Vinegar and distilled water vs coolant flush

[slowside]

My Sprint's coolant is a delightful brown colour, so (in the hope it ins't an indication of something terminal) I'm going to flush the system.

Given the state of it, I think it's gonna needs a few runs through to get it clean.

Is there any advantage to using off the shelf coolant flush solutions, or should I just go with white vinegar and distilled water?

Keeping in mind it's gonna be expensive if I have to put a few courses of ready made coolant flush through to get all the grime out.

[iooi]

Try reverse flushing with a hose pipe 1st. Even cheaper
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[slowside]

[Nobby the Bastard]

I wouldn't bother. Just put new in.
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[RhynoCZ]

[Robby]

I would avoid any kind of flushing chemical. They are generally unnecessary, come in a quantity intended for a large cooling system in a car, and aimed at cleaning up where a mixed-metal system (alloy head and rad, iron block) has used plain tap water for several years.

You could cause more trouble than it's worth. I've had it react with coolant in a car system and clog up the expansion bottle.

Flush with a hose. If you're still not convinced, fill it water and take it for a ride, then drain and flush a bit more.

In the future, don't leave it too long between coolant changes. Coolant lasts between 2 and 5 years, depending on type.

[slowside]

[slowside]

So this is what came out of my coolant drain...

Pushed several gallons of water through with the hose as suggested until it ran clear (first through the rad and then back up the lower hose through the block).

Have remove the expansion tank as it has about an inch of sediment at the bottom. Filled it with pebbles and vinegar and shook it around a bit until cleaned.

Leads me to think there is a lot of crud elsewhere in the system. Gonna refill with water for now, run it for a bit and see what comes out of it on the next drain.

Also discovered my rear calliper is sticking, so that’s another job on the list. Yay motorbikes.

[Robby]

That is a worrying colour for something with an alloy engine and rad. The only bit of steel that the coolant could be touching is the cylinder liners.

Looks like someone has been running neat water for a long time. I assume it has been garaged, or it would have frozen and broken something.

Once it is all flushed out, fill with the correct coolant.

[slowside]

Yes I wasn’t too happy with what came out of it. Rain stopped play yesterday afternoon, will finish off cleaning it out today and then refill with coolant.

Hopefully the fresh stuff stays blue.