Coolant change

[motodan]

Has anyone bothered to change the coolant in their wethead? If so, what/whose protocol are you following?

 

[LFarling]

I am due and I bookmarked this a year or two ago. Hope it helps and let us know how you make out.

I went to a BMW car dealer and bought a gallon of coolant to have. I mixed about 3oz with 3 oz of distilled water to top off my coolant level. It NEVER stays at the exact full mark. I just don't fill it to the fill line anymore as it will just puke it back out until it finds it's own level again. After 5/6 years I am ready to change it out in the spring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wosn1_S4UIE

 

[robsryder]

In the past with my K75S bikes and Triumph liquid cooled bikes (96 Thunderbird and 99 Tiger) I used an orange colored Zerex product for aluminum engines (e.g. silicate free). I mixed up 50/50 mixtures with distilled water.

As I recall the bikes had a green colored coolant initially. I drained the old coolant. I then filled the bike with distilled water. The bike was started and run for a short while (to allow circulation of the coolant). The water was drained. I repeated this process a couple of times. Afterwards I added the orange 50/50 mix. No issues.

I found the BMW coolant to be reasonably priced at the local dealer and purchased a gallon. The intent is to make a 50/50 mix with distilled water. Since I should be replacing BMW coolant with BMW coolant in my R1200 RTw there should be no need to flush the system in between coolant changes. If the colors differ I will reconsider.

Here is the part number for the BMW coolant - 82141467704

Bob's has it for $29 for a gallon -

https://store.bobsmotorcycles.com/product/bmw-antifreezecoolant-1-gallon

 

[bigjohnsd]

I had to replace the Thermostat on my wife "14 Mini (BMW) Convertible several years ago.
I didn't do my research and failed to realize that the BMW Coolant # 82141467704 came full strength and needed to be diluted 50/50 with distilled water.

I have an unopened gallon jug and another gallon that is 50/50. I drained, flushed, and filled my '14 once.
I'm ready to do my '21 but as the coolant is "lifetime" I'm not in any rush at only 24 months and 38K miles.

You might check the price at https://www.autohausaz.com/pn/82141...__sZAKhNu7qQ8WMCvYTOetSFX-i0SQoIaAsoLEALw_wcB

 

[52184]

As a data point: you can’t determine anything anymore by coolant color. Getting the correct coolant is critical, both for laying down the initial protective layer from the original coolant and for preventing coolant gelling caused by mixing incompatible coolants. And, coolants can interact with gasket materials so the off-the-shelf coolant you buy may not interact well with gasket materials designed for other coolants.

Nowadays the FLAPS are selling OAT, HOAT, old-fashioned glycol-based coolants, and more. And where coolant mfgrs used to designate things by color, you can now find any particular type of coolant in multiple colors, so color means absolutely nothing. Some coolants, in fact, will change color with temperature and use—the coolant used in later RAM trucks is an example.

The BMW coolant is reasonably priced, comes as a concentrate to be mixed 50-50 with distilled water, and readily available at a dealer. Coolant is among the BMW service products I don’t try to buy at a FLAPS. FWIW.

Best,
DeVern

 

[Omega Man]

What does FLAPS stand for?
FLAPS stands for Friendly Local Auto Parts Store

OM

 

[ramble]

I got the appropriate BMW coolant from Amazon, a quart, just to top off the reservoir .

 

[globalrider]

I changed my coolant in 2020, 4 years after taking delivery of my 2016 R1200 GS Adventure.

I drained it (there is a drain plug on the bottom of each cylinder) and ran distilled water in it 6 times, each time with the thermostat opening for the coolant to flow, till the water came out clear.

Then filled it with a 60:40 BMW coolant and distilled water. Flushed out the coolant reservoir as well and filled it.

Get two new aluminum sealing rings for the drain plugs. PN: 07 11 9 963 073, A10X13,5-AL.

 

[globalrider]

Nowadays the FLAPS are selling OAT, HOAT, old-fashioned glycol-based coolants, and more.

Best,
DeVern

Well wouldn't it be nice if manufacturers would list a spec for the product. Like what type it is, as is it were a national security secret.

I am 99% sure it is the same as Valvoline Zerex G48.

There you go, the attached document is dated 2021 and it lists G48 for BMW Motorcycles...

 

[LFarling]

Again a BMW car dealer has it priced as reasonable as Amazon or any other place. It is the correct and approved coolant. It is not hard to find the correct coolant.

Colors of coolant mean nothing these days. It used to, but no longer.

I am not sure why we are changing our coolant as BMW insists it is "lifetime"

 

[globalrider]

Again a BMW car dealer has it priced as reasonable as Amazon or any other place. It is the correct and approved coolant.

Except BMW or any other manufacturer doesn't produce the coolant, or oils or brake fluid, etc.

And the BMW factory fill and bottle you get from BMW, they most likely get it from BASF or Pentosin in Germany. Just some options owners should be aware of.

I am not sure why we are changing our coolant as BMW insists it is "lifetime"

Sort of like the final drive lube in the R1200 back when they came out was a factory fill with no drain bolt. Or one manufacurer who also claimed the spark plugs were good for life. Yeah...right.

