Changing Antifreeze

I want to check my antifreeze and possibly change it to a 60/40 mixture. It sure would be nice to drain it all out and reinstall a proper mixture that I know is right. Is there a easy way to do this? I'm also concerned with air pockets that can become trapped in the line, is this possible? Thanks: Ronnie

I wouldnt say its easy..

what i did, was to remove the hose from the lower end where it meets the small radiator and drain only part of the antifreeze out.

THan i installed 4 oz of watterwetter and filled the rest with water...

Once you drain all the coolant, add your new mix set the cap over the tank (do not tighten it, just set it) start the sled up and you will see that the level will go down a bit, just keep adding fluid, also, once it stops taking that much fluid you can tilt your sled up ( like on a snow bank, or tilt trailer, etc and start up the sled again and let it run for a little bit, gravity will help a little bit on getting all the fluid circulated, top of the tank again and you should be good to go. There might be other ways but that's just how I was shown a few years ago, no problems for me.

I could not get all the air pockets out without lifting alternatly the front and the back of the sled up 3 feet with the engine running. Riding up and down a few sharp but short hills does the same thing.

Welters advice helps you avoid the air pockets.

It is a very simple process that takes about 1 hour

1. Put your sled on a lift

2. Remove the plastic Ring at the base of the handle bars, the plastic cover in front of the handle bars, the hood and the throttle side "side panel".

3. Remove the Plastic Beauty ring in the back of the sled that covers the hoses.

4. Place a drain pan under the rear of the sled and Pull the Rubber hose off the cross over tube on the throttle side of the sled

5. Remove the Cap from the fill bottle.

6. Lift the front of the sled to force the coolant to drain out of the hose in the rear of the sled. You may have to lift the sled a couple times to get it completely drained.

7. once it's drained put the hose back on the crossover tube.

8. Start refilling the sled through the fill bottle. The bottle will eventually not take more coolant but the sled isn't filled yet. Put the cap on the bottle and lift the back of the sled this time. The coolant will push the air to the back of the sled which is at he highest point. Set the sled down and crack the bleeder valve on the cross over tube.

9. repeat the above process until the only thing that comes out of the bleeder valve is strait coolant.

10. Run the sled until it's nice and warm and both running board exchangers are warm to the touch. let the sled cool and then crack the fill bottle cap. any excess air should vent. You might be able to pour more coolant in at that point as well. The sled holds close to 2 gallons of coolant so but you might not be able to get every ounce out of the system. If you get close to that amount back in the sled and the bottle is full and your not getting air out of the bleeder anymore you are good.



this process takes a little longer but it's well worth it. My sled has never over heated. I replaced the coolant with a product called Engine ice. I road with two other attacks last winter that over heated and had there fans come on. My sled never got warm enough to start he fan.

What is the mixture supposed to be? 60/40?

Thanks for all that took the time to help me out. I 'm going to take dirkdiggler up on his process of draining out the antifreeze. The only area I don't quite understand is #8 that pertains to the bleeder valve. From what I understand the bleeder valve is located on the crossover tube in the rear, very close to where the hose is taken on and off at and on the throttle side.
The total process in general seems to be straight forward. I just want to make sure I know for sure where the bleeder valve is at. Thanks again: Ronnie

SledFreak said:

What is the mixture supposed to be? 60/40?

Click to expand...

I always thought 50/50 was a mixture that would handle about any condition but being from the south I am not all that educated on how low the temps can become in Canada. So I thought I would richen up the mixture a little and add 10% more antifreeze. Maybe someone else can chime in here on the proper mixture but I can tell you that 100% antifreeze is not right.

Shivesy said:

Thanks for all that took the time to help me out. I 'm going to take dirkdiggler up on his process of draining out the antifreeze. The only area I don't quite understand is #8 that pertains to the bleeder valve. From what I understand the bleeder valve is located on the crossover tube in the rear, very close to where the hose is taken on and off at and on the throttle side.
The total process in general seems to be straight forward. I just want to make sure I know for sure where the bleeder valve is at. Thanks again: Ronnie

Click to expand...

Yes the Valve is back where you pull the hose off. You will only crack the valve after you've put the hose back on and started filling your sled with the new Coolant. I would absulutely go with teh Engine ice. It's a total system replacement. You don't add water or coolant to it.

http://www.engineice.cc/



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SledFreak said:

What is the mixture supposed to be? 60/40?

Click to expand...

That's what's recommended in the Yamaha owner's manual...60/40.

dirkdiggler said:

http://www.engineice.cc/

freeze-up protection to -27° F

Click to expand...

What happen if one night the temperature goes down to -35F. Any idea how long does it take to freeze solid?

No idea But you would be pretty hard pressed to have a susstained minus 35 air temp. Wind chills do not count. It's the acctual airtemp that counts

Yep, I know it's cold. But it did happen to us while on a trip around Clova; was -42 F that morning, we took a loooong breakfest, we finally left at -33F.

Let me tell you it was FREZZING, Took a while before the seat and suspension start moving.

Most years here in the Adirondacks we get at least a couple nights below -27 F, and in Quebec where we go several times a year, it's even more common. I've seen it as cold as -36 F overnight. ( It was -28 F in the morning, and the Warrior still started. )

I wouldn't have anything less than a mix good for -40 F, and that's cutting it awfully close.