Coolant Replacement 5th Gen

Discussion in 'Mechanics Garage' started by KC-10 FE, May 24, 2009.

  1. pfbmgd

    pfbmgd New Member

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    Did the fluid and oil change today.I ordered the copper washers from my local deal .But today came and went with no washers .I hope the old ones hold .


    Thanks for the step by step instructions with actual pictures .I used the Honda blue antifreeze .I also tried the Motul 5100 to see how it works .
     
  2. ZonaMan

    ZonaMan New Member

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    +1 on the Engine Ice. I also got lower operating temps, which is crucial here in the desert.

    Not to be a treehuggin hippie or anything, but everyone please remember to let the old coolant fill an old milk jug and take it to your county's hazardous chemical recycling center instead of just letting it run down the street, drain, creek, yard, whatever........because you'll be the one drinking or eating it sometime in the future. :rain:
     
  3. soundmaster31

    soundmaster31 New Member

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    +1 Especially since my I live on a hill and my well is on the downward slope side.
     
  4. CandyRedRC46

    CandyRedRC46 Member

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    dirty hippie:tongue:
     
  5. Hootch

    Hootch New Member

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    If anyone is interested, my Clymer manual lists the torque spec for the coolant drain bolt at 10 N*m or 88 in.-lb (same as the they list the torque spec for the oil filter).

    Thanks KC-10 FE for an excellent "how to" and for the tip about engine ice. I drained mine this weekend and flushed with distilled water twice (actually, the second round of water is still in it until I get my little copper washers...they are 6.5mm, btw, and the Honda part number is 90463-ML7-000). Went to several auto/hardware stores and could not locate a copper washer that small. Thanks especially for the photo of the crankcase drain bolt...looking through the Honda service manual and the Clymer manual, I would have never figured out which bolt it was without your photo!
     
  6. Pliskin

    Pliskin New Member

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    1. After step 6, and before step 7 (in KC's initial post) are you waiting for things to cool down before pulling drain plugs again?

    2. When refilling the system, is there any trick to keep air bubbles at a minimum? Does it matter which radiator gets filled first?

    I guess to some there are obvious answers to these questions, but I just want to do things right.

    Thanks.
     
  7. KC-10 FE

    KC-10 FE New Member

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    1) You don't need to let the bike cool down completely, just enough to make sure you don't burn yourself when you open the radiator cap. I let the bike cool for about 10 minutes or 1 Erdinger HefeWeizen.

    2) There is only 1 radiator fill that I know of. There is a crossfeed hose that fills the left radiator. Filling the bike on the side stand would probably get more air out of the left radiator. Some of the overflow will be drawn back in after heat cycles but it didn't fill the radiator to the top. No matter what, you're going to need to remove the right fairing at some point to check the level of the radiator. The overflow bottle can be checked visually & filled by removing only the 2 large allen on the rear of the fairing.

    KC-10 FE out...
    :plane: :usa2:
     
  8. powderrecon

    powderrecon New Member

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    I just went through this procedure on my 96, and it's pretty much spot on.

    The engine drain bolt is tricky to get at on the 4th gen. Its directly behind a 1/2" pipe that you have to pry down on a little. I used a 4" extension with one of those 3/8th connectors that swivel in all directions to get at the bolt. You will know its the right bolt, cause its attached to a part of the engine that is at a 45 degree angle, about 5" above the oil filter.

    I have not checked the service manual for how much coolant is to be used, however I have about .65 of a gallon in there now, and am about to take it for a ride, so I am sure it will need topping up.

    Going by the size of the reserve tank on the 5th, I am thinking the 5th probably takes a little more juice. The 4th tank looks considerably smaller.

    Make sure you use one of those containers with the funnel, just like KC-10 has in the pic. Makes life ALOT easier. Just twist to start filling.

    Oh, and its a messy job.
     
  9. mello dude

    mello dude Administrator

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    Did this job over the last couple days along with a long list of other crap including going to the Super hawk fan.
    -A couple observations:
    - I went with the Honda Blue and found out the hard way that flushing with distilled water is a must. (Ok, I had an ADD moment)......- I didnt do it and found there still is a lot of crap still in the system when you just pore in the new stuff. Just look at the junk floating at the radiator cap level with the new fluid. (Crap!) Well, I wasnt gonna drain my $16 a bottle coolant just to run more water to flush the system. So I'm running the "dirty" fluid for the season and will flush the hooey outta it next year.
    - I went thru several warm it up, shut down, burp hoses, and add more coolant sessions to get the coolant level up all the way. Dont see it happenin on the first try.

