Cannondaleriders

(Sorry guys I accidentally put this in the wrong section the first time. )

Hey guys, I'm a 05' Z400 owner but we are running into the same problem that you guys had with your magnesium valve covers..... Suzuki decided to use a magnesium side case on the 05-06' motors, and run the water channel through. We are now finding that the coolant is eating the magnesium like it was on the cannondale valve covers. I've been reading ya'll archives and getting the info on what coolant to use, and just wanted to verify a few things....

It seems the only way to completely remedy the problem is to A) go back to an aluminum cover, or run Evans coolant. But it also appears that if we use deionized(sp?) coolant and change it in at least 6 month intervals that we should be ok as well?

Could some of the C-Dale gurus help us out with some verification? We'd all GREATLY appreciate it.

You might be able to get by on Engine Ice but why risk it? Go with aluminum or evans.

I dont know about the side cases for suzukis, or if they even offer aluminum. If they dont offer aluminum you could always powerdercoat it if the damage is not too extensive and/or run Evans.

You can purchase Evans from here:

http://www.mooneyesusa.com/index.asp?PageA...PROD&ProdID=851

The reason I'm interested in Engine Ice and the like is that my quad is still under warranty, and they want to use it or a deionized water coolant that they have in stock. If I use something else(IE: Evans) I'd void my warranty. Right now they're covering everything, and I don't want to do anything to mess that up. And I had read several threads in the archives that said that you could use Engine Ice or a deionized water coolant.

They said Evans would void your warrenty? WTF? I wonder if they know what they are talking about.

Engine Ice works pretty good as it slows the corrosion, but doesnt' cure it.

Do you know why they dont want you to use Evans, and Engine Ice instead? Seems kind of stupid to me. I would get somebody on the phone and find out.

As far as using Engine Ice or deionized water, you are never going to get a "correct" answer, at least not from here. There are some here that believe it works fine, and others since it still contains water, the potential for problems is still there. I myself am of the latter group. I just figure if you are going to change your coolant anyways, why not go with something that HAS NO WATER i.e. Evans so therefore you know will have no further problems, instead of going with something that has mixed opinions i.e. Engine Ice.

I had read somewhere as well that there was someone that was running diesel coolant.....? Would this be acceptable. I'm also not real comfortable with the different reports of the overheating from the evans coolant. Plus the Engine Ice and similar is much easier for me to get.

The evans EXPANDS more, and that is often confused into rumors about overheating. If you use it, use less, or it will spew a minor amount until your system level settles to the new maximum.

I doubt that Suzuki is saying they don't like Evans. More likely, they don't know about it, or have just not even considered the issue. This is a new problem for them. But if it's not on the "approved" list yet, you can't fight that.

I think you've hit it on the head Canniboomer..... I think they just don't know of it yet. Plus I want to use what they're going to pay for. The dealership I go to is also a former Cannondale dealership, and the service tech I know well there said to use a coolant they carry from Motul. He said that he no longer had corrosion issues after he started using the motul coolant. I guess atleast until my warranty runs out I'll be running the Motul.

I'm not much of an Evans fan. Personally, I'd look for an aluminum replacement.

Until you find one, I'd just run good coolant (I had good results with the pink Caterpillar stuff), and flush it every couple months. If you wanted, you could powdercoat the mag, but it would just slow the affect, the coolant will work into threaded sections and get under the pc. This isn't a fix, just a bandaid. The Aluminum cover is the fix.

Dave, being that you've done this before, maybe it would be a good business venture for ya!
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