S10 Coolant change/flush for the first time

Skeezix

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I just did a coolant change on my TDM 850 last night, and decided I should do one on the s10 as well being as the manufacture date is 6-2011. On all bikes and cars I have owned, there are multiple points where the coolant needs to be drained. Per the S10 manual I have, it says to only drain the water pump and overflow tank - there is no indication to drain the radiator. Has anyone tried this? It would seem that quite a bit of old coolant would remain in the radiator if the flush is performed per the manual.

Any feedback you have would be much appreciated.
PS – I don’t want to start an engine oil thread here, but what kind of coolant does one need to use? No silicates and aluminum friendly I already know. Would off the shelf 50/50 Prestone mix work?
 

markjenn

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It's just conventional EG chemistry so nothing exotic about the AF. Because the quantity is small and the expense not much, I play it safe and use the Honda already-mixed stuff which is stocked at most Honda dealers. No worrying about mixing, distilled water, whether it is silicate-free, etc. But I suspect no immediate harm would come from using off-the-shelf EG AF like the Prestone.

The draining procedure is pretty much par for the course with Yamahas. Seems to work fine including draining most of the radiator. I'm sure it is not the most thorough, but I always do three or so cycles of filling with water, running, and draining again, so I don't think getting the last drop out is critical.

- Mark
 

Koinz

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Skeezix said:
I just did a coolant change on my TDM 850 last night, and decided I should do one on the s10 as well being as the manufacture date is 6-2011. On all bikes and cars I have owned, there are multiple points where the coolant needs to be drained. Per the S10 manual I have, it says to only drain the water pump and overflow tank - there is no indication to drain the radiator. Has anyone tried this? It would seem that quite a bit of old coolant would remain in the radiator if the flush is performed per the manual.

Any feedback you have would be much appreciated.
PS – I don’t want to start an engine oil thread here, but what kind of coolant does one need to use? No silicates and aluminum friendly I already know. Would off the shelf 50/50 Prestone mix work?
I haven't changed mine, but it's no different than changing your cars antifreeze. Manual states to use a coolant with ethylene glycol and corrosion inhibitors for aluminum engines. I'm pretty sure most anti-freeze you can buy off the shelf meets the criteria. Nothing special. I'm sure prestone 50/50 is fine.
 

scott123007

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Skeezix said:
Per the S10 manual I have, it says to only drain the water pump and overflow tank - there is no indication to drain the radiator. Has anyone tried this? It would seem that quite a bit of old coolant would remain in the radiator if the flush is performed per the manual.

Any feedback you have would be much appreciated.
PS – I don’t want to start an engine oil thread here, but what kind of coolant does one need to use? No silicates and aluminum friendly I already know. Would off the shelf 50/50 Prestone mix work?
In case it wasn't clear by Markjenn's post, when you drain your water pump, you are in essence draining your radiator too. Just take the radiator cap off and the bolt out of the water pump cover, and almost all of the coolant will come out.
 

Skeezix

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Thanks Scott - After reading Markjenn's post, I felt like ::010:: - had no idea what he was trying to say. Thanks for the clarification! I'll be flushing later this week!

scott123007 said:
In case it wasn't clear by Markjenn's post, when you drain your water pump, you are in essence draining your radiator too. Just take the radiator cap off and the bolt out of the water pump cover, and almost all of the coolant will come out.
 

GrahamD

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Do the same as Markjenn, except I only flush once, with distilled water. It's Australia, we are careful about water. ;D
 

tomatocity

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markjenn said:
It's just conventional EG chemistry so nothing exotic about the AF. Because the quantity is small and the expense not much, I play it safe and use the Honda already-mixed stuff which is stocked at most Honda dealers. No worrying about mixing, distilled water, whether it is silicate-free, etc. But I suspect no immediate harm would come from using off-the-shelf EG AF like the Prestone.

The draining procedure is pretty much par for the course with Yamahas. Seems to work fine including draining most of the radiator. I'm sure it is not the most thorough, but I always do three or so cycles of filling with water, running, and draining again, so I don't think getting the last drop out is critical.

- Mark
Are these correct?

EG = Ethylene Glycol
AF = AntiFreeze
 

markjenn

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tomatocity said:
Are these correct?

EG = Ethylene Glycol
AF = AntiFreeze
Correct. There are also the non-toxic propylene glycol AF's and the various "long life" AF's using OAT (organic acid technology) corrosion packages such as Dex-cool. But our S10's came with conventional EG and most stick to this.

