Engine Coolant!

[Steve_D]

That Granville antifreeze is exactly what we use at work. I have plenty of the stuff. Looks like that'll be what's going in.

[Data]

Hi Cookie, yes even though in theory it should be getting easier to determine what you need, the industry has/is going through some changes and introducing new less toxic chemicals into the coolant world. Michael seems to have a handle on some of this stuff. To answer your question 'OAT' stands for Organic Acid Technology, and is marketed as a long life coolant. I haven't been full time in the techie world now for 8 years or more so I'm a bit out of date with my info, but I understand only some engines can take this coolant due to the type of engine gaskets and seals that are fitted. If you put it in the wrong type of engine it can and probably will cause gasket and seal failure, like Honda experienced just a few short years ago across the range of their engines when the wrong coolant containing 'silicates' was accidentally specified from the factory. In addition, many OAT's contains inhibitors that reduce corrosion etc but one of those is 2-ethylhexanoic acid, which acts as a plasticizer and destroys engine seals and some gaskets if used in the wrong engine types. Just like when silicates affected the Silverwing and some other Honda bikes in the range causing early water pump failure. It caused a lot of problems. I don't know if OAT coolants can be used in your bike but it's possible. In your case I would advise the same as what Michael is saying; check with your dealer to make absolutely sure you are going to use the right stuff. Heck, it was so much easier just a few years ago!

Michael, from talking to the new owner of my Vstrom, I believe he had put the wrong coolant in the bike. It was the green 2 year stuff, but not the Suzuki green coolant after all. It contained silcates which simply didn't mix with the Putoline blue coolant. I'm doing a complete flush for him pronto as it will knock his water pump seals out pretty quick if left and probably won't do the rest of the engine any good either.

Granville antifreeze is ok for many engines. I've used it in bikes previously.

[michaelphillips]

agree with you totally data,you need to check your manuals and go with the intended coolant, also leaving the coolant in longer than its intended use will thin it down and then degrade and seep through the seals, this is especially on scooter type pump assemblies but probably does not affect car pump setups.. scoot setups are simplistic in design but wear on the seals as centre pins spinning, if the fluid is degraded with particles of crud in it, and thin it can wear the seals.. think of it as you at the beach and the rocks are eroding etc

[halfabusa]

All these chemicals talk make my head spin I think i will just go to a suzuki dealer and ask for the suzuki specified coolant to be on the safe side... BTW, Data, you're quickly becoming the Reputation King of Muppets here with 14 scores already. We should have a top 10 reputation table on the site.

p.s. glad smokey's enjoying the new and cleaned out garage. Dry environment will be very handy in the winter to work on the bike. Even changing brake pads was very tricky the other week with rain drizzling on and off all the time cause i had to keep the reservoir open but didn't want rain going in so i had to put a shopping bag over it... Need to sort out some tarpaulin DIY shelter soon.

[Cookie]

That Granville stuff looks interesting.
One further question though.
Much of the antifreeze is in concentrated form that requires diluting before use. The recommendation seems to be to use distilled water - not surprisingly since you don't want any contaminants or scale in the engine.
However, distilled water is quite hard to get hold of so does anyone know if you can safely use deionised water instead?
Or is it best just to get the ready mixed antifreeze to avoid the problem?

Cookie

[Steve_D]

There is a difference but it is so slight it shouldn't make a difference for what we want to use it for.

[michaelphillips]

There is a difference but it is so slight it shouldn't make a difference for what we want to use it for.

THE granville stuff says you can use hard or soft water, but i would not buy de ironised etc i will be just boiling some water and let it go cold as ours is hard water and we still get a bit of limescale although we use an electronic descaler hooked into the mains supply pipe

[michaelphillips]

That Granville stuff looks interesting.

Or is it best just to get the ready mixed antifreeze to avoid the problem?

Cookie

dont buy ready mixed as you dont know the concentrate, your scoot might recomend 50/50 or 60/40

[Steve_D]

There is a difference but it is so slight it shouldn't make a difference for what we want to use it for.

.........but i would not buy de ironised etc i will be just boiling some water and let it go cold......

Then that will surely be no different from what you started with? Distilled water is the cooled steam from boiled water.

[sad vampire]

I save up the water out of the aircon when I use it in the summer, it's distilled water after all. Aircon uses power from the solar panels too, so I get it cheap, always a bonus.