Oil in the Radiator!

[Liono]

My neighbour has just bought himself a Gilera DNA 125 (03 model) and in some kind of bizzare state of excitement managed to fill the resevoir under the seat with engine oil. Now, I only had a quick look at it, but the resevoir seems to be for the coolant, as it has "water cooled" stamped on the cap. He ran the bike for a minute before he realised, so what can he do to sort it out? I thought that syphoning as much oil out as possible, then flushing the whole system out with soapy water then a proper radiator flush might do the trick? If so, is there some kind of drain plug at the bottom of the radiator to do this?

[alains]

not soapy thinks , use washing machine tablet (some detergent which do not make foam ,let the engine running then rince 2 or 3 times with warm water .
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[extreme3d]

Check the manual first to be on the safe side, you never know it may indeed be the oil reservoir!

If not then you will need to drain the full system not just the radiator. I very much doubt there will be a radiator base plug anyway. I doubt the oil will have done any lasting damage but it will need to be removed as the water pump impellor has been designed to use antifreeze as it's lubricant not oil!!

On the engine itself look for the waterpump casing. It usually has a large rubber hose coming off it. At the bottom off this there will be a bolt. Remove the radiator filler cap (to allow for air displacement) stick a pan under the engine and remove the bolt. The coolant will spill out.

Stick a hose into the top of the radiator and let some water flow through the system until it's clear. The snag will be that the oil will have left a thin coating over all the narrow passages and hose. If left it may even clog them up. As you suggested use some coolant system flush by following it's instructions.

For filling the system back up again you must be VERY VERY careful not to get any air in the system. (It will rapidly expand and push all the coolant out of the system). Once filled leave the radiator cap off and run the engine so any air bubbles rise up. Top up the level when no more air bubbles appear. Also do not follow the instructions on the side of the antifreeze bottle. Those mixing ratios (typically 4/1) are for CAR use. A motorcycle requires a 50/50 mix of antifreeze to distilled water.

[Mik_RX125]

With my DNA50 the water/coolant went in a resevoir under the tank. I don't know if it's the same on the 125. The only oil tank under the seat of the 50 was for 2st oil, but obviously the 125 is 4st.

Mik
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