[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

That’s about the car but am not aware of the motorrad, should not be any different in my opinion.

Will be interesting to find out the jobs they recommend under check service schedule. I think owners manual will be the best place. Does Triumph specifically mentions this on the service manual?

Originally Posted by AMG Power

Yes, BMW's also do not recommend a change of coolant unless there is contamination.

Replacement isn't mentioned in the owner's or service manual. However, level check is done and a top-up is required once in a while. I had mine done around the 15k mark. While you may need just about 50-100ml for a top up, the workshop guys do not sub-sell coolant from a bottle. Therefore, I had to buy a 1.5L bottle of coolant from the workshop and only consume 100 odd ml.

What was worse? Their business head swung by around the same time as I was getting this done. A partially used coolant bottle magically appeared for his 850GS whereas I paid Rs. 940 for 100ml ;-)




Gave away the balance to a friend who suffered a radiator leak due to a stone on his Kawasaki.

[shan_ned]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Does Triumph specifically mentions this on the service manual?

It is 3 years for Triumph bikes for complete replacement of the coolant (irrespective of the distance covered). Even Kawasaki bikes have the same recommendation.

Originally Posted by dinu2506

Interesting read. Never knew the role of the coolant beyond the cooling part - the fact that coolant change can actually cause a problem, distilled water could promote formation of sludge etc etc. Sort of relieved that I ride an air cooled Bonnie

As Jaggu pointed out, even with OEM coolant, the corrosion can happen over a period of time. Though the service manuals recommend 3 years, it is better to get it replaced for every 2 years once. When I replaced the OEM coolant of my 3 years old Kawasaki bike, the old coolant was looking brownish in colour. These coolants will loose their corrosion inhibiting properties over a period of time. With high powered motorcycles having higher compression ratio, they mandate complete replacement of the coolant at some regular intervals. With Indian conditions (hot and humid), replacing the coolant for every 2 years is a safe bet.

Any way, one of the main topics in this thread is the coolant issue faced by the OP. He had a 2 to 2.5 years old coolant and it was all running fine until the Cochin dealer did some thing to replace the coolant. It is all to do with the incompetency+dishonesty of the dealer in trying to cover up their goof up and nothing to do with the coolant age. Many superbikes have gone through multiple coolant replacement iterations without any issues. So one need not be paranoid about Liquid cooled engines. It is just a matter of basic technical competency in doing a simple job of replacing the coolant.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by AMG Power

VW does not recommend change of coolant during the life of the car unless there is a change in the colour of the coolant and I agree with their recommendation.

Colour charged from purplish to orangish over two years of Bangalore traffic. Serviced at VW and as per spec topped up.

You've also given the reason for landing up in that situation

Originally Posted by AMG Power

Triumph, if I am not mistaken, recommends a change at every alternate service which should be 32k or 2 years.

To make it clearer the recommendation is 3 years irrespective of kms, my bike yes went to 4th year, but my friends bike which had done less than 15k kms and under 3 years also had the coolant loose its color, not as bad as mine. His bike is used only for highways Vs mine which is used for city also. Hence I mentioned the above.

Most probably a similar situation with your VW too. You'll find it doesn't require magic, just regular care.

Not at all, it is serviced more often than that is needed, now the dealer is adding distled water instead of coolant is debatable and really don't have proof.

Biggest mistake people make is check the reservoir / expansion tank and determining the state of coolant. FYI for both the bikes I mentioned above the reservoir tank looked ok Vs the drain where the liquid looked so different.

[Odeen12]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Update
The dealer principal for Syamadynamic Motorcycles, reached out to me today and we had a very positive, lengthy discussion on all the challenges that I have faced over the last couple of months including
Anyways, I was happy to note that the gentleman is looking closely into why there have been multiple gaps in the service quality from the dealership side, including, and this is what made me really happy, those that I experienced with regard to the first service. His customer first mindset has frankly not percolated down the team ladder, as I have unfortunately experienced, time and again. I hope that he is able to fix the different problems internally and that these changes have a marked improvement in the customer experience on the ground.

Good stuff Neil. I have seen dealers getting a lot of flak but there are times when you have to push. It's absolutely fine to ask questions and get the replies which satisfy you.

If there was a gap, which clearly was, might as well have them sort it and look into the same. I hope the bike fairs well and you get to enjoy her!!

[neil.jericho]

I have been riding the bike quite a lot in the last few days, including stopping every 15 - 20 minutes and checking the heat to see whether the fan was working or not. In between, I checked the level of the new Motul Moto Cool coolant at the cap of the radiator as well as the reservoir tank and topped it up to the right amount.

