OMG. AN excellent piece of (non-technical) research. Now we all have something else to worry about.. Maybe we could turn this into another oil thread.

But seriously, I imagine that any reputable off-the-shelf coolant will be good enough to keep the cooling system operative until long after the rest of moving parts have disintegrated, unless you live in Canada of course.

 

'Round here it is a pain to get motorcycle specific coolants, so what I've been doing for several years now is flush and replace with Honda's blue coolant. It is safe for alloy engines, silicate free, I've never had a water pump fail and there is always a Honda dealership nearby where I can get the stuff. So far no issues on a Daytona and Street Triple and they've had the blue Honda stuff for a few years now; I've used it on Japanese bikes for over 10 years. It might not be the very best option, but at least I'm not gambling on mixing coolants, colors mean nothing.

I guess in the future I could switch to G13, flush and replace, as VW dealerships are also all over the place.

 

Good research, all seems a bit unnecessarily confusing, not helped by manufacturer's all selling and recommending their own branded stuff, I just stick to the Triumph HOAT because its easily available in the UK, and with it only needing less than 2L every 3 years the price difference isn't worth bothering about.
Video that may or may not be interesting to some, showing what damage various coolant types can do to internal parts of your engine over time. not sure if any of the samples are equivalent to HD4X though.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="

" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

thanks for the info as i have 2 WC'd Triumphs. anything thru the dealer is $$$$ to say the least!

 

Is it expensive in the US, I've just bought three 1L bottles for £28 on Ebay, considering the Thruxton only take about 1.5L that's only £4.66 per year, obviously I don't pay the dealer to change it.

 

Wow my hat is off to you for sure! Dang what a lot of work for Triumph owners. Thanks!

 

yeh there r alternatives but since I have the availability of a TRI dealership close by I am sticking with the recommended HOAT coolant for my TTR. Picked up a bottle and just have to pick a nice day to Flush soon, with this south Florida heat I like to keep the coolant fresh and up to par for it... FTG

 

***Note: This is purely result of my own research, I do not guarantee that any of it is correct. You put whatever you want into your engine

What exactly is the coolant Triumph puts in its engines in the factory, and later wants us to use?

My owners handbook (2017 Street Scrambler) calls for “a year round, Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (known as hybrid OAT or HOAT) coolant (...) It is coloured green, contains 50% solution of ethylene glycol based antifreeze, has a freezing point of -35C.

Specifications page lists “Coolant: Triumph HD4X Hybrid OAT (premixed)

If you live in the UK and like shopping at the Triumph dealer you can probably easily purchase the Triumph branded product and not bother reading below and leaving snarky comments about how unnecessary this thread is ;-)

But if you are one of the many Triumph owners who is not in the UK (or Europe), you may find that many motorcycle dealers do not carry the Triumph coolant (even if they sell Triumph motorcycles). Most auto parts stores have never heard of Triumph coolant specifications, or about 'HD4X coolant'. They all will most likely recommend you a random HOAT coolant they carry which may or may not be correct or compatible with what Triumph originally filled your cooling system with. If a motorcycle dealer, they will likely recommend a Japanese motorcycle compatible coolant...... since most motorcycle dealerships sell Japanese motorcycles....and, as you will see below, a Japanese motorcycle compatible coolant may not be a good choice for a Triumph.


Taking a quick look at many motorcycle forums only amplifies this confusion. I have seen advice like:

“Use Honda coolant”

“Use any organic acid coolant”

“Use any HOAT coolant”

“Use any green coolant”

“Use Zerex G-5 coolant”

“Use Motul”


Pretty random stuff, lacking any concrete connection to Triumph coolant...



There are at least 5 different varieties of HOAT coolants, probably more. They all mostly contain 50% solution of ethylene glycol in water. What they differ in are additive packages. They all – by design - may or may not contain silicates, borates, nitrites, nitrates, amines, phosphates, 2-EHA etc. And these additive packages are crucial - they are what is supposed to stop corrosion in your cooling system.

Each major engine manufacturer, and each aftermarket coolant manufacturer set and publish a multitude of coolant specifications.

Colours are a joke – they depend on whatever colour scheme given coolant manufacturer chooses to follow. There are green, blue, red, turquoise, yellow, pink, violet, orange, purple coolants.


So perhaps the 'HD4X' is some sort of specification too? If so it is either obscure or obsolete, since I don't see it referenced – especially in North America.


Finally I got a break – I found Finoil HD4X coolant. So it does look like 'HD4X' may be a specification.

Note sure how long this link will work, but here it is:

Finol Premium HD4X R.T.U -37°C Coolant for Cars and Trucks



Finoil HD4X coolant is described as:

• a “long-life” coolant fluid based upon monoethylene glycol containing no amines, nitrites or phosphates.
• recommended for all the cooling circuits in internal combustion engines, particularly MTU, MB (except EURO 6) and MAN systems.
• also inert to elastomeric seals and paint

It also meets the following manufacturer's specifications:

Audi TL-774 C (G11)

VW TL-774 C (G11)

Skoda TL-774 C (G11)

Seat TL-774 C (G11)

MB 325.0

BMW GS 94000

Volvo Cars 128 6083/002


Researching further the VW TL-774 C (G11) I found that it is an old VW coolant type, it was used in VW model years 1980-1997. It is further described as “This product is formulated based on a proven inhibitor development by combining silicates with the organic additive technology OAT as an extended life coolant “


**

Thus based on the above, Triumph HD4X coolant should be very similar or identical to:

any coolant bearing VW G11 specification ( TL-774 C) <- this should be useful to owners globally - as Volkswagen dealerships can be found in most countries

Valvoline Zerex G48 – which according to Valvoline conforms to VW TL-774 C <- Valvoline products can be found (or ordered) in most auto part stores in US and Canada



Moreover – per VW specifications – their newest coolant – VW G13 or VW TL 744-J is compatible and mixable with earlier G11 coolants. Thus coolants bearing these specifications should also be compatible with HD4X coolants.

