C14 Coolant Change Question

[CrashKLRtoConnie]

Using Fred's DVDs and the Service Manual I flushed and changed the coolant on my 2008 C14.

I drained the coolant reserve tank and opened the drain plug. After draining I Flushed 3 time with hose water. Ran the bike for a minute each time before I re drained the flush water. (Hot day bike was warm from a 40 mile ride). On the third water flush the drained fluid was clear no green.

Then I filled the radiator / coolant reserve tank with Honda Pre Mix coolant. I ran it and burped the hoses and refilled everything a few times. Then waited 20 minutes and restarted the bike and refilled it again / burped the hoses. Finally but the bike on the side stand to ensure the radiator fill cap was the highest point and refilled and re burped the hoses. Checked the coolant reserve tank, topped it off to the High Mark as the bike was hot.

QUESTION:

Service Manual states Coolant total amount is 3.6 US Quarts, total coolant I put in was about 2 and 1/2 quarts.
Is this typical or should I expect to have to re pull the plastic and re fill the coolant level?

[VirginiaJim]

Sounds about right for what I did.  You'll hardly ever get it all out...

[CrashKLRtoConnie]

Sounds about right for what I did.  You'll hardly ever get it all out...

Thanks. My first connie coolant change and bought 4 qtrs of coolant. Live and learn.

On cars I use to always pull off the lower radiator hose and sometimes back flush the heater core hose to get all the coolant out.

On the Connie I did not pull the hoses but wondered if that would have helped get it out?

[VirginiaJim]

Sounds like work to me...

[McJunkie]

Sounds to me that after flushing out all the old coolant and only had clear water running out, that when you re-drained the water, you  left a quart of water still in the engine and that's why you only used 2.5 quarts.

[VirginiaJim]

Sounds to me that after flushing out all the old coolant and only had clear water running out, that when you re-drained the water, you  left a quart of water still in the engine and that's why you only used 2.5 quarts.

Yep.

[So Cal Joe]

If it's suppose to be 50/50 mix and you only put 2 1/2 qts in it after you flushed it with water you have way to much water in it. Your mix is now has an extra quatr of water in it.

[CrashKLRtoConnie]

If it's suppose to be 50/50 mix and you only put 2 1/2 qts in it after you flushed it with water you have way to much water in it. Your mix is now has an extra quatr of water in it.

That is I concern I also had. On Cars the 50/50 mix used to be a guideline depending on your needs, with a bike's need for special coolant due to the galvanic nature of the materials system design / heat flow requirements, I am not sure what is mix is really required.

QUESTION: So, for the group, the last time you flushed / changed your coolant:

1. How did you get all the water / coolant out (get all ~ 3 1/2 quarts) out? (i.e. remove the hoses? .. put the bike on its side? ..)

2. If you did not get all the fluid out (i.e. like me only put in ~ 2 1/2 quarts ... did you find any issues with cooling or long term corrosion etc ...?

NOTE: After the my recent coolant flush/change I rode about 40 miles in over 90 F temperatures (Fast Freeway and stop and go city with no over heating)

[lather]

That is I concern I also had. On Cars the 50/50 mix used to be a guideline depending on your needs, with a bike's need for special coolant due to the galvanic nature of the materials system design / heat flow requirements, I am not sure what is mix is really required.

QUESTION: So, for the group, the last time you flushed / changed your coolant:

1. How did you get all the water / coolant out (get all ~ 3 1/2 quarts) out? (i.e. remove the hoses? .. put the bike on its side? ..)

2. If you did not get all the fluid out (i.e. like me only put in ~ 2 1/2 quarts ... did you find any issues with cooling or long term corrosion etc ...?

NOTE: After the my recent coolant flush/change I rode about 40 miles in over 90 F temperatures (Fast Freeway and stop and go city with no over heating)

I flushed once with tap water, then once with distilled. Then I flushed one more time with 50/50 before a final fill with 50/50.
This is overkill probably for most purposes. On the Water Wetter bottle it recommends a minimum of 15% anti-freeze for street applications.

