Advice on heating and coolant flushing.

[strider416]

So I've have my 2001 FZ1 for 2 years now,and figure I want to do my own maintenance like oil changes and coolant flushes etc

After I changed my engine oil & filter the next 3 rides have been fine. I noticed on the 4th the bike feeling hotter than usual. but of course not hot enough for the temperature light to come on, but hot enough to notice the difference from before.

At first I thought I didn't put enough engine oil in, but I made sure to put in the recommended amount as per the manual of 3.0 L with filter replacement. Radiator fan is working fine too.

Then I notice the resevoir level for the coolant is low, BUT when I open the radiator cap, its filled to the brim. Is this normal? I tried to do a coolant flush, but I can't seem to reach the damn drain plug as detailed in the manual. all the different torque wrenches are too big, the 10mm adapter size for the bolt is also too long despite how short it already is, I might have to just use a generic monkey wrench, the spot is too damn tight!



Anyone have any advice on getting that bolt off?
or am I wrong all together?
Also, the manual also says to remove the fuel tank, front cowling and rear suspension? this seems very unnecessary, or am I just an idiot? lol.
please help!

 

[Isleoman]

I'll give you credit for reading the manual.

First with the oil change after you put in the 3L then check the site glass on the clutch cover. You want the oil to be between the upper level mark and the top of the site glass. So you're just slightly over filling it. You don't want to be above the top of the site glass because then you can't tell how much is in there. Too much oil will cause frothing off the oil. You're slightly over filling to prevent the oil light from flickering under hard acceleration.

Also get into a habit of when you check your oil in the site glass. Everyday I pull my bike out of storage and before I start it, I check the oil level on the center stand. If I started my bike first to warm it up, then shut it off and check the site glass the level will look low, because the oil hasn't had time to make it back into the sump. It takes quite a few minutes for all the oil to drain back down. So check oil level before warm up.

Now as far as that small drain bolt on the coolant, personally I've never touched it in 360K miles of Gen 1 ownership. When I change the coolant I just remove the lowest, largest diameter radiator hose on the left side of the radiator. "Left side" if you were sitting on the bike looking forward. Put a large drain pan under it, loosen the hose clamp that holds it onto the radiator, you may have to rotate it a little to break it free, and just pull it down far enough , so that the radiator drains and the coolant in the hose runs from the front sprocket area into the pan. I would probably drain it with the bike on the center stand initially, then after coolant stops draining try to drain some more on the side stand.

I suspect that your coolant reservoir under the right side frame cover/ seat is close to empty. After you change your coolant and get the hose back on the radiator you can fill the coolant reservoir with a long funnel with the side cover off. If you want to get any old coolant out of the bottom of the reservoir you can follow the manual. I would use a syringe with a short extension of hose and suck it out. Most times there's nothing in there or not enough to worry about. You want the reservoir full to the line after your put coolant back in.

I also suspect that when the manual is saying to remove the front fairing it is actually talking about the right side fairing insert which does need to be removed to refill the radiator. You probably want to remove the fill cap before draining to speed the process.

Do you leave a tiny amount of old coolant by not messing with the 10 mm bolt?, possibly. To that I say "Ride More,Worry Less".

As far as bike feeling hotter. Could be a lot of factors like the radiator fan not coming on. With my two Gen 1s when I use 87 octane fuel which is 95% of the time the bike runs cooler than it would with high octain fuel (91-93). I can feel the difference in temp on my knees and lower legs. If the temp light isn't coming on then go back to the Golden Rule.... Ride More, Worry Less.

 

[jimco]

I agree with everything Isleoman says above.

I would add that to get all the air out of the cooling system I squeeze and release the large hose on the left side of the bike coming out of the radiator.

This burping action pushes the air bubbles out the radiator fill hole. If you burp to aggressively antifreeze will splash out, especially when you get most of the air out.

Hope this helps.
Jim