This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Can I Fix This Radiator?

gatdammit

gatdammit

Joined Mar 2013
3K Posts | 161+
Naples, IT
Fellow Tards,

Want your best guess on if I can patch this radiator. From the attached image as reference, the core is leaking around the fan mount support housings for the left fan. Definitely leaks from the lower mount, possibly from the upper left.

Shop couldn't weld, as I suspected. I'm thinking some careful hi-temp epoxy work around the mounts but not sure if this is total Narnia realm. My radiator knowledge is nill so I don't know if this will clog the flow. I guess if it's leaking, that's a yes. It's not so much the $600 for a replacement, but the downtown in phenomenal riding weather. I'm reluctant taking the plunge on a scrapper from eBay. The race applications are very affordable but do not have fan mounts.

In the meantime, ground pepper actually almost completely stopped the leak but I'm guessing as it gets warmer and the system works harder, it will persist.
 

Attachments

  • Radiator Leaks.jpg
    Radiator Leaks.jpg
    88.1 KB
  • Like
Reactions: Araitim
Old school remedy got you through for a little while(pepper). I still think brazing with the low temp rod will be the most permanent solution. You could always get different fan mounts through any of the automotive race world markets like Jeggs.com . They have some that are very similar to zip ties that pass through the find and into the fan mount holes. This allows for you to mount absolutely anywhere on the radiator. They are also rubber isolated. So, it's like a big flat plastic washer with a zip tie type piece up the middle. The other side is another big flat plastic washer with the female end to the zip tie material. They usually also include a couple rubber spacers/washers to isolate and eliminate running on the fins. If the race radiator is within your means then this would be the way I would go. But, also if the radiator is already F'd up then you can't F it some more by trying to braze it yourself. Especially if the shops won't try. It's already damaged, it will either remain damaged or it will work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gatdammit
That's good ****, Araitim. I like the aftermarket fan option or mount option. The race spec radiator I found is all aluminum and about the price of an OK scrapped model on eBay. Other downside is I won't be able to mount Kuksol's lamps without the side fairing bungs without some backyard fabrication. The really bad roads coupled with a rattling Duc twin just cuts normal life of hanging stuff in half. I'm hanging some Denali's off the fork tubes while he repairs the circuit board but hope to put the Kuksol lamps back on.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Araitim
I actually came across that recommendation researching the eBay radiator for sale. Lot's of critical reviews of the Chinese radiators but I'll need something on the bike if I send mine for repair. Might take the plunge. While I'm almost certain it will start leaking, the biggest concern is bad framing/ wrong hose diameter ports/ wrong size bungs to hang the fairings...they take so long in shipping that online purchase protection typically expires and fights with the manufacturer don't go well. On top of that, they don't ship to FPO/APO, so I'll have to ship to relatives in the states and have them send to me in Italy. Ordered some fan mounts but will probably take the plunge.
 
I've cut the core of a leaking radiator before at the hole, crimped and folded that section at either end and stopped the leak.
 
mentalist said:
I've cut the core of a leaking radiator before at the hole, crimped and folded that section at either end and stopped the leak.
Click to expand...
Does that not reduce/ impede the coolant flow circuit? I don't really know how they work internally.
 
I had a leaky radiator when the radiator guard chewed away the coil. The rupture was less than 0.5mmm. I used LiquiMoly Radiator Leak Stop. You simply add to the coolant. Its been 9-10 months now. Haven’t lost coolant yet. Its close to 12000km on it now. I have a used radiator available to fix it whenever it screws further.
 

Attachments

  • C51306A1-D60F-4D52-AF3B-EE2FCD011B5E.jpeg
    C51306A1-D60F-4D52-AF3B-EE2FCD011B5E.jpeg
    156.5 KB
Most radiator 'stop leak' additives are not recommended because they destroy the radiator eventually. I'll look this stuff up though. Thanks.
 
