7) Now, grab one of the buckets and place it underneath the bottom of the reservoir tank. Unclamp and remove the top hose (pictured below) on the reservoir tank.

8) Hold the funnel underneath the bottom hose clamp of the reservoir tank (this allows us to redirect the coolant flow away from the engine casing). Unclamp the bottom hose, using the funnel to redirect the coolant flow away from the engine and into the bucket. Don't worry if you get some on the engine... our final step will be to rinse everything.

9) Now, unscrew the cap on the radiator filler neck. Leave the hoses unclamped. Using the funnel, pour distilled water into the reservoir tank, and watch it drain out the bottom hose clamp and into the bucket. Keep pouring until there isn't a hint of green at all.

10) The fun part begins. Screw in the water pump drain bolt and torque to 87 inch-pounds (7.25 foot-pounds). Screw in the cylinder cover drain bolt and torque to 87 inch pounds (7.25 foot-pounds) as well.

11) Clamp the hoses back onto the coolant reservoir, but leave the filler neck cap off.

12) SLOWLY fill the radiator up to the filler neck with WaterWetter. The SLOWER you go the better, since less air bubbles will form in the pipes. Also fill the reservoir tank up to the max line with WaterWetter. Leave the caps off both the radiator and the reservoir tank.

13) Start up the bike. Continuously tap on the radiator hoses on both sides of the radiator so as to expel the air bubbles. Do this for about 30 seconds.

14) Stop the bike, and SLOWLY fill up the radiator with WaterWetter until it comes up to the filler neck. Install the radiator cap. Check the level on the reservoir tank and, if necessary, refill with WaterWetter until the max line. Install the cap on the filler neck of the reservoir tank.

15) Start up the bike. Keep the bike running at least until you hear the radiator fan come on (I just rode the bike around the block a few times). When it does, turn the bike off and refill the reservoir tank with WaterWetter until the max line.

16) Voila!

17) Now, THOROUGHLY rinse the areas that coolant might have sprayed onto with water. If you got any coolant at all on your tires, you'll need to wash it out with soap and water... although it sounds like fun, drifting around on a motorcycle isn't!

18) Replace your fairings, and you're done! Use the DIY Fairing Removal if necessary.

 

Nice write up. Should add this to the 250 DIY sticky.

 

Various questions about this process:
Feel free to answer any/all .
I realize some questions may seem ... rather ridiculous, however I am new to this, and would like to ask - rather than do something wrong .

1. Distill water - Where would you find distill water? is it simply boiled water?
2. Are gloves required? in other words, would the coolant harm your bare skin?
3. Clarification - WaterWetter is simply a type of antifeeze/coolant, correct?
3. Is there motorcycle-specific WaterWetter?

 

1. Distilled water is just that; water that has been distilled to remove all minerals, sediment, etc. It's just regular water boiled off, and the steam is collected and condensed back into distilled water. I got some from Safeway.

2. Gloves aren't required, coolant isn't corrosive. But it is really slippery so make sure you completely rinse off any that gets on your tires..

3. WaterWetter is *NOT* antifreeze. I repeat, WaterWetter is *NOT* antifreeze. If you live someplace where the temperature may go below freezing, you'll want to replace the WaterWetter with anti-freeze during the winter.

4. Nope, just plain ol' WaterWetter You can either get the pre-mixed WaterWetter (I think it's called Super Cool or something) and use that directly, or you can get the WaterWetter additive and mix it with distilled water. I opted for the former.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for answering my questions. I suppose I'll head to my local grocery store for some distill water when I decide to get this 'procedure' underway.

Appreciate the quick reply!

 

when should i flush and change my fluid coolant??my ninja is on 6k miles right now would u think its necessary??

 

Remember that you must have anti freeze in to avoid engine and radiator damage if the temperature drops below freezing. Anti freeze also has better corrosion inhibition than water wetter or engine ice. I'd only use these for the track. Anti freeze is usually banned there because if there's a crash and it gets spilled, it's very slippery.

Boiling water drops out most of the mineral content as lime scale and boiled water is fine. There's no real need for distilled water - although the purists will disagree.

There's also no real need to flush the cooling system unless you think that you have bits in it. Draining and re-filling is adequate. Any small amount of anti-freeze that's left will be so dilute that it'll pass scrutiny at the track.

Rob

 

Remember that you must have anti freeze in to avoid engine and radiator damage if the temperature drops below freezing. Anti freeze also has better corrosion inhibition than water wetter or engine ice.

I live in Canada and temperatures do reach below 0 degrees Celsius, so would this mean I should replace the use of WaterWetter with Antifreeze in every instance listed in the steps provided?

 

Good stuff. Very informative for first timers.

