By: Anonymous: One-Singha ()  Tuesday, 21 February 2012 @ 11:49 AM ICT (Read 3011 times)  

Hello people, here's a quick one for you. What's the deal with the more expensive motorcycle specific coolants out there? Why can't I use the coolant I use for my car which costs about a quarter of the amount? Is it like oils that can be vehicle specific, or is this another problem?

Cheers,

One-Singha

By: news (offline)  Tuesday, 21 February 2012 @ 12:12 PM ICT  

Hello One-Singha, the chances are the expensive coolant you saw was what they call lifetime coolant, the theory being you never need to replace it.

However, all you need for coolant is a 50/50 mix of ethylene glycol and distilled water. Therefore, there's no reason why regular, inexpensive car coolant shouldn't work. You may have to replace it every few years but at least that gives you the chance to see the condition of it on a regular basis.

Make sure it's distilled water as well, or you'll have loads of crap floating around your system in the not too distant future. If you own a dehumidifier the water from this will do nicely.

Also do not mix different coolants together, and check your motorcycles owners manual for any special coolant requirements.

   

news


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By: sd1415 (offline)  Wednesday, 22 February 2012 @ 08:44 PM ICT  

Quote by: One-Singha

Hello people, here's a quick one for you. What's the deal with the more expensive motorcycle specific coolants out there? Why can't I use the coolant I use for my car which costs about a quarter of the amount? Is it like oils that can be vehicle specific, or is this another problem?

Cheers,

One-Singha



Oils are SPECIAL (High RPM and Wet Clutches etc etc)...coolant is not as critical

I use "car coolant" because I drain and flush my radiator/cooling system every 3000km (I hate the "normal" heat readings on my Ninja 250R, I do a lot of Urban Commuting and it runs HOT)

Also as mentioned...I only use DISTILLED water and I use Coolant / Anti Boil for modern Jap cars (alloy engines etc)

50/50 is the "normal" mix (sometime I do 60/60/80 Distilled Water and 40/30/20 Anti Boil) and it works verywell

NEVER USE TAP WATER

The "expensive" motorbike mixes are usualy premixed and easy to do the service and are usually good for years or tens of thousands of kilometers.

Interesting point is I have tested Coolant Mix versus Pure Distilled Water and it barely made any difference (max circa 20 degrees C)...the jury is out on all this coolant anti boil hype...I know professional racers that only use pure DISTILLED water and NO coolant or AF/AB (and they change every race meeting)...

"water" loses its properties if always heated and cooled over time...this is why they change it every race meeting

Water Boils at 100 deg C...Coolant/Anti Boil Averages a Boiling Point of ~120 deg C (max top end products are ~130 deg C)

Cheers

SD

   

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By: Anonymous: stupid ()  Tuesday, 28 February 2012 @ 05:31 PM ICT  

I made a mistake, I just mixed the orignal yellow-orange color coolant with some blue-green coolant I bought from the petrolstation

By: news (offline)  Tuesday, 28 February 2012 @ 09:59 PM ICT  

Quote by: stupid

I made a mistake, I just mixed the orignal yellow-orange color coolant with some blue-green coolant I bought from the petrolstation



I guess you already know that you did not do the smartest thing, you now need to really flush the last drop of coolant out of your cooling system and fill it up with one brand / type of cooling liquid...

   

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By: Anonymous: Anonymous ()  Friday, 02 March 2012 @ 09:31 AM ICT  

The main constituents of an engine coolant are water and ethylene glycol with some other additives like anticorrosion, antifoaming and chemicals which alter the pH value of the coolant.

Water has a specific heat of 1, pure ethylene glycol about 0.6 (at typical engine temperatures). So pure ethylene glycol cannot remove the same amount of heat as water. A 50/50 mix of water/glycol requires about a 14% increase in flow rate to remove the same amount of heat as 100% water.

Motorcycle cooling systems generally have less reserve capacity than those of say a car and therefore become more sensitive to the ratio of glycol and water. Too much glycol and you can have overheating problems, too little and you may have coolant boiling problems.

Ignoring the OEM price markup for manufacturer branded coolants, the main influence on price is the amount of glycol (it costs more than water). Service station coolants are generally pre-mixes, price being determined by the amount of glycol. The cheaper ones may not contain sufficient glycol for your cooling system. Same applies if your are going to mix your own. Make sure you end up with the engine manufactures recommended ratio of water/glycol. Generally, unless specified, service station coolants are designed for cars not motorcycles.

All coolants degrade over time with the coolant becoming more acidic (pH falls). The coolant in an all aluminium engine degrades quicker than that in an aluminuim/iron engine as may be found in a car. Inhibitors are added to the coolant to slow the degradation but become depleted over time. Cheaper coolants may have lower levels of the inhibitors than OEM coolants. Check that any third party coolant is suitable for use in an all alumunium engine. A coolant in "good condition" should have a pH between 9.0 and 10.0.

Motorcycles engines may have higher coolant flow velocities than car engines (because of the higher rev range). Higher flow velocities increase the tendency for the coolant to foam. Pumping foam through an engine is not conducive to good cooling. A coolant designed for motorcycles will have adequate antifoaming additives.

In the end, the choice is yours.

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