I am currently considering buying 1 owner 2013 f 800 gt with a little over 34,000 all the service records are available . Very nice and well cared for however it appears that the Coolant has never been flushed and replaced. This makes me wonder what kind of damage this may have caused . Should just go for it or just pass and keep looking ???
A lot of the coolants are 5 year and 150,000 miles,,. Don't know about OEM fluid? You could have it tested, personally I would look at it and see if its still relatively clean and just change it out prior to using the bike much,,.
Engine coolant does go bad. Older fluid may cause acid buildup, may become contaminated by rust or scaling, and may have reduced resistance to boiling and freezing. Deteriorated coolant/antifreeze may cause your engine to run hotter than normal or keep the engine from starting in colder temperatures,,.
Symptoms of bad coolant
Your coolant is dark, murky, smelly or full of debris. If your coolant looks (or smells) bad, it's way past its useful life. ...
Your temperature gauge reads higher than normal. ...
Your engine overheat
When I had the valves checked on a Wee Strom at 80K miles. I captured most of the fluid and put it back in the bike with a bit of distilled water. The motor is still fine at 100K miles.
My 4 Runner has had the fluid changed when i do the timing belt at about 90K miles.
I didn't change the fluid in my ST and it had 57K miles. Much ado about nuthin'.
I was going to have the coolant changed on my 2014 GT with 50,000+ miles when I had the valves adjusted. The independent BMW shop owner said the coolant isn't on the service schedule any more, and recommended to leave it as is.
Modern coolant (OATS) is much longer lived than the old Glycol based ones which you would change every year or two. As long as there hasn't been a leak topped up with plain water then the new stuff can last years.
It is not so much the anti-freeze which gets weak in the Glycol system, but the corrosion inhibitors which lose effectiveness. Don't use OATS based coolant in a classic bike or car as there are chemicals in it which are not compatible with materials in the older systems.
Only this week I saw a water pump from a Daimler V8 (1960s) that had waterless coolant. What a mess. I have a modern water based coolant in my Rileys and they are fine. I have just recently flushed and replaced the coolant in my 800GT and it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. I think I will leave it for another five years at a minimum.
Same here when I took my RS in for its 24K servicing and asked my dealer to change the coolant. They said that it was no longer necessary to change coolant every two years as was the case with the older models. I am not sure what is the coolant change recommendation for the F800-series engines that used the pre-mixed green or blue coolant as is usually found for sale in motorcycle shops.
There is also the issue that the coolant in the 800 engines has to be forced through, otherwise air pockets develop, it's not just a straight forward top up. Mine had issues initially as the coolant had been incorrectly filled causing airlocks which led to over heating. So I'd leave it unless it needs doing due to being ineffective
Agree with Wimble, I asked about fluid change a year ago and was told it isn’t on schedule. I looked it up and they are correct. Supposedly modern coolant is lifetime. Mine has been changed but that is a long ugly story - it wasn’t me! Do not presume that if the reservoir is full the radiator is also. I would not worry about the coolant being 7 years old. My 2016 bike is at 27,000 and will be close to 30,000 when I get home. No problems at all. A really great trip bike that is light enough to easily maneuver and big enough to carry a fair amount of stuff and still run good speeds.
I just had my new KTM toy serviced for the first time by the KTM dealership. They replaced the green coolant that came in the bike from the factory with the red stuff that is likely a long-drain interval coolant. While it certainly is easier to see in the coolant expansion tank viewing slot, it probably is not all that necessary as the valves need to be inspected every 15K kilometers and when you do that the coolant has to be drained and then refilled. So a "lifetime" coolant is probably not all that necessary. And of course, that coolant is more expensive than the old green stuff.
Hummm now you have me wondering about the color. Know VW/Audi has several colors of coolant depending on what year. Found NAPA has a good selection of the various colors which I think are somewhat standardized. LOL used to be always had some coolant in a jug for when needed to add a bit. Now I have more cars and bikes but less coolant!
I went looking for the old type of Prestone green coolant at the local O'Reilly's auto store and found nothing but different types of 150K-mile universal coolant, that comes in red, blue, green and who knows what other colors, apparently depending upon the brand. I just looked at the color of the 150K-mile green coolant that I recently installed in my Yamaha and it looks to be kind of green. I recently had my R12RS serviced by the SF BMW dealer and was told that BMW no longer recommends changing the coolant on their modern water-cooled motorcycles unless a mechanical repair is needed such as replacing the water pump or some other coolant system part. So I guess advances in motorcycle coolant technology have been made recently, or at least since I bought my 2009 F650GS.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
BMW F800 Forum
935.3K posts
59.4K members
Since 2005
A forum community dedicated to BMW F800 owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, gear, riding, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!