radiator Swap / replacement

[199q]

My radiator leaks. It dribbles out of the cap area. after getting a new cap, and looking at the radiator, i realized that its the actual rad that's bent. and not a bad cap.

since I am already getting a dirty inline 4 part on my bike (R1 R/R) I was wondering if there are any radiators that would be able to shoehorn in there instead of an other VFR one, or maybe I could fab up some mounts and go with the newer two radiator system? what do you guys think? the original radiator is pretty hard to come about on ebay.

I am going to streetfighter the bike for now, so size issues are really not too big of a deal as long as I can get the hoses to work.

[IRISH]

what year is it i have a 1996 and i used an oversized rad off a vf 1100 got it for $20 and $15 shipping off ebay and it allows you to put a bigger fan on it as well

[199q]

sorry its a 86. i had someone recomend taking it to a shop, but i dont think they could fix this problem... does anyone think a shop could fix this one??

[IRISH]

just try to get another radiator a vf one will work its the right size for the engine off a magna or saver v4

[squirrelman]

if you can find the exact place where it's leaking......JB Weld will fix it!!

[Chris71Mach1]

welcome to the most common issue with these stupid 1st gen radiators. it seems that anytime a 1st gen VFR goes down, somehow that stupid filler neck gets bent, and quite often, bent to the point of leaking. my VFR has only left me on the side of the road twice, and that same issue you have was the cause of one.

after looking into it at great length, i found that the neck can be repaired by welding it, but that also requires aluminum welding, which is a bit more involved than a lot of other welding jobs, hence likely far more expensive.

check out ebay to see if anybody's parting out any 1st gen VFR's. any radiator from an 86 or 87, 700 or 750 will fit your bike.

[Chris71Mach1]

Originally Posted by squirrelman

if you can find the exact place where it's leaking......JB Weld will fix it!!

NO IT CANT!!!! dont EVER jb weld something thats actually *important*. some idiot jb welded the 1st radiator that was on my 87 when i got it, and when the jb failed, i ended up having to have a tow truck take my bike 100 miles home cause the bike was overheating so bad and the radiator wouldnt hold any coolant.

to anybody who uses jb weld: KEEP IT TO YOURSELF!!! im so sick of finding crappy jb weld repair jobs that are slopped together by douchebags who are too freakin cheap to FIX THE PROBLEM RIGHT!!!!

</rant>

[199q]

yeah jb weld on the seam wont quite fix it. maybe i can have a radiator shop sweat on another filler neck? its just bend a little bit, it really pisses me off.


the PO used RTV to seal it, didnt leak, but I also put a half gallon of coolant in there when i took the cap off.

id rather do it right the first time and not worry about it again.

[199q]

no ebay rad's... thats why i posted. oh well maybe there is a good shop in town that could fix this

[supertex]

I found a local weld shop here that's going to do some touch up work on my frame and they're only charging me $40 bucks. The aluminum welding doesn't have to be expensive but it's definetely the way to go.

Good luck

[DANIMAL]

Chris,

Don't hold back, tell em what you really think..
You are right by the way.

[AlphaWolff]

Yeah, JB Weld is great stuff...but everything has its limitations. I would have no problem using it to repair a cracked fairing, but not a radiator! Good luck!

[squirrelman]

does chris think i'm an idiot because some other idiot screwed up his radiator??

preparation of the surface is important to a good JB job, and size of patch matters.

my JB is still holding and sealing my radiator 3 years later........if it fails, i'll probably JB again rather than replacing the radiator.

[199q]

Originally Posted by squirrelman

does chris think i'm an idiot because some other idiot screwed up his radiator??

preparation of the surface is important to a good JB job, and size of patch matters.

my JB is still holding and sealing my radiator 3 years later........if it fails, i'll probably JB again rather than replacing the radiator.

if i had a crack in the Radiator this might be a thing i could do. but, the cap area is dented preventing from a good seal around the cap. it leaks so bad that when I ride any further than about 5 min coolant is all over my leg. it comes out of the cap, and that area needs to be bent back straight.

there is a place in UT I might call them, they do good radiator stuff for alum I hear