What type of coolant and gear oil do you use?
- Thread starter Christian
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I use Lucas Oil synthetic 75W-90 gear oil. $10-12 bottle lasts a while. I also use it for chain lube.
Ultratoad
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Funny.... I read everything on chain lubes.... AND despite all of the wonder products on the market.... Good old gear oil always finishes near the top on shoot outs !!!!
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I got the tip from FortNine on YouTube 8 months ago. Been using gear oil as chain lube ever since. Works great, just make sure you wipe off the excess with a rag or something.
F451
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Very informative. And hilarious. Thanks for posting.
Mirrors my experiences over a lifetime of chain maintenance. For my dirt bikes, I settled on WD-40 years ago, mainly as a cleaner/rust preventer. Lubrication is secondary. My dirt bike riding is limited so I can accept the trade off of possibly decreased chain/sprocket life vs easy, cheap, maintenance.
And I need to do a gear oil change and coolant top off on my Alta, so this is a timely thread.
Caryder
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For something that’s supposed to be maintenance free, I was considering a waterless lifetime product like Evans waterless coolant.
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If you haven't already, read up on the Evans first to be sure it is going to accomplish what you think it is. I use it in certain machines but the common misconception is that it will cool better and that isn't the case with that particular product. In fact, an engines average temp will likely increase running Evans. It is however maintenance free, so if that is your main consideration than it would accomplish that.
What do you use?
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Regular green Prestone
Caryder
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Evans seems ideal for an Alta application. Heat load isn’t a problem.
Caryder
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I guess to answer your original question, pretty much any engine coolant designed for aluminum components should work. What I don’t like about coolant in general is the corrosive issues when the anti corrosion additives break down. I had a 1986 Honda CR250R that had a magnesium water pump impeller. It would turn to mush every few years regardless of how often the coolant was changed. I’ve always wondered if I’d of known about Evans (or if it existed) if that would have prevented a few water pump replacements.
Bottom line, pure water is best for heat transfer, but it boils @ 212 F and freezes @ 32 F. Antifreeze fixes that. If overheating isn’t an issue, you don’t need a water based coolant. If you have cooling issues, usually you have a problem a different brand of coolant isn’t going to fix (but engine ice can help a highly stressed engine).
If you race & tear down an engine a lot (racing application with an ICE) superior heat transfer is a high priority, long lasting coolant is a low priority. Engine Ice works well in that environment. If you have a few vehicles, that “sit” a lot, you probably don’t want a product in the cooling system that has a 1 year shelf life (like engine ice). Engine ice, water wetter, etc, are generally designed for frequent replacement, high heat transfer applications. Also better for the environment (so is Evans). EI would work fine in the Alta, just replace it per their recommendations.
bluefxstc
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I have Evans coolant in my diesel pickup, great stuff. I don't have to worry about SCA or changing it. As a bonus, since there is no pressure on the system, the chances of a catastrophic hose failure are greatly reduced. On negative side of the ledger, it is pretty expensive to do a change. Last time i checked I think it was about $50 per gal and when you need 8 gal it is a little expensive, but worth it to me..
Caryder
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Yes, initially expensive, but not so bad if you recover & reuse. And initially you need to make sure you drain and prep the coolant system if not a brand new build or rebuild. Can’t have much residual water.
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Must be a new bottle but that looks like the stuff. There is nothing special about this coolant, it's just regular old green antifreeze. As stated somewhere before, anything that is compatible with aluminum (which should be pretty much anything these days) will work fine. Some coolants don't like to be mixed, but other than that this isn't something to worry about. Evans I'm sure would work fine if the machine is properly prepped, engine ice might even cool a little better, but I don't imagine there is going to be any benefit other than differences in change intervals. Only thing I would recommend is if using undiluted coolant you mix it with distilled water. Other than that use whatever you want.
