Oil in water

[Terry 55]

Hello I made a stupid mistake on my 08 wing I was doing on oil change and when I went to out the new oil in I pored some into the coolant tank. I suctioned it out and flused the tank many times until the water coming out looked clear. Now after haven run the engine when I pull the dipstick out of the violent tank it looks like there is still some oil in it. What should I do now. If it is to change the coolant I know house to get it out and back in but how would I flush the system so I know I have gotten all the oil out. Also since this is a very small amount of oil left in there is it safe to ride the bike?

[AZgl1800]

I would buy a few gallons of Alcohol or Ethanol, the stronger the percentage, the better, so it cuts the oil.... and drain the radiator and flush it good with the alcohol.

maybe twice? that depends on what you see in the drain pan after the flush.


Then flush the alcohol out with Distilled water, and then refill and anti-freeze

[GoldWingrGreg]

Remove the reservoir and wash it out with Dawn dish washing soap. Then drain and fill the cooling system with new coolant. Unfortunately, any type of petroleum product causes the o-rings in our cooling systems to swell. There are 8 of these seals. O-rings that swell cause coolant leaks. Hopefully, your system is not to contaminated.

[AZgl1800]

after sleeping on it, Greg is right.

Dawn dishwashing soap, probably take a couple of times to get the oil gone, then just rinse with water, and replenish the anti-freeze.

[WingAdmin]

Yup. The dish soap works as an emulsifier to break down the oil and allow it to mix with the water, so you can flush out all the remaining oil. Then you need to do several flushes with water to get all the dish soap out (keep doing it until there's no more bubbles).

[GoldWingrGreg]

If you're gonna run water through you cooling system, be sure it is distilled water ... not tap water !!!