My fan ate my radiator!

So we've had some nice days, and I've gone for several rides, but the fan hasn't turned on till yesterday. I was coming through town, stop and go, and the temperature finally hits 220. When the fan kicked on, I was sitting at a light, and I heard a rubbing/grating noise...I thought, "Oh no, that can't be good!" It quieted up right away and went back to the normal whirring noise, so I continued the last quarter mile home, and parked the bike in the garage. A few minutes later I noticed a very small puddle of antifreeze under it. "Oh no" moment number 2...

I investigated and noticed the leak looked like it was coming from the left side. I pulled the fairing and sure enough, there was a small amount of antifreeze spattered here and there. I removed it, and sure enough, the fan had worn through. "Oh no!" moment number 3...

Anyway, I priced a new one, "Oh no!" moment number 4, and time to reflect on why I even bother trying not to swear. A new one is well over $300! I am going to check with the Honda shop here in town on Monday. I guess the owner has quite a bit of experience repairing aluminum bike radiators. I also posted/PMed 04asphaltblack about his left radiator. But I just wanted to post some pics and see if anyone else has ever had similar experiences, and if any of the experts around have any feelings on repair options vs replacement.

Thanks all!

 

a $20 torch and some solder. radiator looks like it has zero rust on it. should take the solder no problem.

 

dang fan eating a radiator
sucks dude

 

No real rust, can be saved if you ask me.
Just need the right guy with the right tools.. But boy that sucks.
You will have to find/fix whats made the fan move in to the rad in the first place but that does suck man....

 

did you drop your bike in the past or have something leaning on it?? wow makes me wonder if need to check and see if fan is tight I have never had that happen.. man sorry to hear that .. A good radiator shop may be able to fix it but I would be wary of that, you don't want to cuase engine damage so far you are ok; maybe you might need to get the new one and bite the bullet... ask your honda dealer what could have cuased that?? that is just flat out crazy// anyone else ever have that problem???????????????????good luck

 

That radiator looks to be aluminum. It needs to be aluminum welded or epoxied. Those holes are really small so epoxy just for aluminum should work. Check the web.

 

I'd take it to a radiator shop and let them weld it up. Should be cheaper than a new one. Like Deepdish, I'm wondering what caused it to rub? You can bend the fan mounting tabs with pliers to re-align it, it's fairly common after a low side.

Action

 

Thanks all!

I know its aluminum, so that's why there isn't any rust, and hardly any had leaked out before I removed it. It still cooled the engine on the ride home. The holes are tiny, and I assume repairable, but I'm no radiator man. Just wanted more opinions.

I also know that the original owner has dropped the bike, in fact there is some pealing paint on the left side due to his sub-par paint job. I just haven't had the time to repaint it...been having to much fun riding! Just cause its ugly doesn't make it any less fun to ride.

Upon inspection, I noticed the mounting stud on the bottom was visibly tweaked, and I carefully straightened it. I also noticed that it will be quite easy to adjust the fan mounting tabs to prevent future damage. I assumed it was caused by the first owner's mishap, but I wasn't sure as I am the 3rd owner, and never met him. Not sure what the details of his crash were, but I doubt he was moving very fast. Its the original fairing and it only had a couple cracks, that he did an 'OK' job of repairing. I'm sure it wouldn't take any more than tipping over in the drive way to cause a fan clearance issue, I'm just disappointed that he would spend the time/money to fix the cosmetics, but not check it out properly.

I already found that the owner of the local Honda shop has quite a bit of experience welding aluminum radiators, but he won't be in till Monday. And if he won't touch it, or wants to much $ to repair it, my father is coming through town in a few weeks, and will be bringing his aluminum welding equipment for a few lessons. Its funny, the older I get(I'm 24), the more I wish I would have paid attention when I was at home working with him. He was a mechanic before he retired, but I swear he should have been an engineer...LOL

 

I've seen JBWeld fix much worse damage to radiators

 

A google search brought me back to here after searching this site. Riding back to work today, sitting at a red light and then I hear the same noise. I was only 300 meters from work so I continued on, so hopefully not the same extent of damage. This bike has never been down so I am wondering if you found what caused the fan to move out in the first place.

 

I always give my fan cookies and milk before bed so it doesn't eat my radiator

 

Hey guys, (and gals)
I had the same grinding noise last fall and pulled the side cover and fairing off. Mine luckily just barely 'scored' the radiator, didn't dig in deep enough for leaks. This now sounds like a 'common' problem for 6th Gens as I've seen it listed several times in different forums.

What I believe caused mine was a bird that was scooped into my fairing opening last fall on the Cherohala Skyway. Unbelievably, the bird fell out and walked (stumbled) away when I pulled off to the side of the road. I could look through the triple trees and see feathers flapping when I saw the bird disappear in front of me! Quite a sight.
Anyway, shortly after that when the fan would kick on, I got the noise. I just bent the retaining clips a little bit to move the fan away from the radiator fins, and have had no problems since!

 

It looks like it was once in a prior accident and radiator looks bent out of shape. This is probably why the fan blade hits it because its no longer flat.

 

If you had kept the throttle pinned you would have had a delicious meal after about 45 minutes. :biggrin:

Regards,
Rollin

 

:thumbsup:

 

Yeah Rollin (Sy)
Ask Joey about the incident, the bird swerved to miss him and hit me! You weren't on that ride with us that day! It was pretty funny!
Didn't think about a crow/blackbird lunch sandwich at that time!

 

Movie

Have you given any thought to a Godzilla type movie where your radiator and fan fight to the death over Tokyo? I would buy a ticket to that.:crazy:

 

Somebody has been sniffing old fork oil... :biggrin:

 

No bird stricks here. I did notice a slight wobble when i spun the fan by hand, my initial thought was the bearings in the fan was gone. I will try and pry the mount to get it further away from the rad. Thanx

 

When I was a kid I was working on my mom's car (the budding mechanic). I forgot and left a wrench on the crank pully. When I started the engine there were bad noises. I stopped it and looked in, and the wrench had holed the radiator. It was about like someone taking a pee. I didn't want to tell her so drove it down to the closest gas station. He poured some stop leak in and it sealed the hole, apparently permanently. At least there was never another problem with it.

It was that stuff that looks like silver flakes, sold in a plastic cylindrical tube about 1" dia and 4" long. Don't know the name but I have seen it around. This was 40 years ago! Might give it a try, shouldn't hurt anything, I think. Either it will work, or it won't. About a $3 fix...

Don't lose heart. If nothing else the aluminum welder can close those tubes. Won't make much difference.