HotRodZilla
GOD BLESS AMERICA
From where on your ranch Don? Your front porch, or somewhere else?
Cheap Chinese Radiator - Waste of time
- Thread starter dcarver
- Start date
Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:
JamesK
Got to ride
Don I feel your pain buddy.
My 220k mile radiator sprung leaks during my last big ride a few weeks back, as luck would have it it was only 1/3 through the ride so I managed to ride another 2k miles, feeding her regular doses of black pepper
If you think burnt coolant is bad, you should try it with baked black pepper
For me in Japan, it's even more expensive (as everything is here) to buy an OEM radiator, so I was literally one click away from pulling the trigger on that exact unit from ASI-Pro. I count myself extremely lucky that I decided to Google this Chinese POS product and find some reviews, albeit for cars where people were complaining about numerous issues. Given what a PITA the radiator swap is on the FJR I figured I had little choice but to bend over and order the OEM. It too about 3 weeks to get, even though the factory is in Hamamatsu, Japan (about 4 hours away). It was on back-order, apparently there's not a such a high demand for them.
When I was installing the new engine I checked the radiator and cleaned it out and flushed it thoroughly, it looked used but had never leaked, I wish I'd dropped the coin then and saved myself some extra work now. The only explanation I can think of is that the new (10k mile) engine pressurizes the cooling system much better than the old worn out engine did.
My failure was also in two places, the radiator was suffering from a cascade of pinprick leaks, with new ones appearing once the pepper had sealed up the old ones. My Thermostat housing also leaked around the same time (only about 4k miles with the new engine). The housing looked fine from an external visual inspection, but corrosion had eaten through the side of the aluminum housing from the inside.
Last week I finally received all the parts and installed the new OEM radiator, along with low mileage thermostat housing (I replaced the hoses during the engine swap) and new low-mileage fans.
New OEM radiator, and low-mileage fans ready for the install
My fans both still work and move freely, but one was getting a bit noisy, or so I thought, it was only once I'd hooked up the new low-mileage fans that I realized just how noisy both of my old fans really were and hence that they likely were not long for this world. My point here is unless your fans are relatively new (replaced after the deer strike) maybe you should consider sourcing some low-mileage replacements off eBay, you can find them for around $40-50 a piece or lower, new OEMs are around $230 each... Since the fan swap job involves a full radiator removal.
My 220k mile radiator sprung leaks during my last big ride a few weeks back, as luck would have it it was only 1/3 through the ride so I managed to ride another 2k miles, feeding her regular doses of black pepper
For me in Japan, it's even more expensive (as everything is here) to buy an OEM radiator, so I was literally one click away from pulling the trigger on that exact unit from ASI-Pro. I count myself extremely lucky that I decided to Google this Chinese POS product and find some reviews, albeit for cars where people were complaining about numerous issues. Given what a PITA the radiator swap is on the FJR I figured I had little choice but to bend over and order the OEM. It too about 3 weeks to get, even though the factory is in Hamamatsu, Japan (about 4 hours away). It was on back-order, apparently there's not a such a high demand for them.
When I was installing the new engine I checked the radiator and cleaned it out and flushed it thoroughly, it looked used but had never leaked, I wish I'd dropped the coin then and saved myself some extra work now. The only explanation I can think of is that the new (10k mile) engine pressurizes the cooling system much better than the old worn out engine did.
My failure was also in two places, the radiator was suffering from a cascade of pinprick leaks, with new ones appearing once the pepper had sealed up the old ones. My Thermostat housing also leaked around the same time (only about 4k miles with the new engine). The housing looked fine from an external visual inspection, but corrosion had eaten through the side of the aluminum housing from the inside.
Last week I finally received all the parts and installed the new OEM radiator, along with low mileage thermostat housing (I replaced the hoses during the engine swap) and new low-mileage fans.
New OEM radiator, and low-mileage fans ready for the install
My fans both still work and move freely, but one was getting a bit noisy, or so I thought, it was only once I'd hooked up the new low-mileage fans that I realized just how noisy both of my old fans really were and hence that they likely were not long for this world. My point here is unless your fans are relatively new (replaced after the deer strike) maybe you should consider sourcing some low-mileage replacements off eBay, you can find them for around $40-50 a piece or lower, new OEMs are around $230 each... Since the fan swap job involves a full radiator removal.
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JamesK
Got to ride
Ellymay is all better now
Question for you guys springing radiator leaks and such on your 8 or 9 year old bikes (not apparently due to a rock or other impact):
How often did you change the coolant? And what coolant did you use?
Only (honest) best estimates required here. I think you can see where I'm going with this. It may be that the FJR radiator is the "weakest link" in the cooling system in regard to corrosion, at least tin he early 2nd Gens,
How often did you change the coolant? And what coolant did you use?
Only (honest) best estimates required here. I think you can see where I'm going with this. It may be that the FJR radiator is the "weakest link" in the cooling system in regard to corrosion, at least tin he early 2nd Gens,
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JamesK
Got to ride
Fred, I flushed my cooling system around once a year and always used good quality coolant, mixed 50/50 with distilled water. And as you've seen in both our cases the Thermostat housing is another weak point for corrosion.
I'm convinced that this problem would not have manifested as quickly if I was still on the old engine, with the original water pump and however much corrosion/restrictions there were in the water channels in a high-mileage engine. I can certainly see a noticeable difference in how much cooler this new engine runs (often 1-2 bars difference on the 10 bar GenII scale) and also how much quicker it drops the temp once the fans kick in, even with the old fans and even with the old radiator.
Yes, true... I forgot to mention the T-stat cases
Which good quality coolant did you use? (It might matter)
Which good quality coolant did you use? (It might matter)
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JamesK
Got to ride
I can't remember which brand(s) I used in the US, but here in Japan, I buy the Wako's brand.
I don't have any complaints against either the radiator or the t-housing or fans, 220k miles of useful life is good by me. I just wish I'd done the replacements at the time I was installing the new engine and saved myself more work. I even swapped out to a new thermostat as part of this job, just so I don't have to think about it for a long time to come.
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That sucks, but thanks for reporting what junk that radiator is. I've been smelling a slight coolant smell for a while now on my 97k 07 FJR and had put that radiator on my watch list in case I needed one. I'll be deleting it as an option now.
DiggerDr.
Well-known member
The Chinese junk is always the same. Heck, even their grade 8 plow bolts brake off. Can't run a snowplow for a 12 hour shift without the blade falling off do to broken bolts. Can't make dolls...or pet food...the list goes on. I try to never buy cheap crap but unfortunately sometimes there is no other choice. Thanks for sharing!