**


The following do NOT appear to be compatible with HD4X (or VW G11) coolants:

Honda coolants and other Asian vehicles coolants ( they contain phosphates instead of silicates)

Valvoline Zerex G5 (it contains nitrites)

'any (random) organic acid coolant' – since there are so many varieties

'any (random) HOAT coolant' - since there are so many varieties

'any green coolant' – since colours are non standard and specific to manufacturers




I do NOT know what harm – if any – can be caused by use of different (non HD4X type) coolants in Triumph engines. All HOAT coolants are designed to inhibit corrosion, resist foaming, freezing, boilovers etc. However, common sense suggest that using coolants not in accordance with engine manufacturer's specifications could reduce corrosion protection, service life, cause faster water pump and seal wear etc.
Finally, when changing between different varieties of coolant, make sure to flush your cooling system very thoroughly - as mixing incompatible additive packages can have negative consequences.

Many thanks for this post Thorongil, I read the whole post with great interest, It was only today I started searching for the equivalent coolant to the Triumph HD4X when I found your post, it is a well written post and it has helped me out immensely.
Cheers

 

This post is great, I asked myself the same question a while ago and concluded to just go with the Triumph HD4X, but I always wondered if there were cheaper or easier to find alternatives.

Apparently the situation has changed now though: Triumph went away from HD4X and now goes with something called D2053. If I look at the local offical Triumph parts shops (triumphworld.de and similar), they exclusively sell that now. Other stores say that Triumph did that change sometime mid 2021.

The article description for 2053 translates to:

The new Triumph coolant D2053 is a year-round OAT (Organic Acid Technology) coolant. It is orange in color and contains a 50% monoethylene glycol based antifreeze solution. Triumph Coolant D2053 provides freeze protection down to -40°C. Attention, not miscible with the older HD4X OAT (up to -35°C) based on ethylene glycol. A change with extensive flushing of the system is recommended.

There's also at least one other thread on this.

I tried to find any specifics on that coolant, but there's no info anywhere. "D2053" only leads to Triumph. The closest thing I could find is C2053 from Solventis. The datasheet can be found here. It doesn't seem (easily) available in sizes smaller than "drum" though.

 

This post is great, I asked myself the same question a while ago and concluded to just go with the Triumph HD4X, but I always wondered if there were cheaper or easier to find alternatives.

Apparently the situation has changed now though: Triumph went away from HD4X and now goes with something called D2053. If I look at the local offical Triumph parts shops (triumphworld.de and similar), they exclusively sell that now. Other stores say that Triumph did that change sometime mid 2021.

The article description for 2053 translates to:

The new Triumph coolant D2053 is a year-round OAT (Organic Acid Technology) coolant. It is orange in color and contains a 50% monoethylene glycol based antifreeze solution. Triumph Coolant D2053 provides freeze protection down to -40°C. Attention, not miscible with the older HD4X OAT (up to -35°C) based on ethylene glycol. A change with extensive flushing of the system is recommended.

There's also at least one other thread on this.

I tried to find any specifics on that coolant, but there's no info anywhere. "D2053" only leads to Triumph. The closest thing I could find is C2053 from Solventis. The datasheet can be found here. It doesn't seem (easily) available in sizes smaller than "drum" though.

Great work.
Looks like the same spec as - Glysantin G30
Readily available in Halfords -

https://www.glysantin.de/sites/default/files/2018-06/technisches_datenblatt_g30_eng.pdf

Seems that Triump moved to -
Audi G12/G12+, VW TL744D/F, BASF Glysantine G30 OAT with the new D2053 spec.
This lad cracks open a water pump to find a ceramic seal on the waterside -
Re-build water pump?
Good write up here on water pump seal replacement (cx500), writeup warns away from using silicated coolant because of wear issues…
With car manufacturers adding silicates to formulations SI-OAT, G40, G12++, TL744G, I have a sneaking suspicion that the older IAT coolant formulations may have protected better, but not longer with silicates dropping out of solution with age and subsequent ceramic seal water pump issues.

 

I am currently going down the rabbit hole of Triumph coolants as my 2019 Speed Twin is due to be changed.

My conclusion is that Triumph has updated the coolant to D2053 OAT coolant (not hybrid anymore) to remove the silicates from the coolant.

Of course Triumph won't give any further information why they changed the coolant to avoid any warranty or parts failure claims as silicates are bad for the water pump seals.

For me, I am changing to the D2053 coolant ASAP to use what I assume is now a silicate free coolant. Very disappointed in Triumph not providing any information on the reason for the coolant spec change.

 

Motorcycles have oil seal in the water pumps since the pump is internally driven from the engine. Cars have the water pump externally driven with a belt so no oil seal need. Old understanding is motorcycle water pump seals do not like silicates in the coolant. Cars do not have such an issue and silicates improve corrosion protection.

Silicate free OAT coolans are for example G12, G12+ and G30. Brand does not matter.

 

Thanks, good additional info.

Would you agree that D2053 is now Silicate free coolant and the reason for the change.

I am considering using Liqui Moli RAF 12+ coolant for my next change.

 

Changed my coolant a week ago.....old stuff was what the factory put in 3 years ago....new stuff is different...triumph brand...old stuff was Hybrid OAT.....Triumph dont use that...I used the new stuff with the 2 engine flush the suggest.....

New stuff was a sort of pink color going in.....a few days later its turn a horrible rusty color looks years old.

Any ideas guys....

Sorry to butt in on your post....but its sort of conected.