Hi all, just bought this coolant for xtz660 2012, Castrol 17845600 1L Motorcycle Coolant. Says it is suitable for ALL motorcycle engines, but then goes on to say "Do not use with magnesium alloy engines". How do i know if i have a magnesium alloy engine??



Anyone else use this?

cheers

You don't have a magnesium alloy engine... I think you need more than 1 litre though.

D

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If you can read this you're faster than you look...

Firstly... to the forum!

The Castrol coolant is ethylene glycol based and is fine for use in the XT660. As Interceptor implies, one litre ain't going to be enough for a coolant change. The coolant capacity is 1.7L (1.2L for the pressurised part of the system and the expansion tank takes 0.5L to the reach full mark).

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Thanks for the prompt replies, i bought 2 litres and just copied and pasted product from amazon for reference. Needed to check about mag alloy though. just goes to show that forums work.
cheers.

How is motorcycle coolant different to car coolant, or lorry coolant for that matter?

I use Comma Xstream G30 [1] mixed with distilled water in modern bikes (not changed it in my XT yet - next month's job) or 5l Comma Coldmaster antifreeze (no OAT) mixed with water from the dehumidifier in the (very old) car.

Does anyone know?

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Simon

Brighton, UK

The XT660 cooling system requires an ethylene glycol based coolant without silicate, phosphate or boric corrosion inhibitors. This type of coolant is often branded as "organic" and falls into the OAT (organic acid technology) category. Whichever brand you choose look for one that says "OAT" or "organic" on the label and is ethylene glycol based. They often say they are silicate and boric free.

These days (now most cars on the road have aluminium blocks and heads like motorcycles) there is generally no difference between car and motorcycle OAT coolants. Going back ten years or so a lot of car coolants contained silicates, which were added to the mix to scour the rust deposits from the waterways of iron blocks and copper oxide from brass cored radiators. The waterways in iron blocks (and heads) and the cores of brass radiators are substantially bigger than those in aluminium blocks, heads and radiators so are less prone to getting blocked by these silicates flowing round the system, so you don't see silicates so much anymore. The other problem with silicates for the motorcyclist is that they can destroy the mechanical seal in the water pumps of bike engines due to their abrasive nature.

In a nutshell, a car coolant will be fine as long as it is OAT ethylene glycol based type 2 coolant without silicates, boric acid or phosphates, in other words it is "suitable for aluminium engines".

Save your money and buy a car coolant if you like, but ALWAYS read the label carefully!

Note: It is not recommended to mix IAT (inorganic acid technology), or HOAT (hybird organic acid technology) coolants with OAT types because they contain silicates, phosphates and boric acid which effect the life of the coolant and can cause deposits to build up. As a precaution, in an ideal world, it is always best to flush the cooling system through with clean (preferably de-ionised) water or a flushing agent before replacing the coolant.

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Really interesting and helpful, thanks.

The Comma Xstream G30 that I was going to use in the XT seems to be fine - it's also fairly cheap in concentrate form.

http://www.commaoil.com/productsguide/view/6/351

For flushing I use a garden hose, then to flush that out I use water I've saved from my dehumidifier, then anti-freeze/distilled water 50/50 mix.

The car (1965) can't use OAT type anti-freeze as it can find any porosity in the head and block - not just creeping through gaskets, actually through casting imperfections in the block! With catastrophic results.

The advice is not to use OAT or HOAT anti-freeze in old cars (anything before about 1975) - which just leaves good old Bluecol (or the Comma version of it).

Also, I don't tend to use distilled water in the car, just a 50/50 mix of anti-freeze and dehumidifier water, as it needs the best part of two gallons every two years!

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Simon

Brighton, UK

Although, on a bit of further reading this may be more appropriate as it actually states it's silica free:

http://www.commaoil.com/passenger-ve...view/298/SLA1L

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Simon

Brighton, UK