So my main radiator is in rough condition. I bent most of the little vanes out to improve the flow, but it’s def buggared! does anyone know of a similar replacement? or can an intercooler rad be used here? I don’t mind altering pipes and tabs to make it fit.. what has worked 4 you? thanks
Intercooler is for air not coolant. Take your old radiator to an old school radiator specialist. They should be able to repair it for you.
Smithy.
yes know that, but thought they’d be watertight? and since they dont have a cap and are usually small, could fit? anyway I found my top radiator fins to be totally blocked with debris- and after a blow out, now the temp meter is right down the bottom -after a 9degs ride.. so all gd for now. cheers
OK so it runs in the narrow area just below the wider section, my owners manual says it should be operating in the wider part. It’s winter here in NZ and 10degs ish outside- so the Q is-- is that normal or should I be looking at thermostat or cap problems?
Sounds probably good to me - Next thing I would check is how long does it take, once warmed up, for the fans to kick in, and at what area of the gauge does that happen?
Great thanks 4 the assurance.. the fan comes on about 1/4 way up the wide part- good to know fan works and assume it’s OK ?
was looking at the cap.. I’ll replace that- as the top seating rubber metal backing washer is all crinkled up! can’t imagine how that happened- any knowledge of that?
I have a rad for the Canadian 1985 version if it’s the same.
Mine looks like this but I’m in New Zealand -so that might be an issue. thanks for the thought though
Hi Mate
Get a temp gun to get a true reading
Is the coolant returning to the overflow after it gets hot?
might want to take rad to a shop for a clean out and is the motor coolant clean .
Maybe drain the block
Mr R temp gauge lower 1/4 when riding top 1/4 fans on and this was the same when i had a new one I blocked off the vents to top rad in winter especially down south
Hi, it wasn’t returning to the tank - but just gushing out the cap when stationary . It didn’t get hot enough on a ride out here in the country, I didn’t get wet or see any leaks, so didn’t notice any problems with it ( I was pretty lucky actually!). I’ve since borrowed my FZ1 cap and the fluid, which is clean, does return now and fans didn’t start when I was testing the starter motor - it went up 3/4 on the gauge. I’ve got a new cap with a temp gauge on it coming, so’ll check the actual temp then.. and I’ll get a ride in today - so hopefully it’ll be running in the thick part, despite the low temps outside! Cheers
Hey Trev if you get into any real trouble with your radiator let me know and I can see what I got in my collection of spares. I am sure I got spare radiators for the Fe I just have to find em in my shed. A good old fashioned rad man could put a new coil in as long as your tanks are OK.
John.
Thanks John, that’s good 2 know.. I’m all over the place with this issue at the mo- first it was way too hot then after bending all the fins straight and blowing the caked top rad out- it was running too cold then I noticed the cap is stuffed.. so the test’ll be today. . . unless something else pops up to be fixed!
I’ve got a good rad man just down the road here and was thinking of catching up with him- cheers
OK I’ve got my new cap on today and ran it up to 120degs C (3/4 dial) before the fan kicked in-- water boiling.. probably not enough coolant in the water (hopefully)- I’ll get a lower switching fan switch.. I read on here 80 degs is good - so that’s what I’ll get for a kick off..
120 degrees..?? That’s way too high…fan switch might be munted. Many of us put a manual by-pass switch in the system so we can manually turn the fans on…We get silly ambient temps where I live and it comes in handy when I’m in slow moving traffic or similar.
Smithy.
I read 107-113 in the manual -so thought that’d be close enough (prolly an error on my thermometer) -anyway yes, too hot, so got an 80degs switch coming. It only gets that high when idling on the stand for too long- ie testing- riding it’s too low, so have blanked a bit of radiator off.. maybe I shouldn’t bothered cleaning it after all ! ha. Yes we get silly temps here in summer too, so I might look into a switch if/when it becomes a problem. The only slow moving traffic I ever see is in my mirrors, so doubt that’d be a issue!