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how hard is it to do a coolant flush???

14K views 44 replies 30 participants last post by  Candy Red Tour DCT Airbag  
#1 ·
i'm not a mechanic , but i do my own oil changes, gear oil changes, plugs...
thats about as far as i trust myself to go..

my 06 has 15k now, i think they suggest getting a flush at 18k:doorag:
 
#2 ·
Have not done it on a wing yet. If you can do oil, coolant will be no problem. Stay tuned we wil both get a lesson on a coolant flush.:popcorn:
 
#4 ·
Just got back in from So Beach ride. I get up your way a lot like riding up there.
 
#6 ·
Not hard at all. I would recommend getting an airlift 55000 which makes refilling a piece of cake without having to start and rev the motor multiple times to get rid of air in the system. Using the airlift, to drain the system, refill with distilled water, drain that & refill with 50-50 distilled water & antifreeze was about 1/2 hr if I remember correctly. Without the airlift, be prepared to spend a lot of time burping the system to get the air out.
 
#8 ·
I have not done it with the U-View tool, but it sounds like a great tool. IF you follow the Honda schedule for the change and IF you use Honda or equivalent coolant mix, then the flush is not really necessary. If you do not have the U-View tool, it is a bit of a PIA to gett most of the coolant out of the bike before flushing or refilling and also the same problem getting the flush solution out. My remedy was to lift the bike way up and put jackstands under the rear guard bars, then let the jack down to get a severe nose down attitude and a very good draining. The coolant recovery tank should be removed and cleaned too. One problem many encounter is the situation where no coolant drains with the radiator cap off and the drain plug removed. This is caused by some debris or "boiler scale" blocking the outlet and the opening is easily opened with a short piece of wire. Refilling can be tedious too. I had good luck by just pouring the new in very slowly and then "burping" on the side stand.

prs
 
#9 ·
Easy! You don't need anything except a hex wrench for the lower (if you want to remove it) cowl, 8mm 1/4" socket and a gal+ of coolant. Maybe something to suck the old coolant out of the reserve tank.
 
#11 ·
#16 ·
Question:
How much air pressure do you need to run a UView? I have a small aircompressor for filling tires, 1/3hp-1gallon.
Is that enough for a Uview? Nothing is mentioned on their website.
Thanks!
 
#17 ·
Question:
How much air pressure do you need to run a UView? I have a small aircompressor for filling tires, 1/3hp-1gallon.
Is that enough for a Uview? Nothing is mentioned on their website.
Thanks!
You don't need much at all. I have a small PC pancake compressor and it has MORE than enough. If you can generate at least 90 PSI, then you'll be good to go.

I also made a little ball valve attachment for the aircompressor. This makes turning the air on/off MUCH easier than using the pressure adjustment knob.

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Since the Wing takes a smidgen more than 4 qts of coolant, I purchased one of those 5 gallon plastic fueling cans (white). I can pour enough coolant in there so I don't run out for my refill.

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Finally, I use a plastic pipe to make draining the coolant cleaner. I got the idea from GatorWing. Here's his explanation of the tube. It works really well!
http://gl1800riders.com/forums/album.php?albumid=1568
 
#19 ·
$100.57 + Free Shipping.I think the sale is up pretty soon.

Best price and worth every penny.

Bulldog

For the life of me, I can not see paying $100 plus dollars on something I know I would only use once to flush the coolant system on my GW, and that is IF I ever do flush the system.

IF I did flush the cooling system, I would rev it a few times to burp the air out of the system, and be done with it and not have a $100 tool sitting on a shelf in the garage for months or years before (or if) I ever used it again.

How ofter do you flush your cooling system to re-coop the $100..plus dollars you paid for the thing?..:shrug:
 
#20 ·
For the life of me, I can not see paying $100 plus dollars on something I know I would only use once to flush the coolant system on my GW, and that is IF I ever do flush the system.

IF I did flush the cooling system, I would rev it a few times to burp the air out of the system, and be done with it and not have a $100 tool sitting on a shelf in the garage for months or years before (or if) I ever used it again.