- Mark
 

Skeezix

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I just drained the coolant and noticed it's BLUE. I've not run across thsi before and after condulting the manual, it seems that any coolant is OK to use as long it it's ALUM friendly and is a 50/50 mix.

If anyone can add to this, I'd appreciate it. Every other liquid cooled bike I've seen has the green stuff in it.
 

GrahamD

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Skeezix said:
I just drained the coolant and noticed it's BLUE. I've not run across thsi before and after condulting the manual, it seems that any coolant is OK to use as long it it's ALUM friendly and is a 50/50 mix.

If anyone can add to this, I'd appreciate it. Every other liquid cooled bike I've seen has the green stuff in it.
Motul Inugel is the standard coolant used by YAMAHA service centres in Australia. It is blue. It's a monoethyleneglycol based coolant. Ethyleneglycol is clear. The colour is an additive. So I assume it could be pink if that's what the manufacturer decided to put in. The colour is not important except that it provides a simple visual indication to establish what it is in a range of coolants AND an indication of how far gone the coolant is. (the green dye fades over time) But it is not a "technically mandated colour" and it can all get very confusing, because someone elses blue can be different to Motuls blue and someones else orange can be the same as someones green.


I would assume this is added by the dealer at delivery and is a country by country spec. Fred can chime in here. But since it is blue and mine is blue and Motul is blue, the limited info suggests that your cooling fluid is Motul Inugel which is Ethelyne glycol.

So use any colour Ethelyne glycol based coolant if you can guarantee that is what it is.

monoethyleneglycol is a fancy name for Ethelyne glycol.

MOTUL INUGEL is a ready to use cooling liquid, based on monoethyleneglycol, using an organic / non organic mix technology, named hybrid additives. This product can be mixed with all monoethyleneglycol based coolants.
As far as what the best brand is well that's an "oil thread" kind of discussion.

One thing is for certain though, anything is vastly superior to no coolant at all.
 

racer1735

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Honda's pre-mixed coolant is blue, as well. Buy it from the auto dealerships in gallon jugs rather than the more expensive quarts at the bike shops.

At one time, Honda had issues with 'regular' coolants eroding the o-rings in the oil pumps. Prestone, Peak, etc. put silicates in their coolants to 'clean' your coolant passages and these particles supposedly ate away at the o-rings. Honda's coolant (and most other moto-specific) don't have these silicates. Not sure if thats still the case with the big-name automotive coolants any more, or not?
 

avc8130

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racer1735 said:
Honda's pre-mixed coolant is blue, as well. Buy it from the auto dealerships in gallon jugs rather than the more expensive quarts at the bike shops.

At one time, Honda had issues with 'regular' coolants eroding the o-rings in the oil pumps. Prestone, Peak, etc. put silicates in their coolants to 'clean' your coolant passages and these particles supposedly ate away at the o-rings. Honda's coolant (and most other moto-specific) don't have these silicates. Not sure if thats still the case with the big-name automotive coolants any more, or not?
I used Prestone that said it was silicate free. My coolant changed itself when a stick went through the hose by the water pump. Ran distilled water to get me through the weekend, then drained again and put half distilled and half Prestone in. Called it a "flush".

ac
 

tomatocity

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I bought YamaCool but haven't flushed and refilled yet. Hopefully Monday.
 

Mzee

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But what is the process of draining the coolant from the s10? I am assuming you know I am not versed in these matters but need to learn.
 

markjenn

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Mzee said:
But what is the process of draining the coolant from the s10?
Remove left side fairing (gain access to radiator cap), remove radiator cap, remove coolant drain bolt on water pump (forward and low on water pump). To be thorough, you also want to drain the coolant recovery tank which basically involves unbolting it and fetching it out from under the seat.

- Mark
 

GrahamD

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markjenn said:
To be thorough, you also want to drain the coolant recovery tank which basically involves unbolting it and fetching it out from under the seat.

- Mark
STOP!!

Don't go there. Get a big horse syringe and some PVC tube and suck it out. Then the funnel you use for the Radiator on some tube and pour it in there. Faster easier, but takes some planning and tubing. ::024::
 

tomatocity

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The coolant recovery tank would be difficult to remove. Removing and reinstalling the lower bolt is the problem.
 

Mzee

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I have heard loud and clear. But I remember somebody saying air should not go in. Now I don't know if this is science or imagination?
 
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