Why is my coolant brown?

[guile]

Only had this bike a few weeks (ER6F) and when I first got it I ntoiced there was no coolant at all in the reservoir. I filled it up with Halfords orange coolant and water (50/50). Now I have noticed it has turned into a shitty brown colour when it used to be bright orange.

Any ideas what has happened. The engine oil does not appear to be milky if that helps and the bike did have a fair bit of rust on the downpipes area (not sure if rust can get into the radiator?).

[Fisty]

Usually the sign of a boiled motor.

Drain the lot, flush through with clean water and refill with a 50/50 mix of your choice. Keep an eye on it.
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Quietly and consistently taking the piss.
TL1000R | Hayabusa | ZXR400 | TL1000S | Bandit 400 V
Fatter and faster than Fret

[guile]

[Fisty]

[guile]

When I filled it up I couldnt see any blue in the coolant tank and it looked bright orange after I filled it but I never checked after running the engine so I guess possible there could have been some blue coolant hiding somewhere else other than the coolant tank?

[FireStorm-X]

Hi there

Might be worth flushing the cooling system then refilling, should get rid of any carp, but might also show any leaks

[bladerunner]

Could also be years old coolant that's degraded and started rusting/ oxidising the engine internals......as above give the system a good flush out....maybe take the rad off so you can flush it with a hose both ways to make sure the rad core is still clear.
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Current bikes...cbr929, KDX200's, Rd125lc mk2, RGV250's

[Noxious89123]

You filled it with THIS stuff?

Is "organic acid" coolant ok to use in your bike? I'd have thought Kawasaki specified ethylene glycol based stuff.
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'06 Honda CBR125RW-6 ~ '00 Honda CBR600F-Y ~ '07 Honda CBR600RR-7 ~ Bikeless
'53 Ford Ka 1.3 ~ '03 Vauxhall Astra SRi 1.8 ~ '52 Vauxhall Astra SRi 2.2 ~ '53 Vauxhall Astra GSi

[guile]

[CaNsA]

[Pol Anorl]

isn't rad weld brown?
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[Aff]

[Rogerborg]

You don't know what was in there, so for your own peace of mind, get it all out now and refill with fresh.

Without knowing what it takes, I'd have gone with blue, because it smells purty.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[devojunior]

Hi, as said above make sur etheres no leaking of coolent either from the radiator or anywhere else, a good way to check this would be to fabricate an attachment the the radiator fillet cap so you can attach a hose to pressurize the coolant system,

when you have done that and made sure you are water tight it may be a case of the previous eowner only filling up with tap water which will start to rust the innards off the cooling system slightly giving you that brown colour in your coolant.

so test it flush it and keep an eye on it.

[serlant]

tip, I filled mine VTR up with coolant after a clutch change, was green, put red coolant in, came out orange, drained it again put another load of red coolant in now red, my guess before was it had green coolant.
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04 CBR1000RR, 1995 Husqvarna TE410, 1998 VTR1000(Sold), 1990 XJ600(sold), 1996 KH125(dead and sold)

[threepot]

I would drain,flush thru then refill with plain water. Run for a day or two then check colour. Dont leave just water in too long tho.