Coolant Flush and Change

For anyone thats interested in doing a coolant change themselves .......Ok I've spent my morning doing a coolant flush and change , I basically followed these steps , the job is a bit of a PITA very fiddly having to keep taking the tank on and off trying to get the air out of the sytem , I took the tank off about 8 times trying to get all of the air out of the system, It is worth doing yourself the job itself is fairly simple but fiddly



Here's the procedures for draining, filling and beeding the air from the cooling system.

Draining the coolant
Step 1. Place the motorcycle on the center stand

Step 2. Remove the fuel tank.

Step 3. Remove the radiator cap

Step 3. Remove the sprocket cover, then loosen the hose clamp on the water pump inlet hose
(lower large hose), and pull the hose off of the water pump housing and drain engine coolant
into a drain pan.

Step 4. Flush the radiator with fresh water if necessary.

Step 5. Reconnect the water pump inlet hose to the water pump, and tighten the hose clamp.

Step 6. Proceed to filling and bleeding the cooling system



Filling and bleeding air from the cooling system
Step 1. Support the motorcycle upright with the center stand.

Step 2. Place a rag underneath the filler neck inlet, then slowly pour a 50/50 mixture of distilled
water and silicate free engine coolant up to the bottom of the filler neck inlet. Pouring the
coolant in slowly helps to keep from trapping air in the system.

Step 5. Move the bike off of the canter stand, and slowly rock the motorcycle, right and left at least 10
times to help bring any trapped air in the system up to the filler neck inlet, so it can vent out of
the cooling system.

Note: The 10mm hex flange bolt on the the face of the water pump housing cover, is a air bleed vent that
can also be used to help bleed air from the water pump.

Step 6. After bleeding the air out, if the coolant lever has dropped, add more coolant to bring the coolant
level back up to the bottom of the filler neck inlet.

Step 7. Install the gas tank and start the engine up and allow it to come up to temp, so that any air
trapped in the system can expel out the filler neck inlet.

Step 8. Check coolant level again, and if needed add more coolant to bring the coolant level up to the
bottom of the filler neck inlet.

Step 9. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until no air bleeds from the filler neck inlet.

Step 10. Install and tighten the radiator cap securely.

Step 11. After warming up and cooling down the engine several times, check the coolant level in the
recovery tank is at the full mark on the tank with the bike sitting on the side stand, and if
not, add coolant.

Bugger, can't find my radiator cap on my 06! Did you have the same prob with your old bike Hammy?

Kiwisteve wrote:Bugger, can't find my radiator cap on my 06! Did you have the same prob with your old bike Hammy?

I don't think Hammy is from NZ

I'm sure as he's from an island off the coast of oz, he'd be most welcome in Un Zud

Did the same a few months ago with the exception being that after filling the radiator with coolant, I replaced the tank and ran the motor with the cap off for a few minutes till the fan kicked in, that thoroughly burps the air out without having to muck around too much. I then topped up the coolant and that was it.

Bandit Gazza wrote:For anyone thats interested in doing a coolant change themselves .......Ok I've spent my morning doing a coolant flush and change , I basically followed these steps , the job is a bit of a PITA very fiddly having to keep taking the tank on and off trying to get the air out of the sytem , I took the tank off about 8 times trying to get all of the air out of the system, It is worth doing yourself the job itself is fairly simple but fiddly


Step 3. Remove the sprocket cover, then loosen the hose clamp on the water pump inlet hose
(lower large hose), and pull the hose off of the water pump housing and drain engine coolant
into a drain pan.

All I can say is that the bottom inlet hose is a bitch to remove.........

geekay007 wrote:Did the same a few months ago with the exception being that after filling the radiator with coolant, I replaced the tank and ran the motor with the cap off for a few minutes till the fan kicked in, that thoroughly burps the air out without having to muck around too much. I then topped up the coolant and that was it.

Hmmm tried that and ended up with coolant everywhere.....Guess making double sure by rocking the bike multiple times was not a good thing to follw up with this

In the long run, happy with the new fluid..... Flushed 4L demineralised water through... only recovered 5.5L..... missing about 1.7L somewhere

Tsim wrote:

geekay007 wrote:Did the same a few months ago with the exception being that after filling the radiator with coolant, I replaced the tank and ran the motor with the cap off for a few minutes till the fan kicked in, that thoroughly burps the air out without having to muck around too much. I then topped up the coolant and that was it.

Hmmm tried that and ended up with coolant everywhere.....Guess making double sure by rocking the bike multiple times was not a good thing to follw up with this

In the long run, happy with the new fluid..... Flushed 4L demineralised water through... only recovered 5.5L..... missing about 1.7L somewhere

Sorry to hear that. I was a bit too brief in my reply perhaps. I did gently rock the bike when I had the tank off and the cap off initially, but then replaced the cap briefly after re-top up, put the bike on the centre stand, took the cap off again and replaced the tank and ran the motor for a bit. The fan probably kicked in as I had drained the coolant when the motor was already fairly hot after a ride.