    MD
     
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2009
  10. btay67

    btay67 New Member

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    Nice write up. I missed this one the first time but I have seen your spark plug/fuel filter write up. I'd say you did a nice job on both of them. Maybe you should be the official vfrworld tech writer... :biggrin:. Thanks again.
     
  11. KC-10 FE

    KC-10 FE New Member

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    Ok, now that I have another 5th Gen with it's original coolant, I need to do this process over again.

    Now that my Wife has a new job & is off on most weekends, I will have a camera person to assist. With that in mind, are there any pic requests? Anyone want to see anything specific? By all means, let me know. The only definite that I know of is I want a photo of the crankcase bolt with the socket on it showing it's location relative to all the stuff under the cowl.

    KC-10 FE out...
    :plane: :usa2:
     
  12. CandyRedRC46

    CandyRedRC46 Member

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    well ive pretty much got the coolant replacement mastered... im getting ready to undertake the thermostat replacement and well... feel free to knock that one out.:rolleyes:
     
  13. matt1986vf500f

    matt1986vf500f New Member

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    it is nice to also fill your bike up with coolant before a group ride :biggrin:
     
  14. powerslave

    powerslave New Member

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    WOW!!
    That is one helluva clean bike!!!!!
    :thumbsup:
     
  15. Firehand

    Firehand New Member

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    6th Gen appears to be exactly the same; I'm letting mine cool down now from the flush, be draining the water and adding the coolant in about half an hour.

    And mine did the 'shoot coolant damn near three feet out' when I pulled the bolt, too.

    Added: it's done, went very smoothly. I only flushed it once. And I don't care what it is, first time I do something like this on a new-to-me machine, it's a bit nervous-making
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2010
  16. CandyRedRC46

    CandyRedRC46 Member

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    i flushed the coolant on mine today. first i pulled the water pump drain bolt. then i pulled the cylinder bolt. after that i was a little curious as to if there was any thing left in the lines, so i disconected the main hose from the y splitter and you wouldnt believe the shit that came out... think about making powdered chocolate milk. then think about whats at the very bottom of the glass. it was like that...

    i changed it probably about a year ago. i was running straight distilled water + water wetter. i wouldnt have even thought about changing it so soon if i was still in key west, but i think theres a chance of it actually freezing up here, so i wanted to be on the safe side. good thing i did, because the stuff that came out at the end was pretty nasty. also on a side note i was short about a pint or two. i dont think im gonna be running straight water any more. guy at the moto shop told me that straight water evaporates pretty quick and it seems to be true.

    i think im gonna stick to engine ice from now on.
     
  17. Kalikiano

    Kalikiano New Member

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    Mahalos for that rather nice 'how-to' guide, KC-10 FE. I have a 5th gen (2000) VIFFER (a yellow one, just like yours--beautiful!--named SEPUKU) that I am about to do a coolant changeover on. The bike (with only 6700 miles total on the clock, is Heroic Pimples Repubic wergin, da!) presently runs a 50/50 mix of Ethylene Glycol (Prestone) coolant and I had planned on converting to 100% (premixed) Propylene Glycol ENGINE ICE (just as you seem to have). Your 'Complete Idiot's Guide' TO for this is both well done and very useful. As a former aerospace stiff (NASA N819NA), I can take satisfaction from knowing that anyone who puts that kind of care into their ole two-wheeled hoss is going to do one helluva job keeping that big beautiful BUFF-humper 'extending' properly! :cool:

    A hui hou, -K.
     
  18. FLmedic79

    FLmedic79 New Member

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    3 years later, this guided me through the process successfully! Thank you!
     
  19. Hleonian

    Hleonian New Member

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    Thanks so much for this seemingly very thorough write-up. I'm certainly going to refer to it when I do a coolant flush soon. Cheers
     
  20. BAMiller

    BAMiller New Member

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    Great "how to" KC-10 FE, and all who contributed to this thread. I'm about to flush and change the coolant in my all stock 98,, 18.5k miles. Coolant system seems to operate pretty normal. When I'm moving it stays 175-180. Stop and go it can gets up to about 220-225. I don't know if it's good to run cooler than 175, but I'd like to keep the high temp a little lower than 225. I don't race. I researched engine ice a little, and had a few questions.

    1.) Any of you experienced engine ice users have any down-side or advisories to report?
    2.) De-ionized water is premixed with engine ice (not distilled water). If you flush with distilled water, is there any problem with residual distilled water mixing with the engine ice mix?
    3.) Does engine ice have life span similar to conventional ethylene glycol coolants? Similar anti-freeze qualities?

    Thanks,

    BAMiller
     
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