natedogg624 Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 doing the transmission swap this winter brings a lot of things i have to plan and account for. one question being the engine fluids.i need to drain the coolant and oil obviously to be able to work on the engine and take it apart and what not. question being will the engine be ok with no fluids in it especially in the winter months?im in the process of tearing down but don't plan on doing anything engine related until january. the next thing to take off is the radiator/headers obviously i need to drain the coolant to take off the radiator. will the engine be ok with no coolant until mid/end january? basically whats your advice? just leave it sit until its time to drop the engine and then drain or would i be ok draining now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReconRat Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 If you drain the coolant system, don't flush it with water. Don't do that until you are ready to replace the coolant. This will prevent possible freezing, and possible flash corrosion.FOD= foriegn object damage. Cover all openings well enough to prevent critters, dirt, missing parts, rain, nuts&bolts, etc from getting in. This also needs to try and prevent air(oxygen) from causing corrosion inside. I like duct tape, but you have to check it often to see if it's still attached and doing the job. Fluids including oil will eventually flow off of the interior surfaces and no longer protect them. Protecting the cylinder walls, and cam lobes, is the biggest worry. You can squirt oil in the cylinders to help out. Turn the crank to coat the cylinder walls. Put the spark plugs back in, etc.Corrosion is an oxide compound of metals. Exposure to the air creates it. It's the same hardness as sandpaper (harder than metal). The less of the stuff floating around on the inside of the engine, the better.If it were me, I'd avoid tearing the engine down until I was ready to put it back together. This shouldn't take more then a few days to a week if all the parts and materials are ready to go. Then you'd have no worries.I want to take my valve cover off and mess with it. But I'm not going to do that till the Springtime when I will probably do a valve adjust at the same time. I don't want it off the engine for very long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exSRAaron Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 Personally I'd prolly wait till i was gonna do all the work, dropping the engine etc..but saying that, I get very ADD and just start ripping shit apart! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pri_i_oh Posted November 15, 2008 Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 I wouldnt drain anyfluids until you're ready to tear down. I know you get gitty and its hard to wait but oxidation and surface rust can be a pain in the a**. I usualy spray things down with a thin coat of wd 40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moto-Brian Posted November 16, 2008 Report Share Posted November 16, 2008 You can drain the coolant and pull the motor. Coolant will leave enough of a film to protect against any surface rusting or whatnot. Hell, we dump the race coolant from the motors over winter with no issues whatsoever.If you are not planning to take the motor apart until later, just wait, though.However, if it is within a few months, pull it and start the cleaning process. Meaning, get the exterior of the motor cleaned as you have a great chance to do so outside the chassis.Personally, I'd just pull her, put it on the table/bench and start into her. Why wait? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moto-Brian Posted November 16, 2008 Report Share Posted November 16, 2008 Oh, and drain the oil at time of taking apart the motor. No reason to drain oil until ready... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pri_i_oh Posted November 16, 2008 Report Share Posted November 16, 2008 I dont think the radiator fluid would matter much like lizard said but I would definately wait on the oil. The only issue I could see with the radiator would be build up inside. YOu want to clean that stuff so it doesn't harden too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natedogg624 Posted November 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2008 that was the original plan was to get a head start on cleaning the block up. oil i was going to save until last just because that didn't involve something outside the engine to take off. such as the radiator with the coolant. taking apart the bike was entirely too easy, i had nearly everything apart in ~2 lazy hours. im not going to start tearing into the engine until mid january, id start now but i have exams coming up and then ill be gone for the whole month of december, and then ill get settled back into school.i do have a heated closet in our garage i may just put the engine on a box crate and leave it in there until i come back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pri_i_oh Posted November 16, 2008 Report Share Posted November 16, 2008 that would be a good idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natedogg624 Posted November 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2008 ok so coolant ok to drain but just be careful of the radiator, correct? what are some steps i could take to prevent it from oxidizing/rusting?not draining the oil til i get to that point. i knew that from the beginning sorry i should have been more clear with my OP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pri_i_oh Posted November 16, 2008 Report Share Posted November 16, 2008 I personaly wouldnt drain the coolant either but I think lizard is right it's really not going to hurt anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moto-Brian Posted November 16, 2008 Report Share Posted November 16, 2008 ok so coolant ok to drain but just be careful of the radiator, correct? what are some steps i could take to prevent it from oxidizing/rusting?not draining the oil til i get to that point. i knew that from the beginning sorry i should have been more clear with my OP.Again, it is not going to oxidize and such fast. You can drain coolant out and it will take a VERY long time - probably close to a year for it to matter. We have spare radiators that had only race coolant in them (Has lubrication qualities like the green stuff) and they sit for years before they ever (If they actually ever get used at all) get used and they are totally fine.For a few months, it isn't going to matter one bit...If it has green in it and you drain it, it'll be good until you go to use it again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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