| Author | Message | ||
     Ncryoten |
What engine coolant does everyone use in their 1125. I know the harley brand is DEX-COOL. | ||
| Nobuell |
Who said that the Harley Brand is Dex-Cool? | ||
| B25urgandy |
Motul factory line coolant | ||
| Jj5cool1 |
H-D stuff looks more like Ford/Chrysler HOAT. Dex-Cool is orange. Anyways I use 50/50 Water Wetter. So far great results, but I live in Glendale, AZ, so I don't generally have to fear freezing temperatures. Additionally I plan on flushing it every year. | ||
| Ncryoten |
Local dealer here asked if the coolant i was putting in mine was orange. When i said yes he said good. The green stuff isn't good for it. I have been using dex cool | ||
| Brokengq |
I wouldn't put DEX-COOL in a beater car if I was forced to. Stuff is garbage. It rusts cooling jackets, fries rads, makes thermostats stick...lost 3 perfectly good engines over that crap. I'm looking for ideas on what to use too. I had the dealer do my last flush, and whatever they put in is darn near clear. Smells and tastes like coolant though. | ||
| Brokengq |
http://www.1130cc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1400 50#/forumsite/20684/topics/140050 Boom. Off the V-Rod forum. Guy dug way deep and found out that HD Coolant, while orange, is not DEX-COOL. Like I said above, I avoid DEX like the plague, and while it will mix with the global, the downsides of Dex alone are horrible. I wouldn't recommend it. (Message edited by brokenGQ on April 16, 2015) | ||
| Ncryoten |
Ok well it wasn't alot. Just enough to top Off. Was in a pinch. So what is good to use? | ||
| Brokengq |
Sorry if I came off a little rash, I just have strong feelings against that stuff and anyway... If you wanted to stick to the factory stuff it is sold under a different label according to the above link. Peak Global Lifetime (gold bottle) http://www.peakauto.com/products/antifreeze-coolan ts/automotive/global-lifetime-50-50-/ If you wanted to change to something else I've heard good things about the Motul, but don't have any personal feedback. | ||
| B25urgandy |
I can vouch for Motul factory line, it dropped the running temp of my bike by few degrees. Also when sitting in traffic the temps will go over 200, and when you get moving it drops to the 170's really quick. Peak global lifetime is great stuff as well I have that in our cars. | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
Exactly what is wrong with dex-cool compatible coolant? I'm not going to go dumping coolant out of all my vehicles because some guy somewhere had some engine-related problem and might have had dexcool in his cooling system at the time. | ||
| Brokengq |
Dex cool was designed for GM to be a long life coolant, originally marketed with "15 year/150,000 mile" intervals (now it's 5 years). Most mechanics now will suggest you cut that in half (3 years max), or even less. Dex is not an ethylene-glycol base, which is what most typical (green) coolants are. The issue, in simple terms, is when Dex begins to break down it chemically changes from a rust inhibitor to a corrosive. So after 50-75,000 miles it's actually beginning to eat away at your radiator, head gaskets, water pump, etc. Even worse, as it eats away it chemically bonds to the metals and begins to sludge. If you disassemble an engine with 150,000 miles on it that has run Dex it's entire life you will find the cooling jackets in the heads to be clogged, head gaskets could be blown, heater hoses/core, and radiators clogged, or even worse. Ethylene based coolants will still break down of course, but it just loses its rust inhibiting factors. Eventually if left long enough you would see some mild rusts in the cooling areas, and potentially uneven temps. Let it go even longer and it would probably freeze in winter. Dex would have clogged everything up by that point. Another thing to bear it mind is that mixing Dex with an ethylene base coolant accelerates its ability to corrode, and issues will arise much sooner. Do a little research on Dex and you'll find lawsuits, thousands of forums posts and articles, and a large gathering of people telling you to switch to a ethylene base. Any vehicle that came factory filled in with Dex will have no negative effects of being flushed and filled with green. Hope this answers your question. I'm a GM driver myself, my last 4 cars being of GM make. After losing 2 engines out of one truck, and blown a head gasket out of another (both trucks bought used with ~100k miles), I learned my lesson. Everytime we tore down the engines they were filled with a rust colored sludge with a clay like consistency. The week I bought my CTS I took it out and filled with green. No issues yet, but I'm only at about 58k miles. (Message edited by brokenGQ on April 19, 2015) | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
