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A few days back I decided I needed to do a long over-due coolant change. A friend of mine had mentioned his bike ran hot and he changed to a product called Engine Ice and it made his bike run cooler. My bike seems to run hot as well, and from what I hear, this product will last longer than regular coolant, and still protect as an anti-freeze. The product will reduce the hot temp by 50 degrees it is reported.

So I looked around and found that I can get it in half-gallon jugs for about $20 a piece. My bike will take just under a gallon of coolant, so buying two I should have a bit left over. If it works well, Loonette wants to do her bike as well.

So now I just need to wait for it to arrive. In the mean time I'm prepping myself on draining my system, flushing the system, and properly filling and bleeding the system. I will report back here on my steps, progress, and outcome. If anyone else has done a change, let me know how that went, and if anyone else tried alternatives to standard anti-freeze, let me know as well. It will be interesting to see how this goes.

Next up after this job... changing to synthetic oil, which will also hopefully effect operating temps.

Does your engine run hotter than normal?

jonnythan wrote:Does your engine run hotter than normal?

Good questions. No, I don't think so. My fan comes on once and a while in traffic, and my light never comes on, so I think that is standard. My coolant is three years old, and untested, and I think it is a good time to change it, just for the heck of it. In warm weather, the bike seems extra hot "feeling" wise, but still seems to operate fine, but at 50 degrees cooler, as the product claims, it will be interesting to see if it seems cooler to me.

News at 11.

scan wrote:

jonnythan wrote:Does your engine run hotter than normal?

Good questions. No, I don't think so. My fan comes on once and a while in traffic, and my light never comes on, so I think that is standard. My coolant is three years old, and untested, and I think it is a good time to change it, just for the heck of it. In warm weather, the bike seems extra hot "feeling" wise, but still seems to operate fine, but at 50 degrees cooler, as the product claims, it will be interesting to see if it seems cooler to me.

News at 11.

If it were beneficial for the engine to run cooler than it currently does, why wouldn't the manufacturer have made the fan come on at a lower temperature?

At what temperature does your thermostat open? Will Engine Ice make the thermostat open at a lower temperature?

jonnythan wrote:If it were beneficial for the engine to run cooler than it currently does, why wouldn't the manufacturer have made the fan come on at a lower temperature?

At what temperature does your thermostat open? Will Engine Ice make the thermostat open at a lower temperature?

I have the stock thermostat, so I'm not sure of the temp it opens. I'm not concerned about the mechanical elements, really, but if the engine is cooler, and the fan comes on less, why would that be a problem? I mean we are talking about an engine operations topping out at about 230 (in my case), when the fan should kick on. If the product is as stated, I should stay about 180 on those days when the fan was kicking on normally.

What's the point? If I can make my bike run cooler, I'd like to do that, as it would be nice to not get as physically hot myself, and less heat means less oil breakdown. Heat is the engine's enemy.

It seems to me, and I'm sure it can't be harmful to an engine, that running cooler will be better. As I said, I'll let you know the end results. Think of it this way, if I'm wasting my money, you'll hear it here first.

scan wrote:

jonnythan wrote:If it were beneficial for the engine to run cooler than it currently does, why wouldn't the manufacturer have made the fan come on at a lower temperature?

At what temperature does your thermostat open? Will Engine Ice make the thermostat open at a lower temperature?

I have the stock thermostat, so I'm not sure of the temp it opens. I'm not concerned about the mechanical elements, really, but if the engine is cooler, and the fan comes on less, why would that be a problem? I mean we are talking about an engine operations topping out at about 230 (in my case), when the fan should kick on. If the product is as stated, I should stay about 180 on those days when the fan was kicking on normally.

What's the point? If I can make my bike run cooler, I'd like to do that, as it would be nice to not get as physically hot myself, and less heat means less oil breakdown. Heat is the engine's enemy.

It seems to me, and I'm sure it can't be harmful to an engine, that running cooler will be better. As I said, I'll let you know the end results. Think of it this way, if I'm wasting my money, you'll hear it here first.

I'm no expert, but a couple of thoughts:

1) The engine is designed to run best at a certain temperature. This is why the thermostat is there and the fan doesn't run constantly. If cooler were better, the system would be designed differently. The system is designed to run the engine at a relatively narrow temperature range for a reason.

2) With the stock thermostat, the engine temperature won't change, end of story. If the thermostat doesn't open until 185 degrees, it won't open until 185 degrees no matter what type of magic coolant is sitting in the engine block. My car's thermostat begins to open at 180 and locks full open at 210, meaning that 180 is just hot enough to start circulating in some cold coolant and 210 is so hot we need maximum cooling. 130 degree, or even 150 degree, coolant simply won't open the thermostat.

Heck, maybe this stuff is such a poor coolant that the *coolant temperature* is lower because it can't absorb as much heat from the engine as regular coolant.. meaning the engine itself is running hotter even though the temperature gauge is lower.

Man the stuff is pre-diluted and it's over four times as expensive as regular coolant.... and still has a smaller temperature range than off-the-shelf Prestone pre-mix (10 degrees lower on the high end and 10 degrees higher on the low end).

They don't even tell you what's in it. I suspect the secret ingredient is Blue #5.

edit: Actually it says they use propylene glycol, which is a non-toxic ethylene glycol alternative that is sold in every Wal-Mart and auto parts store under various brand names.

The fan coming on isn't a worry that's design. If your heat gauge creeps into the red then maybe this would be helpful, but it would just be a temp fix for what you'd really need which is a cooling system overhaul to some degree maybe as simple as a radiator flush, thermostat replacement or fan switch replacement. Could be as involved as a new waterpump or radiator replacement

Man. I can't believe everyone is going to such length to prove I'm a fool, and it is my dime.

Alright then, three cheers for you guys, I'm foolish.

I have heard good things about he product from some other riders, and they seemed happy with it. I never said there was some big problem with my bike, other than old coolant. Since I heard friends of mine speak well of the product, I thought I'd try it out and let everyone here know about the outcome.

I don't understand this reaction. I didn't even say the product was great, or that everyone should use it. I just said I was going to try and let you know.

I can't believe I'm being attacked for changing my coolant and offering to review a product.

I guess I should just shut up.

scan wrote:Man. I can't believe everyone is going to such length to prove I'm a fool, and it is my dime.

Alright then, three cheers for you guys, I'm foolish.

I have heard good things about he product from some other riders, and they seemed happy with it. I never said there was some big problem with my bike, other than old coolant. Since I heard friends of mine speak well of the product, I thought I'd try it out and let everyone here know about the outcome.

I don't understand this reaction. I didn't even say the product was great, or that everyone should use it. I just said I was going to try and let you know.

I can't believe I'm being attacked for changing my coolant and offering to review a product.

I guess I should just shut up.

No one here is attacking you. Don't take it personally. No one called you a fool.

I was discussing the product itself. It appears to be nothing more than expensive, blue colored, otherwise generic non-toxic engine coolant that claims to do something that has no benefits anyway.

I apologize for having my doubts about the product. Clearly this is not the place for discussing motorcycle products. I won't make the mistake again.