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Old 20-06-16, 00:21
Pleiades Pleiades is offline
XT-Moto SuperStar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: North Norfolk
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaolinfist View Post
I just filled my new engine with coolant but had no idea about not mixing with other types and don't know what was in there previously. Should I flush it out properly to be on the safe side and what would be the symptoms that I have a problem?
Its up to you, but my advice would be: If you don't know what was in there flush it through a good few times before filling. You don't need anything fancy if the coolant that came out was relatively clear, just good old water. Fill the system with water and run the bike up to operating temperature drain it, then repeat, drain and fill with correctly diluted OAT coolant. If what came out originally looked in anyway contaminated, then a flushing agent added to the water would be worth a shout.

The breakdown of the attached silicon compounds in IAT coolants when mixed with OAT coolants results in everything thickening into a gel. The symptoms of mixed incompatible coolants are hard to tell without looking at the inside of the cooling system components. Generally you find jelly like deposits (silica gel) floating in the coolant and/or collecting round the water pump vanes, in the radiator core and round the thermostat.

Here's an example, a Land Rover 200tdi water pump after a year of running with mixed IAT and OAT coolants. You can see the silica gel build up very clearly:



Needless to say this water pump failed in use!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaolinfist View Post
I ran it idling for 10 minutes today and it got rather hot the fan even came on.
That's pretty normal running at idle with no airflow for 10 minutes. Nothing to worry about.