Coolant Choice - Flame Away!

[Jnclem]

Well, I've been looking around our little town for an appropriate coolant for the K1100. A few parts stores and Walmart are my choices. Car Quest and Napa could not tell me if any of their coolants were indeed Phosphate and Silicate/Borite free. While Prestone Long-life used to be recommended, and may be fine, their "new" extended life formula does not specifically say what is not in it either. They hedge on their website, but they basically say phosphate only matters in Europe, and that all US coolants contain phosphates. That leads me to believe that theirs does also.

Finally, at of all places, O'Reilly's, their house brand long-life coolant said all the right things. Good for all engines, good for aluminum engines, can be mixed with all brands and, phosphate and silicate free. So, I bought a gallon of that and a gallon of distilled water. I'm sure it will be fine, but O'Reilly's? Never would have thought it.

[wmax351]

The BMW stuff is actually cheaper or equivalent than the high end stuff (which is phosphate free, universal, etc) at oreilly's.

One type you could do that is more common at NAPA, etc would be the Pentosin G11 or G12 for VW/Audi/Porsche. The VW's have issues getting eroded from the green stuff.

[Jnclem]

The BMW stuff is actually cheaper or equivalent than the high end stuff (which is phosphate free, universal, etc) at oreilly's.

Could be, but when you add in the 400 mile round trip to the dealership, the price increases significantly.

[wmax351]

The BMW stuff is actually cheaper or equivalent than the high end stuff (which is phosphate free, universal, etc) at oreilly's.

Could be, but when you add in the 400 mile round trip to the dealership, the price increases significantly.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/SuperCat/BE36/BMW_BE36_BASMIS_pg4.htm#item9

Pelican parts would be an option as well.

[mejetski2000]

I work for O'Reilly and we sell Pentosin ++ (or G1100) in 1.5L quantities, about $12 per container, in all our stores.

[bizzaro]

Hmmm, Whats wrong with the green  Prestone?  I thought all modern coolants were safe for aluminum?  And what is and where do you get water wetter?? I have seen it mentioned here and other web forums?

[mejetski2000]

It's actually called "Water Wetter" I believe, and we sell it as well. Price not known, popular for stock/drag cars that can't use conventional AF.

[Scott_]

My $.02, no real reason for "long life" coolant if you drain/flush your system every 2 years as recommended anyway.

Also agree that most coolants on the market nowadays are rated for aluminium compatibility.

As far a BMW branded coolant, do you have a BMW car dealership near by? Chances are they will have the branded coolant if you want it.
Some vendors will ship it as well. 

[F14CRAZY]

I buy whatever the cheapest/on sale coolant is. At this point I believe everything on the readily available commercial market is aluminum safe and all that

[552255]

Peak brand I used....uh-oh, I foresee an oil thread about to appear!

[Jnclem]

My $.02, no real reason for "long life" coolant if you drain/flush your system every 2 years as recommended anyway.

Also agree that most coolants on the market nowadays are rated for aluminium compatibility.

As far a BMW branded coolant, do you have a BMW car dealership near by? Chances are they will have the branded coolant if you want it.
Some vendors will ship it as well.

Just 200 miles one way. I'm sure they would ship it, but I don't believe there is any reason for all that expense. If my radiator clogs up, and my engine turns into a pile of molten metal, I'll be the first to come back and warn everyone.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

I am using Peak Long Life and change every two years.  I agree that with the ubiquity of aluminum engines and radiators, almost anything that isn't green is probably going to work in our K's. 

Only caveat is that one uses DISTILLED water.  Previous owner of my 100 must have used well water judging from the crap in the cooling system that I am still trying to flush.  If you have one, your dehumidifier is a cheap and convenient source of distilled water.

[K75RT Keith]

+1 Jnclem,  Sounds like you found the right stuff at a fair price. Regardless of the "Long Life" label, it doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't change it every couple years.  More importantly, using what YOU are most comfortable with IS the BEST CHOICE! It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.  It's your bike and you're the one riding and paying to maintain it.   

Frankly, If O'Riley's AF that meets the criteria for the manufacturer specs then it is just as good as the stuff from BMW or a more highly advertised brand.  (Why pay for the extra marketing or name cache if you don't have to?)

[WayneDW]

Oh oh, the stuff in my bike is very much green and always has been the whole time I've owned it.  Probably something I should address this winter.

[Scott_]

The only one that I know of that I call "death fluid" is the Dex Cool crap from GM.......I had it in my 2000 pickup and I had to change the intake manifold gaskets 2x because of it.. Needless to say after the 2nd time I went with the generic green and had no issues since.
Nothing wrong with green, so long as it is rated for aluminium, and you mix it with distilled water... change it every other year and you should be just fine....

