Well, I just completed a long term study in the use of long life 5 year engine coolant using my trusty 97 VFR750 as a test subject. I changed the coolant to the long life stuff way back in October of 2000, just before I moved to Los Angeles and haven't touched it since. Today I decided it was time to drain it and see what it looked like. I have heard horror stories about it turning and causing massive problems internally. I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled the drain plug when it came out orange and clear just like the day I put it in. I was surprised because when I put it in, I didn't bother to do a proper flush, I just drained the green stuff and replaced it with the orange stuff. I did however, use distilled water to attain my 50/50 mix. So, I'm gonna do the same thing again and I shouldn't have to think about the coolant until the bike dies as I've got 90,000+ miles on it and it is my only form of motorized transportation. I've never had an sort of overheating problems and it has never run hot. Even stuck in traffic for long periods the needle never got more than a hair above halfway. Sure the radiator fan ran constantly, but the bike never came close to over heating. And this was in 100+ degree weather. So, to all that have had a bad experience with the orange long life engine coolants, I'm sorry to hear it. The only thing I can see as being a problem is using tap water, which has many impurities in it, that probably reacted with the orange stuff causing the problem. So, use distilled water and use the orange stuff and forget about it for 5 years. No problem man. Chris Stumpf
At 14000 miles, my 2000 VFR's T-stat stuck open, so I drained and refilled with DexCool 5/100,000 mile formula. Bike runs great and no issues since 2003 now..... Here is an excerpt from my original VFRList post about it: <SNIP> I finally got the T-stat and housing O-ring last night - one week after ordering it from Anderson Sales/Service in Bloomfield Hills.... The next issue was - what coolant to use as a replacement ?? The Honduh dealer wanted $3.59 +tax per QUART of premixed 50/50 Honduh coolant. Day schmoke da good weed mon. OK, so now I was on the quest for some high quality non-silicate coolant for less that $14.36/gal +tax... Both of the MOPAR coolants I use at work and in my cars contains silicates which Honduh claims could be abrasive and damage seals/impeller, etc. If it's so bad for those parts, why don't the automobile OEM's avoid them ?? Dunno, but I do know that the Prestone 5/150 'DEX-COOL' orange coolant claims it does not contain silicates. $12.50 later for the Prestone and some 'purified' water I was headed to the 'VFR workshop'. (Incidentally, the 'purified' water was not approved for human consumption - what's up with that ??) OH, and BTW, just in case you didn't know, the orange (5/150) and green (3 year) coolant forumulae are in no way compatible with one another. To change from one coolant formultation to another you have to completely flush your cooling system thoroughly. Otherwise, they 'SHOULD' be compatible with all cooling systems requiring ethylene glycol based coolant. Check for yourself - I'm not an expert. OK, so FSM laid out, I love how you have to jump around to different sections to dig into the beast... Step One: Disconnect Battery - See section X-XX, Step Two: remove fuel tank - See section X-XX, Step Three: Remove body work - See section X-XX etc. etc. etc. Anyway, I started spinning wrenches, and had all the parts laid out and 'field stripped' for inspection in short order.... If you ever have to do this, I don't recommend doing it w/o the FSM... I enjoy a good challenge, but putting my VFR together with no torques/instuctions/hints would be a bad idea - especially with the myriad of hoses and E/E connections to make on the airbox and throttle body assembly. OK, so everything is apart and drained, so I plugged the intake ports and breather hoses and rolled the VFR out to the driveway to flush the system. I stuck my garden hose in every cooling passage that was available and ran the hose until the fluid peeing out all over the place was clean and clear. To get all of the tap water out of the cooling system, I tilted the bike over on the left side and shook it around - a few more drops came out.... I even removed the cylinder drain bolt, but mostly clear water came out.... no biggie Now, I meticulously re-assembled all of the bits I had field stripped earlier, and buttoned her up - minus the body work in case there was a leak. BTW, almost every cooling hose clamp was LOOSE... If you haven't ever checked them, it's a good idea to snug them up the next time you do an oil change or something. You won't get them all as there are almost a dozen in the 'V' of the engine alone, but every little bit helps. I prepared the 50/50 coolant mixture and filled up the system and coolant recovery bottle, then started the bike and blipped the throttle a few times... Looked like everything was A-OK... I closed the rad cap and fired up the VFR again to let it get warm and de-aerate... I had a little scare when the temp gage read almost 230 and the wax unit was still holding fast idle (now at 3000 rpm) and the T-stat had not opened yet (radiators cool).... I shut it off and let it sit a second..... fired it back up and within 10 seconds, the T-stat opened - PHEW ! there must have been a good sized airpocket on the underside of the T-stat preventing the hot water from opening the T-stat....ok, all better now.... temp drops down to 170-180 all is well - no leaks. I button up the rest of the bodywork and put it away for the night - it's 10PM - time for a beer (I don't drink when I spin wrenches on my bikes)... This morning, I went out for a little test ride to make sure the T-stat and fan circuit function properly.... I rode around for a good while and the new T-stat appeared to operate fine... When I got home, I let it idle for a bit to check the cooling fan operation... The fan didn't come on until 230 degrees !!! holy cow... I know why - the fan switch sits in the highest part of the left radiator where there is most likely a nice big air bubble above the coolant..... I hope this 'burps' itself out with more riding. So, it's all done... From start to finish, he whole job took about 4.5 hours of steady working to replace the T-stat. Now that I've done it once, I bet I could knock an hour off of that....hehe Keep the Shiny side up ! -Stephan, '00 VFR, Yellow - naturally <SNIP>
Dexcool gels up when exposed to air. If your cooling system is tight you should have no problems. A good choice is Peak Global, a five year hybrid, silicate free.