Interesting stuff. I've been using the green Prestone "compatible with all makes and models, extended life" silicate-free stuff. It says it's good for 5-years or 150K miles. Any reason for concern with it? | ||
| Brokengq |
Should be fine. It's an propylene glycol base coolant. Just don't mix it with Dex. I know it's "compatible with all makes and models" but somewhere on that bottle is should say not to mix with a ethylene base coolant. ****SUPER EDIT PLEASE NOTE**** I made a fatal error in my above description of DEX. Dex IS an ethylene glycol base coolant. Green is a propylene glycol base. The propylene (green) does not break down into a corrosive. The ethylene will. I just reread my post from the other night and I mixed the two up. As I was reading down the thread something felt off. I did pull up the Dex MSDS to confirm I got mixed up the other night. I apologize. No excuse, just flipped them in my head for some reason. Again my apologies. (Message edited by brokenGQ on April 22, 2015) | ||
| Dennis_c |
brokengq I am glad it wasnt on a airplane  are you coming to Buell in the Alps I will be the old guy on 1125R | ||
| Xtreme6669 |
I'm pretty sure green is ethylene glycol | ||
| Crowley |
They certainly taste different  | ||
| Brokengq |
Dennis - it's very possible, always depends on work. And it is a good thing it wasn't an airplane, granted I went back to automotive work a few months back and never updated my profile. My experience in the aircraft world isn't considered to be much when you look at the A&P lifers. Couldn't pay the bills. Xtreme - please bear in mind that I am by no means a chemical engineer, and all information that I posted here is what I have learned from GM mechanics over the years, as well as personal experience and a bit of research. Now that being said, I did a little research on the Peak Global Lifetime stuff last night and found that it is also an ethylene base coolant, with a pretty neat chemical additive that Peak designed to prevent the sludging effect of Dex. I would imagine that many companies have also made these steps over the past years. Ethylene does have the advantage of lasting longer and performing under pressure, but GM's initial attempt of making such a coolant failed miserably as mentioned above. The unfortunate shame is that the Dex cool formula is (to my knowledge) the same as it was when it hit the market in the 80's. Research is the only way to gather your own opinion. There is a lot of phantom information that say things about "chemical sealers" in Dex cool, or "the only way it sludges is if mixed". One of my first bosses in the automotive world was a GM mechanic of almost 30 years. He's the one who told me about the "innovation" that was Dex cool the original ethylene formula being the culprit. In short terms, nobody knows why, but from what I've gathered that seems the most feasible. Like I said, I'm no expert. Just sharing what I've heard or read over the years. (Message edited by brokenGQ on April 23, 2015) | ||
| Nobuell |
I believe most all anti freezes are ethylene based with exception to those that specifically state that they are propylene based. The difference between brands of ethylene based product will be the additive packages. There are three common type of Antifreeze adaptive packages: IAT- Inorganic Acid Technology OAT- Organic Acid Technology HOAT- Hybrid Organic Acid Tech The OAT is the technology used in DEX Cool with many bad results as Brokengq identified. I had issues with the stuff in two GM vehicles. Using Propylene based anti freeze is a different story all together. I was told by EBR specially to not use Propylene coolant for my track bike because it "does not play well with some internal parts". Never could find out which parts and ended up using water and WW anyway. I still use Propylene coolant during the winter for cold temperature storage since it is acceptable for use at many tracks and I do not have to worry about flushing it all out for the track. If you stick with a name brand coolest manufacturer and do not use DEX Cool formula, you should be OK. Just flush out your system on occasion and ride. | ||
| Zac4mac |
IIRC the reason was related to the water pump shaft and seals. Not too worried here as H-D has decent parts support so far. Just ordered a bunch of small stuff and a rad fan mounting piece(most expensive part at $140). Got them all inside a week. I'm hoping any parts I need for my RS can be thru HD also. That and going to individual vendors like Suter, Ohlins, Accosato, etc. Z | ||
| Ciemny02 |
Hi all! Ijust changed the coolant for HD's one for my 1125r. Unfortunatelly few miles later the cooler started leaking. It has to be replaced. What do you suggest? get it through TwinMotorcycles or local Harley Dealer? problem with dealer is the time. They can get it only at the end of may  I want to get on the horse! I do not know what TwinMotorcycles provides. Originals or replacements parts. | ||
| Shawns |
Flea-Bay | ||
| Zac4mac |
Talk to Dris and Bud at Twin. Z |