 

[rhbike]

I am not sure why we are changing our coolant as BMW insists it is "lifetime"

Manufactures who are in the business of selling new products might have a somewhat different vested interest or definition of "lifetime" than us consumers. And manufactures are also adjusting some of fluid lifespans to comply with ever tougher environmental regulations, which doesn't necessarily mean the fluid actually last longer. As an example, "lifetime" transmission fluid found in many car transmissions these days really means the lifetime of the transmission which if the fluid is unchanged will usually die far sooner than the rest of the car. The cost of the replacing fluids is a fraction of the cost of replacing the component the fluid is protecting.

My K1600 owners manual doesn't list any service intervals for the coolant. I don't know if they are implying it is "lifetime" fluid. But the BMW service manual that they no longer sell clearly says to check the properties of the fluid if the fluid is to be reused. I have to remove the radiator at minimum every 18k miles to replace the plugs. For me, I might as well replace the coolant while I am at it. I might consider reusing the coolant if I had reason to drop the radiator during a mid-18k service. Perhaps overkill, but fluid is cheap compared to most BMW parts.

 

[globalrider]

I have to remove the radiator at minimum every 18k miles to replace the plugs.

You replace the spark plugs every 18K miles?

I highly doubt they are that worn if at all.

 

[LFarling]

You replace the spark plugs every 18K miles?

I highly doubt they are that worn if at all.

I do mine every 12K as called out. You can not really "read" plugs like you used to be able to. At least I can not. I mean if it is pure white and the center electrode is gone, or pure gobbed up black with soot would indicate a bit but not much. I can not look at a plug and know if it is good or not.

Heat and high compression is hard on all parts of a plug. I use iridium in mine and you can see electrode wear and by checking gap.

I change my FD fluid with oil changes at 6K. 6oz of FD oil is not gonna kill me at all. I also add 1 tbs of pure Molly suspended in mineral oil to it.

We all have our own levels of maintenance we adhere too. I used to change car oil at 2500 mile intervals back in the day.

Some of us are just too OCD I guess.

 

[globalrider]

I do mine every 12K as called out. You can not really "read" plugs like you used to be able to.

Some of us are just too OCD I guess.

Well you do not have to "read" your spark plugs. Everytime I took them out in near 50 years, they were fine and if they were very worn, I'd replace them. I would look for wear and at 12K or 18K miles, they are not worn out I am sure. And it isn't like a logic switch as in it works one day and not work the next day. If they are that worn to feel ignition misses, you'll know.

And nobody is as OCD as I am with two Porsche 911s and four BMW motorcycles and some of the aircraft I used to work on.

Some aspects of a maintenance schedules are gross overkill. According to the manufacturer's maintenance schedule, I should have replaced my spark plugs at 4 years and 40,000 miles in my 911 GTS. I removed the factory installed spark plugs at 7 years 5 months at 6204 miles not because I thought they were worn, but because I do not like leaving spark plugs in that long without removing them. All six came out easy, I cleaned the threads, applied a very thin coat of anti-seize and reinstalled them.

But people can spend money as they wish.

 

[rhbike]

You replace the spark plugs every 18K miles?

I highly doubt they are that worn if at all.

That's the service interval called for on the K1600's. I am just changing the plugs out right now and have cleaned the radiator. It uses iridium plugs. The old plugs looked like they could have gone a bit longer, but I'm guessing the service interval has some built in margin.

 

[globalrider]

I am just changing the plugs out right now and have cleaned the radiator.

I am not familiar with your particular model, but did you do anything to the radiator to make things easier.

I always use fiberglass screen in front of my radiators. I have that on my R100 GS, my R1150 GSA and my R1200 GSA.

The bugs wipe right off with a light touch and you do not have the trouble of getting bugs out of the fins of the radiator. BTW, Bugs-B-Gone works well at softening them up.

 

[rhbike]

I am not familiar with your particular model, but did you do anything to the radiator to make things easier.

I always use fiberglass screen in front of my radiators. I have that on my R100 GS, my R1150 GSA and my R1200 GSA.

The bugs wipe right off with a light touch and you do not have the trouble of getting bugs out of the fins of the radiator. BTW, Bugs-B-Gone works well at softening them up.

At risk of further thread drift, the K1600 radiator is down low right behind the front wheel. It does have a screen in front of it and any further screen will result in overheating challanges. It is a well known issue that the K1600 radiator gets clogged up readily, and the only way to clean it well enough is to remove it so you can clean from both sides. It only takes about an hour to remove. A bit longer to reinstall by the time you've refilled the coolant and removed the air pockets.

 

[105258]

I have had 5 BMW bikes and my wife 6. I always drain,flush and replace the coolant every 2 years. Simple process in the boxer liquid engines. Drain the fluid and expansion tank, flush with distilled water, replace fluid and top up expansion tank. I then take the bike for a run around town to get the motor hot enough to open the thermostat before I replace the body panels. Then top up as necessary. I have and continue to use good old Prestone pre mix, the green stuff. Avaliable everywhere.

 

[pauls1150]

There's not a lot of room, but could a fender extender or a mud flap help reduce the debris in the grille?

I've noticed that the screens that Home Depot sells for attic and crawlspace vents is easily cut and shaped; for example, have a look at their p/n 793653206201 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gibralt...d-Steel-Flat-Screen-Vent-SCV166-1-8/310198632