[Conrad]

I flushed once with tap water, then once with distilled. Then I flushed one more time with 50/50 before a final fill with 50/50.
This is overkill probably for most purposes. On the Water Wetter bottle it recommends a minimum of 15% anti-freeze for street applications.

How much 50/50 did you end up going through in this process?

[lather]

How much 50/50 did you end up going through in this process?

I bought a gallon of green antifreeze and a gallon of distilled, used two quarts of distilled for second flush. Filled the half empty bottle with antifreeze and used half of that mix for the 3rd flush and the rest for the final fill. I still have half a gallon of anti-freeze.

[Tactical_Mik]

If you drain and replace often (I usually do it once a year), why flush?  There should have been no corrosion to begin with and the antifreeze was still with in service limits.  Or am I missing something?

[lather]

If you drain and replace often (I usually do it once a year), why flush?  There should have been no corrosion to begin with and the antifreeze was still with in service limits.  Or am I missing something?

You maybe missed my earlier post about Water Wetter. The reason I flushed was to get all of the Water Wetter out.

[Tactical_Mik]

Must peruse more slowly    Missed that post.

[CrashKLRtoConnie]

My guess is if you changed your coolant every year, there would be little if any need to flush. Good Point.

My bike is used and I do not know the last time the coolant was changed.

I flushed with water as I am a cheap Bas@#$ and did not want to flush it with costly coolant.

I also followed Fred's DVD on coolant replacement and he flushed the system a few times. (I think he used 50/50 mix to flush)

FYI. I bottled my old coolant and flush to recycle and to keep it away from the Dog. (CA frowns on dumping coolant in the storm drain). I did find a lot of white colored sand grain sized particles in the old coolant and water flush. So for my 2008 with under 9000 miles some scaling was in the fluid.


per service manual

Cooling System Flushing
Over a period of time, the cooling system accumulates
rust, scale, and lime in the water jacket and radiator. When
this accumulation is suspected or observed, flush the cooling
system. If this accumulation is not removed, it will clog
up the water passage and considerable reduce the efficiency
of the cooling system.

[VirginiaJim]

Changed mine a year ago.  Spurted out and hit the wall.  Lost the drain plug in the process.  Found a temp plug  and ordered a new one.  Didn't bother flushing it out as the coolant looked new.  Filled it back up to the neck and refilled the overflow.  Found the missing plug after the new one arrived.  The levels haven't moved on either the neck or the bottle.  Too much work to get everything out and flushed. 

[B.D.F.]

I have changed the coolant on a few C-14's now and they don't seem to hold nearly as much as the manual says. I have never had to top one off after the change either. My thought is to just change it and not worry about it any further as long as the engine cools properly (as it did before you changed the coolant).

Brian

Using Fred's DVDs and the Service Manual I flushed and changed the coolant on my 2008 C14.

I drained the coolant reserve tank and opened the drain plug. After draining I Flushed 3 time with hose water. Ran the bike for a minute each time before I re drained the flush water. (Hot day bike was warm from a 40 mile ride). On the third water flush the drained fluid was clear no green.

Then I filled the radiator / coolant reserve tank with Honda Pre Mix coolant. I ran it and burped the hoses and refilled everything a few times. Then waited 20 minutes and restarted the bike and refilled it again / burped the hoses. Finally but the bike on the side stand to ensure the radiator fill cap was the highest point and refilled and re burped the hoses. Checked the coolant reserve tank, topped it off to the High Mark as the bike was hot.

QUESTION:

Service Manual states Coolant total amount is 3.6 US Quarts, total coolant I put in was about 2 and 1/2 quarts.
Is this typical or should I expect to have to re pull the plastic and re fill the coolant level?

[CrashKLRtoConnie]

Thanks everyone.

Glad I do not need to change it again for a few years