radiator leaking!

by muttley1 Mon 08 Oct 2018, 3:48 pm

Hi,

came back from an hours ride the other day and tacky blue tinged fluid on boots and front of engine. If it smells like coolant, it is coolant.
I've a small leak on the lower end of the radiator. Its no problem to get it off, drained and ready to repair. Has anyone used radweld or the like? The leak is pretty small but maybe a new radiator is the way to go, bike is 1999, 41k.

Cheers

muttley1

by Guest Mon 08 Oct 2018, 4:51 pm

I used K-seal many moons ago, it's not worth it. It sludges up the expansion pipe and makes a horrible mess.
When I replaced the rad, I had to put a coat hanger through the overflow pipe to hook the crap out, never again.

by burudis Mon 08 Oct 2018, 6:42 pm

workshop cooler the best

by muttley1 Mon 08 Oct 2018, 10:17 pm

Thanks,

no to k seal then. I might well go for the bars leak stopper pellets. I can put enough in for the volume of coolant then rather than having to dump in a whole bottle of a liquid.

Its that or a new Chinese radiator for £70 or so, might as well do the hoses then etc etc. Hopefully problem solved for £4 or so.

by Beresford Mon 08 Oct 2018, 11:09 pm

The problem is that those "leak cures" clog up the water passages in the cylinder head and can result in damaging local overheating even if you then fit a new rad.

by muttley1 Thu 11 Oct 2018, 10:19 am

Hi,
I've ordered some bars pellets, that way I can only add what I need for the volume of coolant. Will drain the lot through too and see how it goes...

by buttersworth Fri 19 Oct 2018, 11:03 am

Probably a week too late but this just came in my email Smile

Have you considered aluminium brazing if your other leak solutions don't work.
I bought some brazing rods for about £4 and I already had a blowtorch. I fixed my CB500 radiator where a stone hit it this way. It saved me a new rad. There are videos online but basically it involves melting together the damaged hole area with added aluminium, great for repairing cracks and holes permanently

by **eternally_troubled** Wed 24 Oct 2018, 11:51 pm

buttersworth wrote:Probably a week too late but this just came in my email :)
Have you considered aluminium brazing if your other leak solutions don't work.
I bought some brazing rods for about £4 and I already had a blowtorch. I fixed my CB500 radiator where a stone hit it this way. It saved me a new rad. There are videos online but basically it involves melting together the damaged hole area with added aluminium, great for repairing cracks and holes permanently

This is certainly worth trying, however there is quite an art to doing it well - if you get it wrong then you end up melting most of your rad (don't ask how I know this). Certainly worth a go if you fancy it.

After my radiator brazing went wrong I made a Frankenstein-radiator that included bits scavenged from two donors and a number of pop rivets.... mind you, it doesn't leak which is better than the one I started with!

by skyerae Thu 25 Oct 2018, 10:11 am

It is an art form, my Dad was ace at doing this- he had plenty of practice as a car mechanic though.

by muttley1 Thu 25 Oct 2018, 8:32 pm

And, solved.

The Bars arrived, powder not pellets, in a small container but it said that it treats 15 litres. After flushing the radiator with water I mixed coolant and water then randomly put about a third of the Bars in as I refilled the radiator.

I've ridden 120 miles since and its looking good. Top tip, squeezing the larger coolant hose as you refill makes getting the air bubbles out of the system much easier.

muttley1

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