Coolant change

Just a hmmmmmm on my part, to drain it's on the side stand, to fill it's on the center stand, why not drain then fill on the center stand like an oil change or final drive? Yes I do have an idea to try but lets hear your thought.

As it happens, I will doing a coolant change soon and I suspect that having the bike on the side stand would help drain the coolant as the hole is on left side of the engine, gravity and all that.

I'll certainly go along with Honda's recommendation.

Other thoughts also welcome.

I’m more concerned about burping the baby. I’ve even considered removing the Coolant Temp Sensor to let the bubble out. The CTS seems is located at the top of coolant plumbing at the left side of the bike —under the seat undercover.

Whaddya think?

well I'm about to find out, I'm going to drain on the center stand. After that has finished dripping I will apply LIGHT PRESSURE at the fill point to see what if any more of the fluid comes out.

Once you've done that, put the bike on the side stand and see if any more comes out of the drain hole...I'm curious.

Go on..do it...you know you want to

I recently drained and refilled, did it twice to fully remove/flush out old coolant (on centerstand because you can start bike), yes I know a gallon is not enough for twice  but 2 is enough for 3 times , IAC you should really recheck coolant after a full heat/cool cycle with the cap on to build pressure and check for leaks, the SSM procedure is lacking in my opinion, the good thing is that the radiator cap and overflow tank are at highest point of system, really helps with self bleeding air out, kinda like newer cars.

I just did the drain and fill on mine. Did it on center stand . Really because I forgot to lean it over, but I think it’s ok. I did rev it like manual says to burp it, until no more bubbles. Only concern is now I have a faint coolant smell. I did spill some though. I don’t see any leaks afte 40 miles and several rides , so should be good. Temp is running right in the middle as before.

I'm about to do a coolant and thermostat change and Tim's comments above about 'burping the baby' is an interesting point.

After my last coolant change I had the engine boil over in traffic on a very hot day, trapped air being the cause. No damage done, but this time I want to make sure I get it right.

If the Coolant Temp Censor is easy enough to access, I'll give it a go.

Has anybody else tried this?

Hi, another coolant query….
How much do you fill the filler neck? I’ve emptied, refilled and now when I warm it up (filler cap off) it keeps burping and spilling over. I’ve done two cycles and this is still occurring (fill neck, run ‘till fan comes on).

The only 'hacks' which I learned when refilling the system are:

Be patient when pouring in the coolant, take it slowly. Also, stop occasionally and 'tllt' the bike over 'left and right', as much as you dare; don't drop it!

It's worth rocking the bike backwards and forwards on the brakes before putting the caps on.

I believe it's easy to create an air lock because of the SWs plumbing layout.

Loosemarbles wrote:

The only 'hacks' which I learned when refilling the system are:

Be patient when pouring in the coolant, take it slowly. Also, stop occasionally and 'tllt' the bike over 'left and right', as much as you dare; don't drop it!

It's worth rocking the bike backwards and forwards on the brakes before putting the caps on.

I believe it's easy to create an air lock because of the SWs plumbing layout.

Thanks, I did another run through but didn't bother rocking/shaking (did it all on the centrestand). Will give it one more 'rock' tomorrow and then give it a test run.

I did mines yesterday , I just followed the instructions in the manual the only thing I did different was I let the bike sit over night , in the morning popped the cap topped it off and started it up let it run for 3min cap off popped the throttle 3quick times saw some bobbles popped the throttle 3 more times no bobbles fluid dropped slightly then I put the cap back on , My temp gauge stayed at the third mark level but haven’t road anywhere yet

I know I'm late posting to this one but I went with lifetime coolant from Evans. I've got 104k miles on an 09 swing, it's been nice never thinking about the state of coolant. I used their pre-coolant conditioner as a separate purchase to filter out the original fluid without having to get mechanically savvy to extract everything. (Cannot mix their coolant with OEM gycol.)

Evans coolant may be OK for mildly tuned engine like the SW600, it also has real benefits on large diesels and/or older vehicles with iron engines and lower stress/pressure cooling systems, but IME does not play well with newer high-performance cars or motorcycles in OEM condition, it affects the very narrow operating parameters seen by ECM, thru temperature or knock sensors, etc. in most cases reducing engine power/performance.

On highly modified street, off-road or racing vehicles with user adjustable engine or ECM parameters, etc. its ok IME.

There is really no such thing a lifetime coolant. Coolant degrades and acids build up over time starts to eat at gaskets, hoses.

Coolant is like engine oil lubes the water pump and keeps the radiator-system clean.

I've seen so many problems with GM cars never changing coolant DEX-Cool.

I've researched Evans life coolant extensively in the past, there's several drawbacks besides the already mentioned, the big one is that Evans is "Hygroscopic" like brake fluid, in a traditional non sealed, coolant overflow/recovery tank system (used in most motorcycles) the overflow tank is basically a "Moisture Sponge", that will eventually ruin the $$$ fluid in the whole system, thus is not lifetime.

Mech 1 twa wrote:

There is really no such thing a lifetime coolant. Coolant degrades and acids build up over time starts to eat at gaskets, hoses.

Coolant is like engine oil lubes the water pump and keeps the radiator-system clean.

I've seen so many problems with GM cars never changing coolant DEX-Cool.

It’s easy enough to check the acid level with a small test strip, as well as glycol level and save changing coolant before it’s necessary.

Hop wrote:

Mech 1 twa wrote:

There is really no such thing a lifetime coolant. Coolant degrades and acids build up over time starts to eat at gaskets, hoses.

Coolant is like engine oil lubes the water pump and keeps the radiator-system clean.

I've seen so many problems with GM cars never changing coolant DEX-Cool.

It’s easy enough to check the acid level with a small test strip, as well as glycol level and save changing coolant before it’s necessary.

The SW600 is one the easiest vehicles I've encountered to replace coolant on, just replace every 3-5 yrs, by doing so is basically a drain/refill, waiting longer than that is not smart, IMO/IME. A lot cheaper than hoses, water pumps seals, etc. + Overheating a "Sleeveless/open deck" engine is never good.

BTW coolant test strips only work if they are specific to the coolant type/formulation, off the shelf/generic test strips won't work on a lot newer formulas.

Same goes for brake fluids ... But that's another discussion.