Now the '05 Radiator's Shot--Now What?

[SacramentoMike]

A few days ago I posted that I wanted to sell my '05 and I was de-farkling and cleaning it up. Took off the PIAA horns to transfer and stuck the old car horn I had on before so it would have a horn. Then I went out in the morning to be greeted by a greenish puddle under the bike. Radiator fluid. Hoping for a split hose, but when I got all the fairings off I found that where I mounted the horn, the forks had pushed it over into the rad and poked a hole in it--the source of the mystery leak.

So now this poor bike isn't even operable, bad off as it was with a suspect transmission and who knows what else? Removing the radiator seems to be a fairly straightforward job, so I'm thinking about trying that. But I sure don't like putting more dough into this bike, as you may imagine. Used rad, maybe? Anybody have one? Any hidden dangers in R & R'ing a radiator? There's parting the bike out, but I really hate the thought doing that, even if I knew what I was doing. The whole selling, packing, shipping mess. It was bad enough selling a bunch of leftover farkles I had for it.

Well, if nothing else, with the panels off it should be easier to get to all the connections for the Clearwater lights, and even the sliders, so I can proceed with removing that stuff. But right now, besides just wanting to vent, I'm posting to get input on replacing that rad--and getting started on finding one used. ANY thoughts welcome.

 

[hppants]

No one will buy that bike with a coolant leak from the radiator. There are a couple on flea bay for about $100.00. You might contact the seller and offer them, say $75.00 including shipping. I've done that with other used materials and have had great success.

Be careful with the cooling fan not to puncture the replacement radiator. I guess be careful with the horn too....

 

[SacramentoMike]

Oh yeah, like I didn't know to be careful with the horn. Now.

But thanks, Pants. Another thought--any chance of repairing a punctured radiator? Worth trying?

 

[TripperMike]

If it were me SacMike, I'd bring in that radiator into a radiator shop. I wouldn't take a chance on a non-OEM radiator 'cuz it was affordable. IIRC there's a couple threads here going into all it's gory details about how that didn't work out.

Sometimes a broken part can be fixed. They don't always need to be replaced.

Oh and one more thing..............sometimes **** just happens.

 

[hppants]

The tanks appear to be plastic (outside), but the core is aluminum. A radiator shop may be able to do something with the core is that is what is punctured.

 

[ionbeam]

The radiator on my FJR contracted a significant hole in the upper left area. I found a highly recommended radiator shop and took my radiator in. The owner says, ya, we can fix it no problem but it can't be welded. He checked the radiator for scaling and declared it healthy. He injected a special epoxy into the hole, cleaned and straightened the cooling fins and repainted the radiator, it looked absolutely new. In '06 dollars it cost $35. The 'fix' lasted for about 6 years before it started to weep a drop or two after a long ride at which time I replaced the radiator with a used one.

The radiator isn't real difficult to remove and reinstall. For me, the only fiddling thing to deal with were the upper radiator mounting bolts.

 

[fjrchooser]

That bike is like an old dog with a new pup in the house, it knows it's being replaced but it's not going quietly or gracefully.

 

[RaYzerman19]

+1 on TripperMike's and Beam's advice..... I have epoxied rads before and they lasted forever..........

 

[Dudewado]

Hi Mike,

When my '03 got a hole in the radiator, I sent it to Myler's radiator repair in Utah. Fixed it for about $55.

It was an excellent welded repair and was still holding 40000 miles later.

Crap, just tried to get his web page, and it wouldn't open. Don't know if that's a bad sign or just temporary technical problems.

Phone number is: (801) 955-1421

Edit: Found another web address.

https://www.motorcycleradiators.com/

 

[SacramentoMike]

I wasn't sure the FJR rad could be welded, John, so that's good news. I got it pulled out today (total PITA with those upper bolts, as Ionbeam warned--now I'm kind of dreading the reinstall). There are some local shops so I'll take it over tomorrow and see if they'll weld it. Don't really want to ship it to Utah or wait for it to come back. I've gotta SELL this puppy. But thanks.