[Vanessa]

Checked the coolant level on my SP401 today. The radiator was full, the expansion tank was 1/4 of the way up from min. Was going to add some to get the level up to a bit above halfway between min and max. I noticed that the colour of the coolant was green/yellow, this is the coolant that was in the bike from new. Husqvarna recommend Motorex M3 coolant in the owners manual for top up and refill. But Motorex M3 is pink. So my question is, can I add the pink M3 coolant to what’s already in the bike, and hence mix the colours?

[karai]

Well i was hoping to help out by checking and comparing my vit coolant color (M3.0)…..I’m even more surprised than you because the coolant is … transparent! Surprising because i bought the bike with 140km on the clock…

anyway, i would suggest to replace the coolant with the M3.0, not that the yellow/green stuff is bad, but it’s most likely a more “generic” coolant…or worst a mix…(but unlikely). A full change won’t hurt, will help keeping anti-corrosion property and it’s a small qty anyway.

Good thing i got enough M3.0 with me…that will help be keeping me busy during confinement!

[B.I.Savage]

I know folks who have mixed in the past with no issues, stating that it’s still antifreeze and  the color is only so you know what your leaking.

Being a person who always tops off the oil, I personally would not top coolent off unless its below the min line at which point you may need to look where it’s going… otherwise wait until the next interval and put the good stuff in with the water/glycol mixture dialed in for your local climate.

[Vanessa]

In the car world it used to be that the green/yellow anti-freeze was the standard stuff, good for 2 to 3 years before needing to be changed. Whereas the pink stuff was the long life anti-freeze, good for 5 to 7 years. And they weren’t meant to be mixed. But I’m not sure if that still applies these days or for motorbikes. I don’t want to have to change out all the green/yellow stuff that’s in there, just to top up the expansion reservoir, not unless I absolutely have to.

[B.I.Savage]

I will have to take  the side off and check my levels as the weather is hotter than it’s been since I’ve bought it last fall and I saw a couple green drops coming out of the overflow tube.

Maybe they aren’t so precise with their filling quantities…

[B.I.Savage]

Checked my coolent, was too low.

Flushed the system and filled it back up the pink stuff (silicate free).

Without the use of any special measurement equipment, I would go out on a limb and say there is a vast improvement of cooling system performance vs. the green stuff which it came with.

So, my recommendation, drain it / flush it / fill it.

And make sure to follow Husqvarna recommended of coolant spec! (Just about every video I saw on the net used silicate based coolant which is not allowed!?!)

[B.I.Savage]

Update: radiator cap defective diagnosed, will update again after test.

Apparently this is a common issue.

[Vanessa]

Was the defective cap causing a leak/loss of fluid, or just loss of pressure?

[B.I.Savage]

I picked up my replacement rad cap today and was told there are a few common thing with these bikes, so the recommendation was as follows:

1. Cap spring can be too weak causing the fluid to blow past through reservoir and drop out the overflow hose evaporating on the exhaust pipe as you drive – solution new cap

2. Fill level line is not perfectly accurate (every bike is slightly different) and if it always stops going down at a certain level, that level is your bikes max line.

3. The first two options dont help, then it needs to be looked at…

 

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