[Jnclem]

+1 Jnclem,  Sounds like you found the right stuff at a fair price. Regardless of the "Long Life" label, it doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't change it every couple years.  More importantly, using what YOU are most comfortable with IS the BEST CHOICE! It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.  It's your bike and you're the one riding and paying to maintain it.   

Frankly, If O'Riley's AF that meets the criteria for the manufacturer specs then it is just as good as the stuff from BMW or a more highly advertised brand.  (Why pay for the extra marketing or name cache if you don't have to?)

Yeah, I didn't care about the long life label, that's just the one that had, or lacked, the ingredients I was looking for. I am diligent about changing all fluids, so I don't care what they say, it will get changed regularly.

[Nolleman]

If you ride in hot weather or a lot of traffic, maybe consider the Water wetter or Bel Ray moto chill racing coolant. I just put the Bel Ray in my K1100LT but have not rode enough to tell. And it's been a little cool up here for this time of year

[wmax351]

The only one that I know of that I call "death fluid" is the Dex Cool crap from GM.......I had it in my 2000 pickup and I had to change the intake manifold gaskets 2x because of it.. Needless to say after the 2nd time I went with the generic green and had no issues since.
Nothing wrong with green, so long as it is rated for aluminium, and you mix it with distilled water... change it every other year and you should be just fine....

Or topping the the VW G11 stuff off with green: turns into a gel.

[MicStanz]

So, the thread may be dormant, but the subject isn't...
  Putting my .02 in here regarding the 'water wetter'- it's not antifreeze, an antifreeze 'substitute' and it's not a corrosion inhibitor. it works by making the coolant more efficient in absorbing heat from interior surfaces, especially 'hot spots' like cylinder sleeves.
See: http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=74&pcid=10
  I've used this in my 1200 Triumph that ran so hot that the rad fan would come on at 55F ambient and normal riding. Yeah I flushed it good before using this, and the problem went away, and the fan never ran again until August, after sitting in traffic for 10 minutes. Also used it in an already clean Honda CX and stopped the temp spike when sitting in traffic as well.
  Do a little reading elsewhere as well, and you'll find out that water is a much more efficient heat conductor than antifreeze, but the antifreeze is required to prevent freezing (duh) and boil over. The best mixture I've found is 30-35% antifreeze, a shot of water-wetter and distilled water. 33% antifreeze 67% distilled water freezes at 0F & boils at 256F, that's plenty of temp protection for me, (my attached garage doesn't drop below 20F even in the dead of winter). Given the higher heat transfer capabilities of this cocktail, that's going in the brick tonight, I'll probably end up with a manual switch on the rad fan just to 'exercise it'.
  The stuff has proven itself to me...

[johnny]

greetings...

i use prestone fitty fitty premix... i need freeze protection down past thirty below...

i also have used water wetter on the west coast where riding above a hundert was a common occurance...

i have not had any coolant related problems with the fitty fitty factory mix or water wetter...

j o

[Laitch]

 Dry water is mighty high on my useless scale. I'd call a dowser.

[bizzaro]

OEM Coolant.  It says all the right stuff on the label, but I am curious if anyone has any experience with it?  I am going to put my Summer coolant mix in tomorrow using this stuff. I figure it must be the right stuff because it was twice as much as all the other shit! :musicboohoo: I was also wondering what is the best mix for cooling?  How does a 20% coolant, 10% Water Wetter, and 70% water sound for cooling.  That is just a guess for me. For all you science minded, chemically educated, and fastidious, is this "the best mix for cooling"?  And if not, what is/ :dunno
Thanks and See Ya in the Twisties,
Bizz

[Photog]

I had Pentosin in the brick up until I had it in the dealership for winter storage & complete fluid change, I presume they put in the BMW labeled stuff. It's do for a  change, and I'll probably use up the remaining Pentosin I have.

The cage, which has an aluminum block engine, has had Prestone 50/50 most of its 17 years, and is still going strong at 250+K (knock on wood).

FWIW, I've had indie techs tell me that dex cool is fine in the GM products, IF the ph is monitored and adjusted as necessary with fresh concentrate.

[enb54]

Have used the Prestone 50/50 and no problems so far, change every 4 years, I thought all the modern ethylene glycol products were aluminum friendly. Maybe I'm missing something... ???

[Martin]

I use the BMW coolant at $15.00 Au for 1.5 Lt it's cheap insurance. Even use it in the Honorable Minister for Finance & Recreations car. But I never use tap water always use distilled water.
C.heers Martin.