Cheap Chinese Radiator - Waste of time

[dcarver]

It started with the sweet pungent smell of hot glycol. I've been searching for leak from sometime, at least 3 months. Along the way found a leaky radiator. Replaced it with one I had from the deer strike. It lasted 3 weeks then started leaking from the upper core, just like the one I bought from ExtremeMarine. Then I discovered a leak coming from above, from the cap/T-stat area.

Removed the t-stat, cleaned everything up good, (there corrosion on the 3 bolts holding the two t-stat body halves together). Put all back together.

1 week later, the sweet pungent smell of hot glycol. Remove lower cowlings again. Remove t-stat assembly again. Find small nick on hose from head water inlet behind clamp. Of course it was on the bottom, undetectable until removed.

The hole.




Just enogh to leak when hot and pressurized.


Ordered new radiator from https://www.ebay.com/itm/PRO-Radiator-FITS-Yamaha-FJR1300-FJR-1300-2006-2012-07-08-09-10-11-12-READY-SHIP-/251913411376?hash=item3aa7359b30&vxp=mtr

Here's how it arrived. So far so good.


The coils are not as finely spaced as OEM.


It had these two holes.. Looks like they pushed something through to hold it for painting?


OEM.


New.


Where it goes.


First bad discovery.. the fan mounting wasn't perfect. Had to bend the tri-arms to fit the holes. Even at that, the brackets are under constant tension, something I don't like.


The side plate holes are aligned correctly.


A veritable symphony of FJR1300 radiators.


My head number. It's one of the phastest ever made.


The brackets on the new rad are cheesy. I'm not impressed, but press on trying to make it work.
The aluminum button was freaking INSIDE the radiator...


Uneven alignment. No big deal, easily bent into correct shape. Still.. shouldn't have to.


The upper mounting brackets are a different story. Completly misaligned to fit the frame. In attempting to reposition it, the cheesy weld broke and the core compressed. It wasn't even freaking close to every fitting the frame. It took very little force and the weld broke. No way would it survive my dirt road.






So there it is. Contacted eBay to return. Bought a new radiator for $390 from PartsZilla. Two are in the Yamaha Cali warehouse. Should be to me in 2 weeks. Just in time to install then go riding.

Moral of the story? Don't buy cheap Chinese crap. You will pay for it in the end.

Fini

 

[LKLD]

What a nightmare you've had with all of this! Hopefully this will be the end of it.

 

[08FJR4ME]

My cheap Chinese hand guards are pretty nice IMO. Then again they don't serve any critical functionality.

Sorry,

Dave

 

[Denver_FJR]

Surprised there's enough demand for Chinese aftermarket.

Be sure to wash your hands after handling that turd, probably lot's of lead!

 

[Mr. BR]

Great Post.... My rad is in shape good now (had it straightened) but I had seen those replacements on Ebay etc.. they look so perfect in the pictures... but now we know. Sometimes OEM is just the best way to go despite the extra up-front cost! Thanks for confirming. I'll be interested to see what a new OEM unit looks like straight out of the box.... it should be @$!@# perfect!

Regards,

Mr. BR

 

[TomInPA]

Not a surprise that the Chinese aftermarket part is a P.O.S. Pretty much what you'd expect on anything from tupperware to lights on our bike...why would the radiator be better? $390 actually doesn't sound so bad for OEM. How much was the Ebay part?

 

[dcarver]

It is a bit disappointing. I had purchased two radiators for my yz426 from mishamoto and they were a thing of beauty. At half the price, and they were a thing of beauty. At half the price with fine craftsmanship and beautiful welds.

Live and learn I suppose.

 

[juniorfjr]

At $400.00 thats about .0022 cents a mile, just trying to make you feel better about it.

 

[900gc]

Not a surprise that the Chinese aftermarket part is a P.O.S. Pretty much what you'd expect on anything from tupperware to lights on our bike...why would the radiator be better? $390 actually doesn't sound so bad for OEM. How much was the Ebay part?

Looks like $120 w/free shipping according to link.

Now I know to go OEM if I ever need a rad. The extra $270 is money well spent in this case.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Damn DC, if it weren't for bad luck, you'd have no luck at all. Agree with OEM but the $$$ is still a hard pill to swallow.

Hope it gets you back on the road!

--G

 

[dcarver]

OEM prices ranged from 550+ to the 380 from PartZilla which apparently is also Boats.net or something like that.

I'm wanting to make the run to Spearfish.

Just might show up on a DL650 instead. Or even a Harley. The Harley ain't got no stupid radiator.. JSNF.

 

[Twigg]

OEM prices ranged from 550+ to the 380 from PartZilla which apparently is also Boats.net or something like that.
I'm wanting to make the run to Spearfish.

Just might show up on a DL650 instead. Or even a Harley. The Harley ain't got no stupid radiator.. JSNF.

Boats.net and RonAyres.com are two of my favourites.

One problem is that none of them appears to "drop-ship", so if they don't have immediate stock on hand you can wait quite a while, and shipping is high.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Moral of the story, don't live on a damned motocross track.

jk there buddy. I've never seen your motocross track, so I don't know how bad it is.

 

[Top_Speed1]

Very nice pics and documentation, TY!

Yeah unfortunately, I've had my fare share of quality issues with the Chinese "junk" as well. Live and learn, to stink'n bad it's at our expense and more importantly our time.

 

[Bustanut joker]

Dumb ***.. But stupid is as stupid does.

I hope you ****** learned something ya cheap ***. I bet Slocum would like to shove his foot up yer simple ***.

:****:

 

[Dudewado]

I know it's too late for you, But I used this guy to fix a hole in my "03's radiator: https://www.motorcycleradiators.com/

It was pretty cheap, and I never had a problem with it. Still holding pressure ~7 years later, as far as I know.

(Have to ask Ray or Joel @ Harvest Depot)

 

[supertankerm60a3]

Your first mistake is owning an FJR that has one of those funky curved radiators...

The straight ones don't do that.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Yep, I concur. My Chinese fork tubes were so imperfect that Traxxion classified them as "Bent." Both of them. Glad you are getting it worked out. Not riding sucks.

 

[beemerdons]

Dumb ***.. But stupid is as stupid does.
I hope you ****** learned something ya cheap ***. I bet Slocum would like to shove his foot up yer simple ***.

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//public/style_emoticons/default/****.gif

Brother Don I am so very sorry to hear of your misfortune, but if you are interested in owning some ocean front property here in Arizona I have fifteen acres I would sell to you; from my ranch you can see the sea! JSNS, Sucker!