift]

I had 34 K mi on odometer so I figured its time for first radiator coolant flush and replacement. I followed Warchild's written directions from the FJRTech dot com site. The whole job took 4 hrs,but I figured a shop would charge $90 for a crappy bare-bones radiator flush. It's a good thing I decided to do it because there was only an inch deep of coolant left in the fill resevoir. Took it for a ride and it ran great. I notice I will have to add a little more coolant to fill resevoir to bring it to the max level line. Glad I did it!

 

[zom]

Yes, it's time consuming but worth it. I think the most time consuming part is waiting for the bike to cool down, but that's why you have a few quarts of something cold next to you to help pass the time.

 

[GPRIDER]

OOOOh! I could get into serious trouble after a few quarts.

GP :drinks:

 

[SkooterG]

Holy cow. Was that your FJR's first coolant change? Yamaha calls for a coolant change every 16k miles or 2 years, whichever comes first. (IIRC)

When I do mine I don't worry about flushing out the entire system with water. I just drain as much as possible, and re-fill with the Honda pre-mix coolant.

 

[Nightshift]

Holy cow. Was that your FJR's first coolant change? Yamaha calls for a coolant change every 16k miles or 2 years, whichever comes first. (IIRC)

When I do mine I don't worry about flushing out the entire system with water. I just drain as much as possible, and re-fill with the Honda pre-mix coolant.

Yea I bought the bike used with 12600 mi it and the bike was two yrs old at that point. I added coolant to the fill resevoir probably twice, but never a fluid replacement. Color looked ok so I kept putting it off. That fluid sho' looks clean now

 

[SkooterG]

The way I understand it color has nothing to do with nothing. But over time, the corrosion protection of the coolant is degraded, hence the need for regular replacement.

 

[SockMonkey]

I did the flush-n-blow on my bike Saturday. Time consuming as hell, but since I had other maintenance to do I killed time by taking care of those little tasks during the cool-down periods.

Now - at the risk of being laughed off this board (or condemning this thread to NEPRT), I have an admission to make: I actually called Prestone to find out which of their products would be the most well-suited to a motorcycle application. (1-800-890-2075 option 4 if you want to add that to your speed dial. As an aside, after asking the question, "Mark" chuckled and asked, "you don't happen to ride a Gold Wing, do you?") Thankfully, I wasn't the first person to ask this question and he steered me right towards their "Prestone Dex-Cool Extended Life 50/50 Prediluted Antifreeze/Coolant". Obviously I wanted to know why vs. other motorcycle-specific products (another chuckle...). He told me that 1) it's specially formulated for aluminum engines and particularly aluminum radiators, and 2) it's what's specified in the Corvette Z06. Well then, in that case...

Oh yeah, the stuff is orange. <_<

 

[Ack535]

I did the flush-n-blow on my bike Saturday. Time consuming as hell, but since I had other maintenance to do I killed time by taking care of those little tasks during the cool-down periods.

Now - at the risk of being laughed off this board (or condemning this thread to NEPRT), I have an admission to make: I actually called Prestone to find out which of their products would be the most well-suited to a motorcycle application. (1-800-890-2075 option 4 if you want to add that to your speed dial. As an aside, after asking the question, "Mark" chuckled and asked, "you don't happen to ride a Gold Wing, do you?") Thankfully, I wasn't the first person to ask this question and he steered me right towards their "Prestone Dex-Cool Extended Life 50/50 Prediluted Antifreeze/Coolant". Obviously I wanted to know why vs. other motorcycle-specific products (another chuckle...). He told me that 1) it's specially formulated for aluminum engines and particularly aluminum radiators, and 2) it's what's specified in the Corvette Z06. Well then, in that case...

Oh yeah, the stuff is orange. <_<

Man, I hate to burst you bubble, but that Orange Dex Cool crap has been eating through GM head gaskets and intake gaskets for years... I wouldn't worry about it too much initially, but don't run it for 100K miles. Change it when you can.

Pete

 

[FJRAE]

I did the flush-n-blow on my bike Saturday. Time consuming as hell, but since I had other maintenance to do I killed time by taking care of those little tasks during the cool-down periods.

Now - at the risk of being laughed off this board (or condemning this thread to NEPRT), I have an admission to make: I actually called Prestone to find out which of their products would be the most well-suited to a motorcycle application. (1-800-890-2075 option 4 if you want to add that to your speed dial. As an aside, after asking the question, "Mark" chuckled and asked, "you don't happen to ride a Gold Wing, do you?") Thankfully, I wasn't the first person to ask this question and he steered me right towards their "Prestone Dex-Cool Extended Life 50/50 Prediluted Antifreeze/Coolant". Obviously I wanted to know why vs. other motorcycle-specific products (another chuckle...). He told me that 1) it's specially formulated for aluminum engines and particularly aluminum radiators, and 2) it's what's specified in the Corvette Z06. Well then, in that case...

Oh yeah, the stuff is orange. <_<

Man, I hate to burst you bubble, but that Orange Dex Cool crap has been eating through GM head gaskets and intake gaskets for years... I wouldn't worry about it too much initially, but don't run it for 100K miles. Change it when you can.

Pete

Agreed, it turns into a gel like substance and clogs cooling passages, terrible stuff in my experience. GM used it as a selling tool; look ma, no maintenance for 100k...and then it's out of warranty, coincidentally

 

[SockMonkey]

I did the flush-n-blow on my bike Saturday. Time consuming as hell, but since I had other maintenance to do I killed time by taking care of those little tasks during the cool-down periods.

