Which Coolant Should I use?

[bigtwinthing]

Are we not talking about 5lts of mixed coolant here, it aint gonna break the bank to buy the proper stuff is it! it if was done every 2000 miles i would see the cost saving but once every 2 yrs!!! ( or is that brake fluid or both). I do both every two years anyway and enjoy doing it, i use whats recommended.

[VTRDark]

I hear what your saying. It depends on ones circumstances, funds, time, availability etc. We are all guilty of buying pattern parts from time to time or changing the way Honda made things. If we bought Honda parts and service items all the time we would all be skint quite quickly and have no funds left for anything else. Ordering alone from David Silvers (Honda) adds massive postage costs and then you have to wait for postie, so maybe one would prefer to whip down the local auto store one afternoon.

Don't get me wrong there are times when the genuine Honda parts are a must like valve stem oil seals for example. You wont get the two different sizes otherwise!! In this case not, any coolant will do. Don't forget the OP is in Oz so the local auto store maybe the only option and could be like Salty Dogs experience with the oil and having limited options.
http://vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php ... &hilit=oil

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[bigtwinthing]

Yep thats a good point Carl!

[thunderbolt]

Thanks Guys for the good discussion.

Just one more question please?

In Oz the coolants are described as Type A and Type B. Does it matter which one I use?

Thanks

[Wicky]

Seems an Aussie specific thing - you'll need to research it at your end. Might be best to get whatever type your Honda dealer recommends to avoid any foul ups.

http://nulon.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/a ... ight-type/

http://www.repcoservice.com/hints-and-t ... nt-changes

How Do I Select the Right Radiator Coolant?

The current Australian Standard AS 2108.1.97 has two types of compliance, Type A and Type B.

For later model cars a Type A is generally required and for earlier models a Type B is adequate.

Thanks Guys for the good discussion.

Just one more question please?

In Oz the coolants are described as Type A and Type B. Does it matter which one I use?

Thanks

[VTRDark]

You may find some info on the Oz forum Archives.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=coola ... 8gfWgYGoCA

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[budd]

Changing coolant can be quite a problematic affair these days, as with oil technology manufacturers are constantly changing formulations to meet engineering and environmental considerations. Some of these types cannot be mixed, mixing blue/green coolant with a modern orange type will result in a brown sludge that will form in the rads and clog the water jackets, and great care must be taken when topping up or changing the coolant to avoid this, because even when the whole system is drained some coolant will remain.

So what are the different types?

The "old" antifreeze technology started in the ‘50s-'60s, improved in the '70s, Back then no matter which brand you chose, antifreeze was green/blue. The glycol-based formula contained silicates as corrosion inhibitors. You mixed the antifreeze 50/50 with water and poured it in the radiator.
Today, with different types of antifreeze technology in a rainbow of colours, confusion abounds among automotive people and consumers alike as to what colour antifreeze is best. The easy part is that most antifreeze manufacturers still make coolant with ethylene glycol (EG), a type of alcohol made from ethane. Manufacturers also make more environmentally friendly versions with less-toxic propylene glycol (PG), a similar compound made from propane.
Inorganic Acid Technology (IAT) is the chemical basis for the traditional green antifreeze. IAT contains either EG or PG and is usually fortified with silicate or phosphate additives to make it compatible with metal cooling system components.

In the early 1980′s Ford was working with antifreeze manufacturers to come up with a formulation to meet global needs. European countries had very hard water and since water is 50% of the antifreeze mix, water quality dramatically affects the overall mix. As European manufacturers were abandoning phosphate-based technology because phosphates tend to form scale, Japanese manufacturers were moving away from silicates, which tend to destroy water pump seals.

The first alternate coolants combined carboxyl and silicate technologies. Ford started using them after extensive durability testing (more than 40 million fleet test miles on every vehicle platform that Ford had) in the early 1980s. At about the same time, Mercedes and VW were also using similar hybrid formulations.

One of the new types is "organic acid technology," or OAT. It's orange. General Motors pioneered this chemistry starting with 1996 models in the U.S. and using the name Dex-Cool. Ford changed a few models to OAT, then backed away from it. VW, Audi, and Porsche were OAT users, too, but most others resisted.