 

I washed out an empty coolant container and made this mixture:
25% coolant
15% Water Wetter (wasn't the brand name, but a reputable coolant additive that does the same thing)
60% poland spring water. they said use distilled water, which I don't really care if I did or not but we just had a picnic and had tons of bottles lying around.

This will allow you to make it through the fall, down to about 25-30 degrees outside.

For the real winter storage, 50% coolant 50% water or maybe even a hiher amount of coolant.. just make sure you flush it out in the spring.

Its a real easy process, the most time consuming part is turning on the engine for 30 seconds, bleeding the air, adding more then riding it around for 15 minutes and checking it one last time.

 

There's no advantage to using water wetter if you can use anti freeze. Just use a 50% anti freeze and water mix all year round unless you need to drain the anti freeze for the track.

Why on earth anyone would want to flush the coolant out for the Spring is something I can't understand. The 50/50 mix is intended fo all year use. It offers the best anti-corrosion protection for the cooling system as wel as freezing protection.

Bottles of mineral water are the worst thing that you can use. That stuff sells because of its high mineral content. It's almost guaranteed to cause limescale which will severely affect the efficiency of your cooling system. If you set out to make a mixture that would cause problems and fail to protect your cooling system you've done a pretty good job of it.

Rob

Rob

 

There's no advantage to using water wetter if you can use anti freeze. Just use a 50% anti freeze and water mix all year round unless you need to drain the anti freeze for the track.

Why on earth anyone would want to flush the coolant out for the Spring is something I can't understand. The 50/50 mix is intended fo all year use. It offers the best anti-corrosion protection for the cooling system as well as freezing protection.

Rob

There is an advantage to using water wetter, which is that you are effectively running straight water and thus will run cooler. That is the reason some people willing to flush it out each winter and put it back in in the spring, because they want as much cooling as they can get.

Yes, if you live in a place with freezes during winter you'll have to swap back to antifreeze but I for one use water/water wetter and will be doing so year-round.

 

Thanks boss ill take note on how shitty of a personal mechanic I am.

a 50/50 mix can be used for year round, but on a 90 degree day, a 30% coolant/70% water mix or even a 20/80 will transfer and absorb heat better then a 50/50.
I am saying that if you do run mostly water, you will want to make it 50/50 when you store it in the winter so the radiator doesnt freeze and crack. then flush it out in the spring and run whatever mix you run that is definitely better then a plain 50/50 mix on our high heat high rpm engines.

I flush my cooling system with prestone cooling system cleaner when I flush my system. So a little bit of mineral deposits wont make a lick of difference when they get washed out.

 

Thanks boss ill take note on how shitty of a personal mechanic I am.

a 50/50 mix can be used for year round, but on a 90 degree day, a 30% coolant/70% water mix or even a 20/80 will transfer and absorb heat better then a 50/50.
I am saying that if you do run mostly water, you will want to make it 50/50 when you store it in the winter so the radiator doesnt freeze and crack. then flush it out in the spring and run whatever mix you run that is definitely better then a plain 50/50 mix on our high heat high rpm engines.

I flush my cooling system with prestone cooling system cleaner when I flush my system. So a little bit of mineral deposits wont make a lick of difference when they get washed out.

Just curious why you wouldn't use distilled water...? A gallon of distilled is cheaper than a 20 ounce bottle of mineral water where I live. I guess it doesn't matter much in your case since you're flushing it every year but just curious.

 

The glycol/water mix is a more effective coolant than straight water. Most anti-freeze solutions also extend the boiling upwards a little as well as extending the freezing point downwards. Plain water has a tendency to boil in localised hot spots, resulting in cavitation and irregular cooling, which is why water wetter is needed. It reduces the surface tension of the coolant, and a water/water wetter mix is actually a very different coolant than plain water.

Apart from all of that, you need the corrosion inhibitors in anti-freeze mixes to ensure that the cooling system stays open. In particular, spring water will deposit limescale that will narrow water channels and eventually choke the radiator. Cooling system cleaners are hopeless at removing limescale.

Use a 50/50 mix in Summer, and in some locations increase the proportion of anti-freeze to 70% - 80% in Winter for temperatures below about -15C. In Orlando you don't need anti freeze, but it still does a better job of cooling than plain water

And why do you think that these engines are particularly high heat?

Rob

 

The glycol/water mix is a more effective coolant than straight water. That is absolutely and completely untrue. Glycol-based coolants are LESS effective at cooling than water. Most anti-freeze solutions also extend the boiling upwards a little as well as extending the freezing point downwards. Plain water has a tendency to boil in localised hot spots, resulting in cavitation and irregular cooling, which is why water wetter is needed. No. Water wetter is used to provide corrosion prevention. It reduces the surface tension of the coolant, and a water/water wetter mix is actually a very different coolant than plain water.

