Hi everybody,
I was riding this past weekend and overheated my quad twice the first time I was in high gear trying to do slow hill climbs the second time I was pushing the machine to hard in low, I had to pour 2.5 bottles of water into the radiator. I'm wanting to drain the engine and radiator to put new coolant in was wanting to know the best way to do this.
Thanks, Victor

 

bump

 

Take the hose off the bottom of the radiator, after you take the radiator cap off, and let it drain. Flush it with 1/2 gallon of water by running it for a few minutes, then drain again. Add your coolant, or for better results, use Engine Ice, its knocks the temp down by as much as 50 degrees, and still protects to 27 below zero

 

thanks v2rider thats what I needed to know I wasn't to sure if I should remove the lower hose or not. I was also thinking of using compressed air to empty the block do think this will have any ill effects.
Thanks,
Victor

 

No, that will work fine, just becareful of the fins in the radiator, they are very sensitive to high pressure! Dont blast high pressure water or air right at them, or the can fold over and block the air flow

 

Thanks for the help

 

Here’s what we do about coolant, and I’ll say right away this isn’t for everyone. During the months we have no fear the temp will get low enough for long enough to freeze an engine we use Water Wetter or a similar product called HyperLube. During the colder months we switch back to 50-50 A-frz. We do this instead of using Engine Ice; here’s why. Last year I paid over $60 for three half-gallon bottles of Engine Ice, enough to fill our two trail machines with some left over. Then when we STILL overheated on the trail we had to add water, which ruined the Engine Ice, or at least rendered it unable to keep the engine unfrozen. Comparatively, Water Wetter or the like is really cheap, keeps your engine running cooler than 50-50 and if you have trouble on the trail you can add water from a stream or river without having to swap out the entire contents of your cooling system. Yes, if you forget to change back to 50-50 before winter………….. I don’t even want to think about that.

With that said I can also make a case for Engine Ice. The reason we were still overheating with Engine Ice is we hadn’t address the source of the problem, which was clogged radiators. Even though we thought our radiators were clean because we could see light through the center after pressure washing them (with a wide spray), the backs and all around the edges where the shroud is were still clogged and causing overheating. Once we started using trail washers with the long hooked wand and removing our fans and fan shrouds for thorough cleaning twice a mud season our overheating stopped. And I do mean STOPPED. It’s been over a year of riding the same terrain we always have without a single hot light. So NOW I can see the value in a coolant / antifreeze that will cool better than the regular stuff (and does it year ‘round) that doesn’t have to be swapped out twice a year. BUT at the cost of Engine Ice I suggest you carry a jug with you in case you do overheat because if you add water you’ll be flushing it down the drain along with the big money you paid for it.

 

Thanks Flood for the info i've been researching engine ice and the big turn off was tat if you added water it was shot, plus here in Michigan it gets cold in the winter and I really don't feel like changing coolant twice a year. I think i'll just fill up with 50/50 silicate free antifreeze and purchase a temp gauge I think the hot light kicks on at 210deg so ill use this as a reference or ill brake down and buy a Quadovator temp gauge and thermostat housing. Anyway I figured out way it overheated new primary spring and i've never really trail rode tight technical trail like this past weekend.
Floodrunner what 50/50 coolant do you use.
Thanks,
Victor

 

Like FR I'm going to try the engine ice and see what happens. I already have a temp guage so over heating should not be an issue. Call Greg at Quadivator he a great guy to do busniess with and his prices are fair as I have many of his parts on my bike. Now if he'd just get a set of nerf bars so I can replace these home built cheapies I have now. My bike got up to about 220 on a ride when it was about 100 deg out some I think I'm covered. I'm also hopeful that my new Cremic coated pipe will help reduce the engine temps by getting the heat away from the bike and not heat soaking the engine block from the outside. We'll see what kind of results I get with both.