can anyone please confirm what type of antifreeze coolant l should put in my 748. The manual states 50/50 distilled water and antifreeze. Visited Halfords this evening. No bike specific but the car stuff is either silicate or OAT. I have a few Ltrs of the Halfords Silicate antifreeze at home. Will this cause a problem with bike? Thanks for the advice. Cannot find anywhere stating if it should be OAT or silicate antifreeze.
The OAT stuff is now used as standard. Performance wise I don't think there's much in it. It's more friendly to the newer materials used in the motors like magnesium, but it's also pushed the service requirements to 4 years vs. the old 2 year life span. If you're doing a full change, then I'd go with OAT.
Thanks both for your advice. The system hasn't been fully drained or flushed as that was done at its full service 1.5year ago, is being topped up. I had to remove the engine cover to replace the stator that gave up the ghost.
I have just been through this exercise last week when I replaced my expansion tank. Motul antifreeze is recommended by the agents here in Sweden. It is the 'macho' pink colour . Motul recommend you replace every five years instead of two years which is great. An added bonus it is compatible with the VW G13 coolant which makes life easier if you have a dealership close by.
I've also just been through similar exercise for my leaking expansion tank !! My understanding is that the two fluids - Blue (silicate-based) & Pink (OAT) -should not be mixed in the cooling system, hence topping-up should be done with the same as what is existing. If changing from blue to pink, it should be done by draining the complete cooling system as much as possible before then filling and ensuring no air-locks.
That is 100% correct. You need to flush the system properly before changing your fluid type. Fairly simple job. I was given a tip though. Mix 50/50 vinegar/water and run that solution until the fans kick in to rinse out any scale in the system. Then run with fresh water for the same amount of time followed by a fresh water flush before putting in your new coolant. When adding the coolant use a funnel and keep a slow steady flow to avoid unnecessary air bubbles. If you can't get the full 2,5 liters into the system, lean the bike far over to either side. It helps burp the system if squeezing the hoses does not help.
I have a 1996 748bp, decided early this year to give it a full service, all fluids, belts etc. When it came to the coolant, after much reading/research, I decided to go with the OAT (red) stuff, as it supposedly is kinder to the various metals in engines. Prev posts are right, in that it cannot be mixed with the blue stuff, so I drained the system from the drain on the side of the water pump, and the drain at the base of the front cylinder, I then flushed clean water through, and cleaned out the expansion tank (tricky due to it's location), refilled at correct ratio, using distilled water, left bottom drain plug partially unscrewed until liquid started to weep out, the torqued it up. Did all the hose squeezing, shaking from side to side etc. Ran up the engine, then left it to cool, the rechecked the level in the header tank. The only negative I have with the OAT coolant, is it is very difficult to see the level in the header tank, whereas the blue stuff stood out!
Forgot to add, the old coolant was canned up, and taken to the local recycle/waste centre, along with the filters, brake fluid, and old engine oil.
Forgot to add, the old coolant was canned up, and taken to the local recycle/waste centre, along with the filters, brake fluid, and old engine oil.
Nice! Been for a run out tonight and everything seemed OK. The rocking of the bike and squeezing the hoses helped