My findings after riding the bike extensively in mixed conditions, are consistent with what I had posted earlier (Triumph Cochin - Repeated service issues)
- the fan running continuously with the brand new Triumph HD4X coolant (which the dealer could / would not spot but at the same time said is incorrect while also refusing to investigate) issue has disappeared conclusively after I changed over to the Motul coolant.
- with the Motul coolant, the bike's display mostly shows 5 temperature bars , it does sometimes show 6 bars if it has been running for some time. Even with 6 bars displayed, the fan does not run automatically. For reference, the dealership said 6 bars always was normal and that the fan was behaving normally (i.e. running continuously) as per their extended testing.
- only if I am waiting at a signal for a few minutes, after having ridden for some time, does the fan come on but it goes off within a minute of two of riding. This is normal behaviour.

So, the bike is running perfectly fine now and I dont have to worry about the heat management issue anymore.

It has been an exhausting two months in terms of dealing with the Triumph Cochin dealership. Despite having extended every bit of support from my side, time and again, I have been the one left getting a raw deal. For those who have been cherry picking points to argue and find fault with me (!!!!), it will be good to read this recap,
- I booked a slot for service in September when their workload was less and was told work on my bike will take 2 days. It took 4.5 days.
- Service team helped themselves / pocketed / stole 800 ml of engine oil which I gave them, without informing me about it in advance and lied about it when questioned. They also lied about work that they forgot.
- I posted about it on TBHP, got responses from helpful TBHPians confirming my suspicions and despite the truth being out in the open, and the dealership staff reading all the posts (by their own admission!), none of them reached out to me.
- Writing to Triumph India magically made the dealership call me and admit to their falsehoods and home grown processes. I think this in itself speaks volumes for how things are run on the ground. I decided to let bygone be bygones and move forward with the dealership, on a positive note.
- The heat management issue that suddenly got introduced during the first top up and subsequent coolant change, were repeatedly ignored by the dealership. They outright refused to accept it despite admitting that things such as fan running continuously for hours was not normal. Again, despite being rebuked by the dealership, I told them that I will keep them updated if I find anything that sorts out the issues with my bike.
- Removing the new Triumph HD4X coolant and seeing feedback from fellow riders led to suspicions that the quality of coolant was not normal and this, along with the dealerships refusal to support me, led to this thread. Suddenly, the dealership guys wanted to meet me to prove that there was no wrong doing and wanted to help fix my bike. These were the same folks who just a few days before this, had washed their hands off my bike and basically said that I was on my own.
- The only positive experience that I have had with them in the last 2 months was when I spoke to the dealer principal, who patiently listed to all the well documented issues.

To be frank, I have wasted a lot of time and more importantly, peace of mind by repeatedly giving the benefit of the doubt to the dealership team and offering them chance after chance to sort things out. Even the home minister got so annoyed with the grossly incompetent dealership folks that she said it is better to sell this bike and move to a brand that treats customers well, given that we were getting taken for ride after ride by them, even after spending over Rs 26,000 in September.

Keeping aside the stealing and deceit from the first service experience (not that these are minor things, they are indefensible and confidence breaking, especially when customers spend big bucks), all the dealership had to do was perform a simple coolant change to fix this final issue. But they either didnt have the right competency to do this and then later, identify evident symptoms that a customer was pointing out, or, they willingly looked the other way when the tell tale signs of improper heat management were clearly in front of them. Neither option is a reassuring one.

Anyways, it is time to put this service debacle behind me and carry on enjoying the bike like I used to. A big thank you to everyone who has helped me resolve this issue and supported me.

And for those who thought that some magic or sorcery was needed to fix the heat management issues, fortunately I didnt have to go that far to get my bike back to normal.

[rahul4321]

The fact that you listened to your bike so closely - knew its normal behaviour and the change post the so-called coolant change only serves to prove that a customer will only be taken care of if he is ready to deep dive into the issue and get his hands dirty (in a manner of speaking)

What about the normal customer who drops off his bike at the dealership and picks it up and suffers an engine failure / dead bike on a long tour. Triumph on one thread; Kawasaki on the other; BMW on the third one. Complaints - and all of them about Gross Negligence or Lies.

For people like me - this is a big deal as a bike performing well as intended will give you peace of mind. If not - it will just keep stressing you out and make your life miserable. Atleast - thats what happens to me.

Mistakes can be tolerated - if they are unintentional. Incompetence - rarely. But Gross Negligence / Lying can never be tolerated and should never be tolerated.

Thank you for your detailed post and for exposing the truth.

[shan_ned]

Neil, Feeling good that the bike is back to the normal working condition. As Triumph India was already in touch with you when the dealer cheated you when you dropped your bike for the first time, I suggest you to send one final update to them. Of course it is left for TI to decide on what necessary actions that needs to taken against the dealer.

[deepfreak15]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

And for those who thought that some magic or sorcery was needed to fix the heat management issues, fortunately I didnt have to go that far to get my bike back to normal.

Cut your losses and move on! Glad to see your bike is back the way it was before this nightmare.