Now - at the risk of being laughed off this board (or condemning this thread to NEPRT), I have an admission to make: I actually called Prestone to find out which of their products would be the most well-suited to a motorcycle application. (1-800-890-2075 option 4 if you want to add that to your speed dial. As an aside, after asking the question, "Mark" chuckled and asked, "you don't happen to ride a Gold Wing, do you?") Thankfully, I wasn't the first person to ask this question and he steered me right towards their "Prestone Dex-Cool Extended Life 50/50 Prediluted Antifreeze/Coolant". Obviously I wanted to know why vs. other motorcycle-specific products (another chuckle...). He told me that 1) it's specially formulated for aluminum engines and particularly aluminum radiators, and 2) it's what's specified in the Corvette Z06. Well then, in that case...

Oh yeah, the stuff is orange. <_<

Man, I hate to burst you bubble, but that Orange Dex Cool crap has been eating through GM head gaskets and intake gaskets for years... I wouldn't worry about it too much initially, but don't run it for 100K miles. Change it when you can.

Pete

It figures.... :glare: I'll just have to make sure I keep on the maintenance schedule; 2 years or 16,000 miles - whichever is sooner.

 

[FJRAE]

I think you'll probably be fine within 2 years, I typically saw the gel start to form in the cooling systems right around 2+ years, and the Prestone version might not be as bad as the original Dexcool stuff, just the name alone steers me away from it. Keep an eye on the reservoir; you'll see the gel there if it does occur, definitely not an overnight occurence though

 

[FJR Flyer]

Hmmm.....I, too, just did the ******** flush and fill and used Prestone Dex-Cool. Hate to admit I've got 42K miles on the clock and its the first flush for me. Not sure if the PO had done one. With the Gen II having the reservoir on the opposite side, I took both side panels off. Didn't take as long as I thought. Put a box fan in front of the bike to speed the cooling process. It reminded me of the prep for my colonoscopy, keep going until it comes out clear. The bike was a much easier process, tho.

I pulled the tank and changed the plugs while I had the garage pass still valid. And also took the opportunity to finally install Brody's grounding harness. The thing has been mocking me from the workbench for months on end. Went fairly well, until I couldn't get one of the damn headlight adjuster knob screws off and had to work around it connected to the panel. None the the spider connectors showed any signs of distress. Glad to get the buggers out of there, tho. Also hooked up the O2 connector to try and regain some MPG on the highway with the PCIII.

Thanks to Warchild for the great instructions on FJR Tech. That site is invaluable. Guess I won't wait as long to do the flush and fill next time. I guess the normal Prestone is the better choice?

 

[shuswaper]

Well, don't know why anybody is doin the "2 yr" change interval anymore. The 5 yr/250,000km stuff has been out for years now and that is definitely the way to go as far as I'm concerned. I've used different brands (never "Dex-cool though, as I remember the problems it caused in G.M world)...theyv`e all been orange and never had a problem. The key here gents is: low maintenance and there can't be anything wrong with that!!

 

[garyahouse]

Just filled my 05 with prestone dexcool and have a similar story to tell, but only 7k on the odometer. Now I've got orange stuff in the overflow tank. I'm not a happy camper, sitting here reading this thread. OK, fine, we'll leave it in for now, and will change it in couple years, but would the forum please speak clearly here, WHAT SHOULD WE BE USING? Anybody got enough experience out there to put together a list? And please don't tell us to use the Yammie stuff at 10 bucks a quart.

Gary

darksider #44

 

[DennisJ]

I use EngineIce in '09

 

[SkooterG]

Just filled my 05 with prestone dexcool and have a similar story to tell, but only 7k on the odometer. Now I've got orange stuff in the overflow tank. I'm not a happy camper, sitting here reading this thread. OK, fine, we'll leave it in for now, and will change it in couple years, but would the forum please speak clearly here, WHAT SHOULD WE BE USING? Anybody got enough experience out there to put together a list? And please don't tell us to use the Yammie stuff at 10 bucks a quart.

Gary

darksider #44

There are all kinds of opinions as to what you SHOULD be using. KISS. Honda pre-mix coolant. Readily available, pre-mixed, and in the great scheme of things, not all that expensive.

And as for Shuswaper's post, I am going to listen to Yamaha maintenance guidelines before a coolant's.

This topic has been discussed ad naseum. A bit of searching will turn up a plethora of threads with some great info, especially on Dexcool, and sillicate vs. sillicate free coolant.

 

[RaYzerman19]

If I understand correctly, Dexcool will not mix with other coolants, so you have to do a flush. In all my bikes I have used Prestone phosphate and silicate free either premix or not. Honda premix is good too.

 

[shuswaper]

If I understand correctly, Dexcool will not mix with other coolants, so you have to do a flush. In all my bikes I have used Prestone phosphate and silicate free either premix or not. Honda premix is good too.

FWIW RaYzerman...the latest generation "Universal" coolants are compatible with all types incl. "Dexcool". Mind you, I don't think I would leave THAT stuff in the system.

 

[Dusty]

My boat engines have DexCool in them from the GM factory. I was concerned about GM's problems with it eating head gaskets when it came time to change the coolant, but after researching the facts found there to be more to the story.

DexCool is a very good coolant and usually lasts much longer than regular glycol. GM's problems were limited to some of their V6 engines and DexCool wasn't the problem - the material used in the head gaskets themselves were not compatible with DexCool! The problem was made worse by those with DexCool in their non-affected engines draining/flushing/and replacing with regular glycol due to fear of DexCool melting their head gaskets. Try as you may, there are always traces of DexCool in those tiny coolant passages remaining AND when DexCool is mixed with regular glycol it can form a gel like substance. The gel can actually block coolant flow, you get a "hot spot" and all the problems that come with lack of cooling soon follow.

I decided to refill both my 8.1Ltr boat engines with the original orange DexCool and use regular glycol for my FJR (actually using Toyota Coolant - red in colour). I've never had a problem.