Instead of OAT, most new cars now use a "hybrid" (HOAT) antifreeze that's formulated with both OAT and the silicate inhibitors from old green coolant. It comes in too many colours to pretend this type is color-coded.
Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT) combines IAT and OAT with nitrites. Antifreeze manufacturers often refer to it as “global,” indicating on the bottle that it meets or exceeds the specification “G-05″ for most vehicles newer than 2002 and “G-11″ or “G-12″ for Volkswagen and Audi. The generally recommended replacement interval is five years or 100,000 miles.


So what’s best for the Storm?
Well first you shouldn’t under any circumstances use old green/blue coolant, and you should avoid HOAT formulations (they contain silicates that attack water pump seals), this leaves OAT which I believe should be totally safe in the big twin, the safest option is to use only genuine Honda coolant but a silicate free OAT should be fine to, something like Comma G30(now Super Long Life red) or Euro car parts own Red at under £2.70 pr litre of concentrate seems great value
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Renau ... &0&cc5_866

[bigtwinthing]

Great write up.

[thunderbolt]

Yes I agree, Great Write Up.

This is the coolant I ended up choosing which is an OAT type A as listed here in Australia. I know it's no good to you guys as it is an Australian product. It does say on the front it is ok for ALL vehicles and on the reverse side it says it is GOOD for motorcycles.



Thanks for all help offered.

[VTRDark]

Hybrid Additive Technology (HAT) whatever that means. Ethylene glycol mixed with Denatonium Benzoate , jeez no wonder things get confusing. It sounds like were putting our motors on drugs. That's it I'm off to the Auto dealers now.......

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[thunderbolt]

Hybrid Additive Technology (HAT) whatever that means. Ethylene glycol mixed with Denatonium Benzoate , jeez no wonder things get confusing. It sounds like were putting our motors on drugs. That's it I'm off to the Auto dealers now.......

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Don't stress Carl,

I've done enough of that for everyone on here trying to work out the important information from the other (crap).

[thunderbolt]

Another interesting issue is the instructions on the reverse side of the Nulon container which tells you not to premix the solution with water, but to pour the appropriate amount of Nulon into the radiator and then add the water to the radiator separately. THOUGHTS!!

[budd]

.

it is all getting pretty confusing, more so now that some of the manufacturers are going back to green eg the pic above and also the stuff I took out of mine was like a luminous green so as it was put in by the Honda main dealer I’m assuming Honda coolant is green to, a few years ago it was quite simple green/blue was the traditional/conventional stuff and the red/orange was the new gear now it seems you can’t even rely on the colour to help you avoid making a potentially damaging mistake.

Mine’s on the Red OAT stuff from Euro Car parts and seems happy enough, but I must admit to been concerned when I dropped the original coolant and it came out green, it made me slightly nervous that the new coolant was a completely different colour, especially as I’d always believed it good practice to replace like for like green for green red for red etc.

It's now vitally important to read the label and be 100% sure what is going in to the engine, one of the main reasons Rover had so much trouble with the K series was incorrect coolant, I think it's possible we'll be hearing more tales of woe from car onwers in the near future as mdern cars leave the dealer network to be fettled by people who don't understand the importance of using the correct spec fluids, this goes for oil to!!

[VTRDark]

Don't stress Carl,

Not stressed mate. Just trying to make light of it all.

Nice one Budd very informative. I never realised that the colour of coolant denoted the type of coolant. Not that we can trust that any more I always thought it was just the choice of colour used by the manufacturer. I have had Green before and I have had like a Pinky colour coolant. I have also had what looks like fluorescent Green, Bio-luminescent coolant

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[Storm Trooper]

I spent quite a bit of time over the winter looking at coolant for renewal on my rebuild. I found some interesting stuff online and some scary facts about coolant and what is available.

At the end of the day, the best coolant to use needs to be 'Ethylene Glycol' based but also more impotantly 'silicate free'.

Motul Expert / Rock oil Kool not to mention a few others are 'Silicate' based and this will eventually wear out the seals in the water pump and these coolants seems to be what is available in most bike shops for sale. There is alot on the Fireblade forum about bust waterpumps because of wrong coolant.

I e-mailed Honda UK to confirm spec for bike and specs of their coolant and they advised that the coolant should be 'Ethylene Glycol' based but also more impotantly 'silicate free' and that their type 2 coolant meets this spec.

4 litres of Type 2 Coolant from any Honda car dealership is around £14 so good value and probably best for your engine.