I fixed a decent sized radiator leak with JB WELD. Location of leak was below the upper right mount bracket and above the upper mounting bolt you have identified in your picture.
Drained radiator.... cleaned up leak area.... applied the epoxy and let sit over night.
Have driven at least 1,000mi since and zero leakage.
 
bullzeye81 said:
I fixed a decent sized radiator leak with JB WELD. Location of leak was below the upper right mount bracket and above the upper mounting bolt you have identified in your picture.
Drained radiator.... cleaned up leak area.... applied the epoxy and let sit over night.
Have driven at least 1,000mi since and zero leakage.
Click to expand...

As far as I can tell, both leaks are centered around the fan mount passages. This makes sense as they get the most stress. I guess I could epoxy these areas and drill out new mount holes. I do worry about loss in the cooling circuit but I still haven't studied exactly how radiators flow coolant. Sounds like a lot of people just patch the damaged fins and it works fine after.
 
So, she's pissing coolant pretty good now. I've got to try something. So I can just JB Weld/ epoxy the leaking coil spots and this thing should still fully cycle coolant? I've got an alternative mounting option for the fans so not too worried about keeping the stock mounting holes.
 
I'm about as far as one gets from being an expert but it can't hurt to try this fix. Worst case you'd notice the bike running warmer and end up having to find a different solution, best case everything works fine.
 
It's such a **** sandwich. There's plenty of used radiators on the market here but I have an FPO that most won't ship to and physical addresses are unreliable (seriously, imagine if you had a 50/50 chance that the product you ordered actually arrived). I can order a chinese "racing" radiator, but would have to ship to my relatives in the states (no FPO) to forward to me and quality is a roll of the dice. The epoxy fix is coming because I'm over the burning coolant smell, soaked boot and milky paint job down the side of my bike.
 
So, is there a coolant overflow line? I'm starting to get random dumps of like 1/4 cup of coolant after I stop and put it on the center stand. Trickles out of the skid plate (stock). When I opened the reservoir, coolant was almost spilling out of the fill spout, which I know was an inch or two below MAX this morning. I think I clogged the system with pepper. Fook me...
 
The pepper is too small to clog the system. Most coolant passages are at least pencil sized. There should be one small hole in the thermostat (on other vehicles. I'm not sure they have it on the hyper) that allows a very little amount of coolant through till the motor heats up. I believe Ducati has a different design than what I just mentioned. Because there are 3 hoses that go to the thermostat it indicates that the pump will continuously cycle coolant through the motor till it's hot enough to open the thermostat. Then the thermostat changes the flow to go through the radiators. It is highly unlikely that the pepper clogged internal passages. At this point I would take the chance on the aftermarket aluminum radiators they have listed everywhere for $200(I have been keeping an eye on eBay for used for you. The aluminum one seems like the better deal) or try your hand at brazing as I mentioned a while back. Aren't you frustrated with this yet? It's been months. There has to be a shop in Italy (that's where it says you are at) that would do the brazing. If shipping is an issue you could talk to Giuseppe Starace and possibly have it shipped to his shop. He still lives over there right now I believe. That would be a more secure definite shipping location.
 
There is a coolant overflow line that runs out the neck of the radiator to the tank that sits between the trellis frame. It has a cap on the right hand side. In the top of that coolant expansion tank(that is what it is, an expansion tank. As the engine expands and contracts it will push/pull fluid too and from that tank) there is an expansion tank overflow hose that is routed to under the bike. You will see it on the left side of the bike at the lowest point of the motor(should be a few hoses down there). The hose that runs from the radiator to the expansion tank is run into the bottom of that expansion tank. This is to allow the push/pull of excess fluid. The overflow hose that is routed to under the bike is fixed to the top of the expansion tank. This is to allow the expansion tank to breath as well as a place for coolant to go in the event of over filling or excessive boil over. I know you know most of what I explained but it is more understandable for others that might have issues in the future when I say it all out like that.
 
I got my mechanic looking for a used radiator. I know it sounds insane to put up with this problem for so long, but I don't have a garage and driving a car to work here is a torture I just can't go back to. The one eBay aluminum firm I studied had some QC issues: frame mounts off, end cap mounting holes wrong diameter, etc. Plus, the way I mounting the fans with DIY hangers mean I'm probably gonna damage it faster than the original.