Coolant is dark brown

[Fz6Junkie]

My bike is a 2008 with 9000 miles and I'm the 3rd owner. Do you think it's just rust from years of previous owners not changing it often enough?

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

My bike is a 2008 with 9000 miles and I'm the 3rd owner. Do you think it's just rust from years of previous owners not changing it often enough?

That is, IF it's EVER been changed... It could be ELEVEN YEARS OLD..

There's very little METAL to rust in the system, it's mostly aluminum (block / head, etc)


Pull the lower hose off the engine (RS) and dump it. I'd fill with water, ride it some, then dump it again.

Repeat till clear water comes out. Flush the reservoir out as well and re-fill

I use Prestone pre-mixed (50/50) and just re-fill..



*Might want to check (or replace if you don't know when it's been done, if ever) brake fluid and do a fork oil change too.

9,000 miles is low but with no maintenance, time is the enemy.

 

[Fz6Junkie]

So good old Prestone 50/50 is all I need? My local Cycle Gear guy was pushing Engine Ice but it was more than 4x the price of regular coolant.

 

[Motogiro]

Are you sure that's not espresso coffee! LOL!

50/50 is good.

 

[Fz6Junkie]

Here is what I drained out and it ain't Old Orchard cranberry juice. It's 2am and I'm sleepy so please tell me it's okay to leave the all the coolant out of the bike until tomorrow when I can pick up some distilled wawa and some coolant. By the way, while it was draining out, the stream color was a dark orange but still kinda translucent.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bQAUSTZa8klSbBqu8uK7BWObrkCVNwAxpg

 

[Motogiro]

Distilled water? You should just use 50/50 which is already mixed with the proper ratio of water and antifreeze.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Here is what I drained out and it ain't Old Orchard cranberry juice. It's 2am and I'm sleepy so please tell me it's okay to leave the all the coolant out of the bike until tomorrow when I can pick up some distilled wawa and some coolant. By the way, while it was draining out, the stream color was a dark orange but still kinda translucent.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bQAUSTZa8klSbBqu8uK7BWObrkCVNwAxpg

Nasty! Does it smell at all like anti-freeze?

For flushing, just use city water (or xx ) as your simply flushing and dumping it.
As nasty as it is, I'd do a couple of flushes...

I've been using Prestone 50/50 for TEN years and there is NO mixing (as noted above), just pour it in and top off...
Can't screw up the mix... You can get about 3 full coolant changes out of one gallon..

No distilled water needed...


*BTW, I'm in SW Florida (hot & humid) and my engine temps seem to run cooler than other FZ's (roughly 180F) around town...

 

[Fz6Junkie]

Distilled water? You should just use 50/50 which is already mixed with the proper ratio of water and antifreeze.

I though distilled just for flushing but I see you guys just said tap water is good enough for flushing. Ty.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

If you want to use distilled water at your LAST FLUSH you can, won't hurt anything. Especially if there's lots of minerals in your tap water.

Most of the coolant comes out, there is a little left in the block, that's why you want ALL that crap out...

 

[Fz6Junkie]

Nasty! Does it smell at all like anti-freeze?

For flushing, just use city water (or xx ) as your simply flushing and dumping it.
As nasty as it is, I'd do a couple of flushes...

I've been using Prestone 50/50 for TEN years and there is NO mixing (as noted above), just pour it in and top off...
Can't screw up the mix... You can get about 3 full coolant changes out of one gallon..

No distilled water needed...


*BTW, I'm in SW Florida (hot & humid) and my engine temps seem to run cooler than other FZ's (roughly 180F) around town...

Smelled like french toast and syrup. Yummy!

I grew up in Miami so I know exactly what hot and humid feels like and for the last month or so here in Knoxville, it's felt just that. That being said, my temps with the 50/50 mix of french toast and syrup has been around 175F-185F on the back road twisties and right at 200F when idle or going slow. So not really that different from yours. I'm driving (by car) to Orlando and Miami on the 24th for vacation. I wish I was taking the bike because we could meet for a ride in Cape Coral.

Thank you so much for help. I just got through flushing the old coolant out and ran clean water through it 3 times until it ran clear. Then I added Prestone 50/50. Good to go now.