Antifreeze

[johndo]

Any recommendations?
How much do I need for the Curvy?

[Adam Ef]

Coolant? Halfords OAT ready mixed.

[johndo]

Originally Posted by Adam Ef

Coolant? Halfords OAT ready mixed.

Cheers

[embee]

Silicate free.
Any silicates can cause pump seal wear in engines not designed for it.

[johndo]

Are all OAT antifreeze silicate free?

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by johndo

Are all OAT antifreeze silicate free?

You have to check the spec says silicate free, as said before in thread the silicates play havoc with water pump bearings and seals if engine is designed for silicate free. I just did my AL7 2016 coolant today with Comma XSM5L- Xstream G30 OAT - it says 5 year life on the container. It is pink ( not that the colour matters ). To save lifting the fuel tank to empty the expansion bottle ( there can be about 250mL of old coolant lurking in there ). I used my MityVac to suck it out of the bottle ( the tube from rad cap goes down to the bottom of the expansion bottle, so I slid off the overflow tube by the rad cap and connected my MityVac and sucked it out, then used a small funnel and some electricians insulation tape to seal the joint between funnel and tube and refilled the expansion bottle, bear in mind if bike on propstand the coolant will be about 10mm over the 'F' full mark but OK when bike upright ) used a torch to see level of coolant. There is a small hole in the expansion bottle cap - it is not pressurised like rest of cooling system, just do not try to fill up the bottle too quickly as air has to escape as the coolant goes in.

[johndo]

that's good advice its a pain to get tank up on mine due to steering damper.

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by johndo

that's good advice its a pain to get tank up on mine due to steering damper.

I don't like moving stuff unless there is no other way of doing the job. Have had the Mityvac for about 10 years, and in that time it has been used for bleeding car and bike brakes and sucking fluids ( oil and coolant ). I also have a Sealey 6 litre vacuum extractor that I use for getting oil out of dipstick hole on our cars, it has also been used for changing fork oil on SV and various plumbing jobs like emptying central heating radiators when I have to take them off for anything. Nature may not like a vacuum but I love vacuums...

[johndo]

Originally Posted by SV650rules

I don't like moving stuff unless there is no other way of doing the job. Have had the Mityvac for about 10 years, and in that time it has been used for bleeding car and bike brakes and sucking fluids ( oil and coolant ). I also have a Sealey 6 litre vacuum extractor that I use for getting oil out of dipstick hole on our cars, it has also been used for changing fork oil on SV and various plumbing jobs like emptying central heating radiators when I have to take them off for anything. Nature may not like a vacuum but I love vacuums...

very resourceful

[yokohama]

Another option for removing the coolant is using the trigger spray from a household cleaning bottle or the hand pump from a liquid soap dispenser. It's possible to remove the original tube from these and attach a longer section if needed. A couple of minutes pumping or squirting and the coolant reservoir is empty. Refill with water and repeat to flush out the old coolant completely.
A big chicken baster also comes in useful for emptying/refilling.