Apart from all of that, you need the corrosion inhibitors in anti-freeze mixes to ensure that the cooling system stays open. In particular, spring water will deposit limescale that will narrow water channels and eventually choke the radiator. Cooling system cleaners are hopeless at removing limescale.

Use a 50/50 mix in Summer, and in some locations increase the proportion of anti-freeze to 70% - 80% in Winter for temperatures below about -15C. In Orlando you don't need anti freeze, but it still does a better job of cooling than plain water False.

And why do you think that these engines are particularly high heat?

Rob

This is completely wrong. I started to dissect it and I'm not going to.

Here are the big points:

Straight water is the best you can get for straight cooling purposes. Water wetter is advertised to give several degrees cooler run temps but it is inconclusive and negligible.

Antifreeze is used only because it allows for a lower freezing point in climates where that is a problem and it provides corrosion resistance. All else equal, distilled water outperforms a 50/50 mix all day, every day.

Water wetter is used to provide some corrosion resistance as straight distilled water will tend to allow corrosion and build-up over time.

 

I'm not using mineral water, I was using distilled. Water from a tap will have more minerals in it then a bottle of poland spring, especially where I am from. There is a lot of calcium and copper in from my tap, and calcium is guaranteed to cause build up. I have left a half glass of water in my room and let it all evaporate, there is white residue from the water level all the way down to the bottom showing how saturated my tap is with minerals.

The water is the most effective part in a cooling system. The coolant does raise the boiling point, and have those inhibitors, but I dont see how you could think a 50/50 is more effective then a 30/70 with a little water wetter.

 

Ah I see. Yeah bottled would be better than tap if you have to choose between the two.


I agree that a higher water ratio equates to a more efficient cooling system. I actually posted an objective anaylsis chart comparing glycol based coolant, 50/50 mix, pure water, 50/50 mix w/ wetter, and pure water w/ wetter in another thread.

Here it is again for those interested. The higher the water ratio, the more efficient the cooling system runs.

 

Nice write up. I don't plan on going to the track so I just use Peak 50/50 antifreeze. According to the service manual the coolant should be flushed every 2 years.

 

Thank you for the back up.

 

I disagree completely. Run without corrosion inhibitors and in a couple or three years many of your small galleries and the tubes in the radiator core will have their diameter noticeably narrowed.

I agree that I have doubts about water wetter - it does lower the surface tension of the water, but whether it actually improves cooling I'm less sure of, but it is claimed to contain some corrosion inhibitors, although less than most commercial anti-freezes.

It's true that anti freeze was originally used only to lower the freezing point, but over the last 60 or 70 years it's become a much more complex product that keeps the cooling system operating at peak efficiency.

And while mineral water might be better than your local tap water I certainly wouldn't bet on it. It's nowhere near to being distilled water. Look at the product description - mineral water. If you live in an are where good product labelling is mandatory, look at the list of ingredients. The fact that 'water' even has a list of ingredients should tell you something about it. I'm not a purist on this - I'll use tap water, but I live in a soft water area and boiling it first takes out quite a bit of the mineral content, but Polish Spring water? That is high in mineral content.

Rob

 

Question. Do I need to do a complete radiator flush when I change from water-wetter back to regular coolant (or Engine Ice)? I took the bike to the track a few months ago and have water-wetter as coolant now.

Thanks

 

From Red Line's FAQ:

Q: Is WaterWetter compatible with antifreeze?
A: WaterWetter is compatible with all antifreezes including the new extended-life types that are "factory-fill" in your new road car. Simply pour in one bottle for most road cars or light trucks.

 

william, i am not talking about running no antifreeze at all. I am against that concept. I run at least 20% no matter what mix I am running.

Poland Spring is NOT mineral water. it is distilled water. some water from the tap contains VERY HIGH levels of minerals. Poland Spring does not have nearly the same amount of minerals as most taps.

Some level of anti freeze is important I agree.
Using Water Wetter cant hurt... it could only help. even if it only helps a little, thats a win to me.

 

great diy. helped me with the flush and fill.

one tip I want to give out which I have experienced when doing this diy. Do not remove the radiator cap until you have remove the bolt next to the shifter. The coolant did not shoot out until the radiator cap is removed. Twist open the radiator cap, but do not remove the cap. The coolant will slowly pour out instead of shooting out a foot. Remove the radiator cap if you have someone holding a bucket next to the coolant drain plug in an angle.

 

Step 7, No top hose

Hey, great write up btw. So, everything was fine when I was flushing the coolant out my bike but when I got to Step 7, I realized my bike didn't have a top hose connecting to the top part of the coolant reservoir. Is that a bad thing? What is the purpose of the top hose on the reservoir? Should I just tape off/close the open hole? I recently bought a 2010 Ninja 250r from a private seller and this is my first bike. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!