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Coolant change interval f800gs
- Thread starter Zwniana
- Start date
riderr1150gsadv
Well-known member
Coolant should be changed every 5 years as age plays a role as well as mileage in regard to chemical reactions between the various metals in the engine.. It isn’t hard to do and I’m sure there are vids on YouTube on how to go about it. YMMV
Yep - every 4 to 5 years is probably best.
I haven't written anything up yet in the twin diy/tech section (linked if you haven't visited yet), but there is some "tricks of the trade" to do it easily:
Stolen from ADVrider:
Successfully bleeding the cooling system of the BMW F650/F800 twins
(Based on ADVRider post by @JoelWisman, embellished upon by @JRWooden)
The factory method does not always work for getting the air out of the cooling system and the bike does not self-bleed at all. After 2 service bulletins describing different methods of bleeding, BMW finally said "too hell with it" and made a special tool to do the job that costs a ton. Most dealerships have the tool now, This method that has always worked for me:
Draining: I remove BOTH coolant lines at the oil cooler additional coolant comes out from the TOP hose even after bottom one has drained. Even doing this I only got ~1L of coolant out. The manual says it holds 1.65L. Next time I’ll see if I can do better by shaking the bike around or what-not. The hose from the remote resivoir comes off the BOTTOM of the resivoir. Drain the radiator first, then remove the cap allowing most of the resivoir contents to run into the radiator and on out of the system without making too big of a mess.
BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO LOOSE THE SMALL O-RINGS ON THE END OF THE COOLANT LINES!!
Refilling & Bleeding:
You can take the right side cowling off, but with a long narrow funnel, or funnel with a piece of tubing attached you can get by without removing the cowling.
Point the bike on light downhill slope if available and with bike ON THE SIDE STAND (not the center stand), leaning the bike over as far as possible. !SLOWLY! fill the radiator ALMOST to the top. Gently squeeze the two radiator hoses and you will get a lot of air out of them, refill radiator (almost full) and repeat until no more air-burps are observed. Now fill the radiator to TO THE TIPPY-FRIGG’N- TOP – leave cap off Also, leave remote reservoir empty until near the end of this process.
2: Open the TWO bleed screws & bleed till air stops coming out, then retighten.
a) at water pump – screw with the copper sealing washer
b) T30 cap screw ~2” above starter motor on the left cylinder
(most people MISS this second screw)
Some people say this 2nd screw doesn't do a damn thing ... BTFOM...
3: Fill radiator back to the “normal” top and replace radiator cap.
4: Start bike and idle for a few minutes, open bleed screw at the water pump for a few seconds until clear non-foaming coolant exits then retighten.
5: Rev engine to 4,000 rpm or so and rock bike slowly from side to side with rpms high, then hold straight or center stand and open bleed screw on the water pump for a few more seconds - coolant will be HOT – be careful!
6: Shut off bike and allow to cool down (at least 30 minutes, carefully open radiator cap and fill to tippy top, replace radiator cap.
7: Start bike and allow to idle till cooling fan comes on.
GOOD RESULT: If it took a long time for the fan to come on, and the entire radiator is very hot to touch from behind, and the fan is blowing off a lot of heat, go ride, everything is working!
BAD RESULT: If the cooling fan comes on pretty quick, the back of the radiator is not too hot to touch continuously everywhere, and the fan is not blowing off a lot of hot air but rather just warm air from the hot motor and exhaust surfaces …
You failed, repeat steps above.
Once you are satisfied, NOW go ahead and fill the resivoir to the maximum line while the bike is hot and cooling fan is cycling on and off. Go for a few rides allowing the bike to cool completely between and check that coolant in the catch tank has remained above the minimum line.
Congratulations, you've just bled the air out of a cooling system that can sometimes be a real
I haven't written anything up yet in the twin diy/tech section (linked if you haven't visited yet), but there is some "tricks of the trade" to do it easily:
Stolen from ADVrider:
Successfully bleeding the cooling system of the BMW F650/F800 twins
(Based on ADVRider post by @JoelWisman, embellished upon by @JRWooden)
The factory method does not always work for getting the air out of the cooling system and the bike does not self-bleed at all. After 2 service bulletins describing different methods of bleeding, BMW finally said "too hell with it" and made a special tool to do the job that costs a ton. Most dealerships have the tool now, This method that has always worked for me:
Draining: I remove BOTH coolant lines at the oil cooler additional coolant comes out from the TOP hose even after bottom one has drained. Even doing this I only got ~1L of coolant out. The manual says it holds 1.65L. Next time I’ll see if I can do better by shaking the bike around or what-not. The hose from the remote resivoir comes off the BOTTOM of the resivoir. Drain the radiator first, then remove the cap allowing most of the resivoir contents to run into the radiator and on out of the system without making too big of a mess.
BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO LOOSE THE SMALL O-RINGS ON THE END OF THE COOLANT LINES!!
Refilling & Bleeding:
You can take the right side cowling off, but with a long narrow funnel, or funnel with a piece of tubing attached you can get by without removing the cowling.
Point the bike on light downhill slope if available and with bike ON THE SIDE STAND (not the center stand), leaning the bike over as far as possible. !SLOWLY! fill the radiator ALMOST to the top. Gently squeeze the two radiator hoses and you will get a lot of air out of them, refill radiator (almost full) and repeat until no more air-burps are observed. Now fill the radiator to TO THE TIPPY-FRIGG’N- TOP – leave cap off Also, leave remote reservoir empty until near the end of this process.
2: Open the TWO bleed screws & bleed till air stops coming out, then retighten.
a) at water pump – screw with the copper sealing washer
b) T30 cap screw ~2” above starter motor on the left cylinder
(most people MISS this second screw)
Some people say this 2nd screw doesn't do a damn thing ... BTFOM...
3: Fill radiator back to the “normal” top and replace radiator cap.
4: Start bike and idle for a few minutes, open bleed screw at the water pump for a few seconds until clear non-foaming coolant exits then retighten.
5: Rev engine to 4,000 rpm or so and rock bike slowly from side to side with rpms high, then hold straight or center stand and open bleed screw on the water pump for a few more seconds - coolant will be HOT – be careful!
6: Shut off bike and allow to cool down (at least 30 minutes, carefully open radiator cap and fill to tippy top, replace radiator cap.
7: Start bike and allow to idle till cooling fan comes on.
GOOD RESULT: If it took a long time for the fan to come on, and the entire radiator is very hot to touch from behind, and the fan is blowing off a lot of heat, go ride, everything is working!
BAD RESULT: If the cooling fan comes on pretty quick, the back of the radiator is not too hot to touch continuously everywhere, and the fan is not blowing off a lot of hot air but rather just warm air from the hot motor and exhaust surfaces …
You failed, repeat steps above.
Once you are satisfied, NOW go ahead and fill the resivoir to the maximum line while the bike is hot and cooling fan is cycling on and off. Go for a few rides allowing the bike to cool completely between and check that coolant in the catch tank has remained above the minimum line.
Congratulations, you've just bled the air out of a cooling system that can sometimes be a real
Drneo66 has been a great contributor to our F-Twins world!
OM
I stand on the shoulders of giants
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