when or how often to replace coolant and or chaincase oil???

Y

yankeeslover

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2000 sxr 700... 2300 miles..this is my 3rd season with sled... I usually have my mechanic get sled ready for winter.. last two winters I asked him to take care of coolant, but he has not changed it yet, said he tested it and it was good... this year I have decided to attempt my own work. im not very handy at all but I did grab a service manual online... gonna attempt the stuff I can do myself.. already cleaned carbs, how exactly do I know if the coolant is still good? and if not, is it a P.I.T.A to change? remember, your talking to the least handy person in world... and also same with chain case, once again, im not sure when that was changed last, I think my mechanic just looked it over and it looked good.. how do I know when that needs to be changed..... as far as chain case oil goes, where do I get it from? do I use yammy oil? or can you buy a cheaper aftermarket oil? no idea what oil is in there right now, but not sure if it can be changed to something else or not..thanks again..
 
As far as coolant goes i here guys doing it every season to never without problems. You can buy a tester at any auto supply store for a few bucks and see where you stand. It just tells you if your cooland is still doing what its rated for. To me i only change when im doing some service to coolant system. I/e pulling head off, putting on rear heat exchanger ect.... just keep it filled to the line on the bottle. I use a 60/40 mix per manual but any aluminum block safe 50/50 at the auto store is fine. 1 jug will last ya forever. As far as chain case goes i change every year. Cheap and easy insurance. I also take cover off to clean any sludge at bottom of case. As far as oil you can run just about anything in it. Just go to your local any power sports dealer and ask for chain case oil. I run amsoil synthetic now because my yamaha dealer closed. I think its like 8.2 oz for standard case (no reverse). *** far as changing there is a 10 mm bolt on inside of tunnel behind case at bottom. Take out and let oil drain. Then just fill from dipstick whole and check level after. Easy as that. 10" job for anyone.
 
The only issue I had with changing coolant was getting it bled. Some have no problems I'm sure but for some reason mine was a bugger, just took several attempts at bleeding it and now all is good. Had to take the seat off and remove the bleeder bolt on the tube connecting the two heat exchangers, life back end, run for a sec, bolt in, lift front, etc, back and forth.
 
super1c said:
As far as coolant goes i here guys doing it every season to never without problems. You can buy a tester at any auto supply store for a few bucks and see where you stand. It just tells you if your cooland is still doing what its rated for. To me i only change when im doing some service to coolant system. I/e pulling head off, putting on rear heat exchanger ect.... just keep it filled to the line on the bottle. I use a 60/40 mix per manual but any aluminum block safe 50/50 at the auto store is fine. 1 jug will last ya forever. As far as chain case goes i change every year. Cheap and easy insurance. I also take cover off to clean any sludge at bottom of case. As far as oil you can run just about anything in it. Just go to your local any power sports dealer and ask for chain case oil. I run amsoil synthetic now because my yamaha dealer closed. I think its like 8.2 oz for standard case (no reverse). *** far as changing there is a 10 mm bolt on inside of tunnel behind case at bottom. Take out and let oil drain. Then just fill from dipstick whole and check level after. Easy as that. 10" job for anyone.
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^X2^ all good info. Whats your coolant look like? That tester he is talking about is kind of like a turkey baster looking thing. Stick the tube into antifreeze and suck some up into it. Will have either 1 ball that floats or several balls to indicate freeze point of coolant. I have seen coolant that looks like crap pass the test and other that looks new fail. If test comes back marginal (say 0 degrees) you can drain say half gallon and replace with fresh straight antifreeze to get it to -20/-30 reading.
 
Loosen up a rear heat exchanger clamp on the hose that attatches to the rear heat exhanger/cross over tube. Then take a small screw driver and carefully loosen the hose so it starts to drain. Works best with fron end in the air. Drain as much as you wand nd then refill and bleed system. Or syphon from coolant resivoir as much as you can and refill.
 
ok, so I don't have to drain coolant from under motor like in book? I can just drain it from the rear heat exchanger? im dumb with all this? if I drain from rear exchanger will it all come out? also, do I have to take off seat for anything? where do I bleed it from? and do I have to have sled running to bleed it? or do I bleed with sled off... I have no idea where the bleed screws are? thanks
 
First things first. Have you checked coolant with tester? If it comes back at -20 -30....then you are DONE! Super1c suggested the EASIEST place to get coolant out IF you need to. ANY WHERE you can open the system will work to drain, keeping in mind of gravity and coolant will follow path of least resistance. I beleive theres a bleeder screw/bolt in the top of the rear exchanger that you would need to remove the seat to get to.
 
Devilin AblueDress! said:
First things first. Have you checked coolant with tester? If it comes back at -20 -30....then you are DONE! Super1c suggested the EASIEST place to get coolant out IF you need to. ANY WHERE you can open the system will work to drain, keeping in mind of gravity and coolant will follow path of least resistance. I beleive theres a bleeder screw/bolt in the top of the rear exchanger that you would need to remove the seat to get to.
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X2. Just giving you the cheat ways. The real drain bolt on the front of the block requires you to remove the pipe. Test first. And he bleed screw is under the seat when it comes to that. No need to change it IMO if it tests out ok.
 
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