How ofter do you flush your cooling system to re-coop the $100..plus dollars you paid for the thing?..:shrug:
My dealer would charge about $75 labor. But, if you do it every 2 years......

I burp it with the throttle and then enjoy the smell of fresh pancakes and syrup for the next couple of rides.
 
#21 ·
I have done two bikes, mine and a fellow riders in the last couple months. Burping is not an issue. finish up the last burps on the side stand. keeps the radiator cap side high and the rest low. gets out the rest of the air. check it again in about a week. all has been well. Access to the drain is 8mm thin wall socket. I use a quarter inch socket set for that. you don't have to remove the lower cowl. bb
 
#22 ·
For the life of me, I can not see paying $100 plus dollars on something I know I would only use once to flush the coolant system on my GW, and that is IF I ever do flush the system.

IF I did flush the cooling system, I would rev it a few times to burp the air out of the system, and be done with it and not have a $100 tool sitting on a shelf in the garage for months or years before (or if) I ever used it again.

How ofter do you flush your cooling system to re-coop the $100..plus dollars you paid for the thing?..:shrug:
You're talking about 1 motorcycle, that being the Goldwing. How many of us have more than 1 motorcycle? I own 4 plus 2 cars and I also take care of my sons 4 cars' cooling systems. Once you use it, you'll wonder how you went about it the old fashion way.

For those of you that us the UView 55000 may I suggest that you fill the fill hose that you put in the new coolant bottle with coolant (the one with the screen on the end) so you're not drawing air back into the cooling system, otherwise you'll be defeating the purpose of using this tool in the first place.
 
#23 ·
This is how I do a coolant system flush. You'll need 4 quarts of 50/50 coolant mix. I use Pro Honda HP coolant (or equivalent) mixed with distilled water in equal proportions. And you’ll need an additional gallon of distilled water (Do Not Use Tap Water).

With the engine cool, remove the radiator cap (Under Right fairing pocket) and then the 8 mm radiator drain bolt above the oil filter (See photo below), this will drain the coolant. Go to the radiator filler neck, and start pouring the one gallon of distilled water into the filler neck. When all the radiator fluid and the distilled water is done draining, put the 8 mm bolt back in. Do not over tighten, it has a copper sealing washer on it (The Service Manual says to replace the sealing washer with a new one, but I usually don't unless it's damaged). Now pour in the new coolant mix. After three and a half quarts of 50/50 mix have been added, start the bike and let it warm up. When the bike is at operating temperature snap the throttle a few times to bleed the air out of the system. It will bubble up in the filler neck and the fluid level will drop a little. When the air is out, top off the radiator back up to filler neck (3.7 qt. is required to fill radiator and engine). Replace the radiator cap and you're done!

It's also a good idea to flush out the radiator overflow reservoir while you're at it. To refill the overflow reservoir with new coolant, will take 0.69 qt of 50/50 mix.

Note: If you plan on doing this procedure yourself regularly, you can look into purchasing a uView 550000 tool for purging the air out of the cooling system. It removes the air more efficiently than the above procedure and makes this job very easy.


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#26 ·
For the life of me, I can not see paying $100 plus dollars on something I know I would only use once to flush the coolant system on my GW, and that is IF I ever do flush the system.

IF I did flush the cooling system, I would rev it a few times to burp the air out of the system, and be done with it and not have a $100 tool sitting on a shelf in the garage for months or years before (or if) I ever used it again.

How ofter do you flush your cooling system to re-coop the $100..plus dollars you paid for the thing?..:shrug:
I have 3 other water cooled vehicles. It works on all of them. I have zero spillage of stinky slick coolant when doing a refill. It'll only take a few hundred miles for the stink to finally burn off if you spill any on the Wing while burping it. $100 for tool to make the refill a 5min affair and guarantee a complete fill up PLUS leak test? Totally worth it to me. But if you're only going to do one coolant change in your life....then it wouldn't be worth it......