Sticky Coolant!!!

[nutzboutbikes]

Has anyone else ever had or heard of sticky coolant before?.

Last week I noticed a very small coolant leak on the front cylinder!, when I touched it it was sticky!, so I drained the system an to my surprise the coolant that came out was also sticky/tacky to the touch.

I used Prestone coolant when I changed it last, is it possible this has reacted with the old coolant?.

[NTECUK]

What color was it?

[andrewsmith]

Sounds like ford 10 year
That stuff is horrible

[nutzboutbikes]

Green!

[nutzboutbikes]

Just thinking about it, it was yellow when I put it in!

[NTECUK]

OK. Was the old stuff the long life 5 year pinky re?
Those two don't mix

[littleoldman2]

Ethylenediol is colourless and clear, any colour is due to added die.

[nutzboutbikes]

I'm not sure its been about year since I changed it so cant remember the colour of the coolant before that, would that make it turn sticky then?.


I used Prestone as it says its safe with all engines types and all coolants.

[Bibio]

Halfords pink, readily available and does the job.

[nutzboutbikes]

Halfords pink, readily available and does the job.
Going Motul Mo Cool and de-ionized water route I think as bike is mainly used for trackdays now, fingers crossed it hasn't caused any internal damage!.


Appreciate the input guys thanks.

[admin]

I used motul on a recent coolant change on the VFR. It might be my imagination but the bike does seem to run cooler. My only complaint is that it's very light in colour so hard to check the level in the reserve tank.

[NTECUK]

It's the addative that don't gel with red/pink and the normal blue /greens.
They are all glycol.
It's just what they add in that gives you the corrosion inhibitors that make up the 2 years or 5 year types.
Good flush through the system is the safest route.
And if you can use deionised water rather than tap water. (lots of stuff in tap water).

[TicklinJock]

Halfords pink, readily available and does the job.

Thanks for that!
I'll put that stuff in.
I just removed the side panels, to get the seat off, to lift the tank to check the level because the stuff in there is clear.

[nutzboutbikes]

It's the addative that don't gel with red/pink and the normal blue /greens.
They are all glycol.
It's just what they add in that gives you the corrosion inhibitors that make up the 2 years or 5 year types.
Good flush through the system is the safest route.
And if you can use deionised water rather than tap water. (lots of stuff in tap water).

Does make me wonder how the Prestone coolant can say it is safe to mix with all types of coolants and engines!.
It looks to me that it has caused some sort of reaction to make it sticky, I will not be using the stuff again.

[nutzboutbikes]

I used motul on a recent coolant change on the VFR. It might be my imagination but the bike does seem to run cooler. My only complaint is that it's very light in colour so hard to check the level in the reserve tank.
I heard the Motul products are good from a friend, he uses them in his car and swears by them.

[johnnyrod]

It won't make it run cooler, the mechanical thermostat in your bike controls that. I wouldn't fret about what you've seen TBH. If you can't afford deionised water then do you have a condensing tumble drier? They make distilled water. All you're after is most of the natural salts being removed to reduce corrosion (so don't use Volvic, no matter how middle class you are).

[NTECUK]

If you are that tight. You can use rain water. Lol

[millemille]

It won't make it run cooler, the mechanical thermostat in your bike controls that.

No it doesn't.

The mechanical thermostat opens and closes at a set temperature to speed up coolant warm up and then bring the the full cooling circuit into operation once the coolant is warm enough.

The temperature that the thermostat opens and closes at is below normal operating temperature of the engine coolant.

The radiator area, water pump flow rate, thermal transfer capability of the coolant all dictate normal operating temperature. If you improve the thermal transfer capacity of the coolant, which adding anti freeze does and different brands of anti freeze will be better or worse at, then the engine will run cooler in a like-for-like comparison.

[johnnyrod]

Ah I see what you mean, but are we talking hair-splitting now as on the road we're all using water and glycol?

[millemille]

Ah I see what you mean, but are we talking hair-splitting now as on the road we're all using water and glycol?

Not really, the fact is the thermostat doesn't control the running temperature of the bike.

A decent coolant will lower running temperature. Whether different brands do have different heat transfer capability or whether the observed drop in running temperature is down to replacing old coolant with new is open to question.....

[Bibio]

with halfords pink on my k7 twin spark it runs at 76c open road. sitting at traffic lights/town work during the summer it will rise till the fan kicks in and then hover around the 90c. you want your bike to reach operating temperature as quickly as possible and stay there as steady as it can. i seem to remember the FI SV's have a thermo sensor in the rad that is linked to the ECU for enriching the cold start as well as turning the fan on and off.

[nutzboutbikes]

Update:

Bikes been flushed a couple times and the stickiness has now gone so seems that's done the trick.

Filled it with deionised water mixed with 25% of Halfords finest pink as suggested which handily was found laying around in the garage so nice an cheap, I also added 5% of Mocool for good measure not so cheap but if it does what it says on the tub to me its worth it!.


Once again thanks all.

[Surfjayce]

maybe a silly question, but is Halfords Pink the OAT coolant?

[yorkie_chris]

Not really, the fact is the thermostat doesn't control the running temperature of the bike.

A decent coolant will lower running temperature. Whether different brands do have different heat transfer capability or whether the observed drop in running temperature is down to replacing old coolant with new is open to question.....

Eh?

So lets make some assumptions like the radiator always returns fluid at ambient temp and normal running.
Put a coolant in that has 10% greater heat capacity.

The thermostat will, broadly speaking, reduce flow through the radiator by 10%.


The thermostats job is to give a consistent temperature and it does control the running temperature of the engine. The only difference would be in extreme condition where the thermostat is wide open.


The far far more important factor of coolant is not the next-to-bollox-all difference in specific heat capacity but the additive package for preventing corrosion and deposits.

[yorkie_chris]

with halfords pink on my k7 twin spark it runs at 76c open road. sitting at traffic lights/town work during the summer it will rise till the fan kicks in and then hover around the 90c. you want your bike to reach operating temperature as quickly as possible and stay there as steady as it can. i seem to remember the FI SV's have a thermo sensor in the rad that is linked to the ECU for enriching the cold start as well as turning the fan on and off.

Is that not the temperature sensor on the thermostat housing? You wouldn't want to control mixture based on radiator temperature... imagine an ice cold day where the radiator is at 0 degrees but the engine is at 80... it would run slobbery rich!

Also, the switch on the rad just has live and neutral IIRC, no signal.

[nutzboutbikes]

Eh?

So lets make some assumptions like the radiator always returns fluid at ambient temp and normal running.
Put a coolant in that has 10% greater heat capacity.

The thermostat will, broadly speaking, reduce flow through the radiator by 10%.

The thermostats job is to give a consistent temperature and it does control the running temperature of the engine. The only difference would be in extreme condition where the thermostat is wide open.

The far far more important factor of coolant is not the next-to-bollox-all difference in specific heat capacity but the additive package for preventing corrosion and deposits.

From what I have read! the best way to improve cooling efficiency is to use a 25-75% anti freeze/water mixture over a 50-50% mix because antifreeze will carry less heat compared to water each time it circulates from engine to radiator.

[yorkie_chris]

Yup. Not like you are likely to need -30C safe coolant mix in the uk.