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Hole in the Radiator

2K views 33 replies 13 participants last post by  miked4d69 
#1 ·
Ok guys I have a quick question for you. I am leaking coolant. I took the front radiator cover off and cleaned up and looked around. There is deff a spot that has damage and is slowly accumulating liquid, I also know with as much damage as there is from the rock or what ever repairing is out of the question. But my problem is this. There seems to actually be 2 parts to the radiator. The top larger piece which is the radiator itself and a bottom smaller piece which I am guessing to be the oil cooler. But here is the thing. The damage is on the lower part. Shouldn't I then be losing oil not coolant? or does both oil and coolant run through this part? Sadly I can't get a pic due dropping my Fing camera and breaking it while trying to get a damn picture! lol
 
#3 ·
Top is antifreeze and bottom is oil.
Yeah, that is what I figured. So my guess is I actually just discovered a second problem.

*EDIT* Yeah I checked all hoses, no signs of liquid any where but this location, upper section was totally dry no white dust showing signs of dried coolant or anything. But I've been steadily checking the puddle that's been showing up under the bike and it is deff coolant.
 
#6 ·
Radiators are not hard to repair but can be exspensive to replace. Take it to a radiator shop and see what they say.

I made grills for the radiator openings (they sell them on ebay too) just for this reason. I'd hate to be touring and have a stupid rock spoil the trip.
 
#10 ·
checked. It was perfectly full until I turned the bike on to try and make it leak. It then drained down to nearly nothing, I'm guessing this is to compensate for the leak. But it is on the shifter side of the bike. and coming from inside the radiator cover so it is deff a leak in that general area.
 
#9 ·
Yeah I actually have a set I never put in *face palm*. But I actually think the rock has caused damage to the oil cooler. I am now not sure where the antifreeze is coming from. I checked all hoses made sure they are tight. No actual signs of leaking any where except on the oil cooler. I know what oil looks like, I also know it leaves a stain on concrete. What is coming out dries and leaves a nice white dust on the ground but no stain. So I think my oil leak is a problem but apparently not a big one due to there is basically no oil any where except right where the damage is. So I am off to search for the location of the coolant leak.
 
#15 ·
Sadly I checked there and it was tight and nothing was coming out. Sadly I have searched the bike over and cannot find where it was coming from. The leak seems to have stopped. But I'm guessing that's just because it needs to be warmed up before it starts to leak again.

But I tripple checked the spot on the oil cooler and it for sure is oil leaking from it. Very slowly but it is leaking.
 
#22 ·
I had a similar problem this past summer...noticed a small coolant leak by the small puddle that formed under the bike after a ride...I took all the hoses and coolant pipes off my bike and found where one of the shrink clamps had a small leak...if you've got access to a heat gun you can try and heat them up and they may shrink up some to seal a leak...the manual says to be careful if you do this with the coolant pipes still on the bike...I'd say don't do it unless you have them off the bike and in your hand...that way you can get 360 degree coverage on the shrink clamps...you might want to go ahead at this point (since you've got everything off the bike) and replace everything but the coolant pipes...take a soldier gun and melt the clamps off...replace all your hoses with new...sand/repaint your pipes if you have any corroded paint where the clamps/hose fit over the coolant pipes. I used VHT high heat grey primer for the base...waited 7 days and then used VHT high heat gloss black...waited 7 days and put everything back on the bike...the shrink clamps were pretty easy to put on if you follow the directions in the manual...pretty straight forward. I did not have any problems putting everything back together ...actually just got it back on the road this past weekend...oh...don't try and bake the coolant pipes in an oven or gas grill to make the paint cure faster...it doesn't work (read this as personal experience)...wait the 7 days between coats...make sure your pipes are clean of all grease/contaminants by cleaning them with acetone. I'm very happy with the results...and the coolant pipes look a lot better (gloss black)...no leaks so far...
 
#24 ·
what year is your VR?

Loose fans if mounted to the radiator can rub the cooling chambers through which is caused by the cycling on-off of the fans. The fan housing torques and moves which can wear a hole into the cooling chamber.

The early model VR's have the fans mounted directly to the radiator which uses a push through the core anchor system where later models use the bracket supporting the fans a slight distance away from the radiator core.
 
#25 ·
It's a 2006 VRSCD. No issues with the fans from what I could tell. Sadly I have not updated this recently so I will now.

After further investigation and a hard ride to try and make it leak. I could not locate any coolant leaks. My guess is it was actually leaking around a hose that I did get a little tighter and it has not leaked a drop from what I can tell. The hole I discovered is in fact in the oil cooler and it is leaking. It is VERY slow. To the point that I am not losing enough oil between changes to notice the leak. But it is there. I have taken it out and rode the piss out of it in the country taken it up to high speeds for a good 5 minutes straight. Excelerated very fast and hard through 2 tanks of gas and I have not lost any more coolant and my oil has not been affected enough to show on the dipstick. I am going to leave it as so and just keep an eye on it. Thanks everything for you help!
 
#28 ·
yeah that's what my plan is. Since its not even losing a drop at a time I figured it wouldn't be worth it try and get it repaired yet. Seriously it is just a wet spot that if you stick the end of a paper towel in its wet with oil. But there isn't any puddles or stains of oil any where..... But depending on the of a repair cost I might just replace it "if it becomes a problem". I have found the oil cooler on ebay for 70$ used and from an online harley dealer 119$ new. So with those prices I would probably just replace it.
 
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