Radiator repair, Auckland?

[nzspokes]

My BMW radiator has shit the bed. Got a hole somewhere. As the bike is an orphan and I cant just buy another, anybody recommend a place that may be able to fix it?

Tiz alloy core with plastic tanks.

[sidecar bob]

Radiator shops use araldyte on those kind of radiators, otherwise they are throw away.
To thin to tig weld.

[jellywrestler]

Radiator shops use araldyte on those kind of radiators, otherwise they are throw away.
To thin to tig weld.

perparation will be the key to this

[nzspokes]

perparation will be the key to this

Which is why I want to find a good shop to do this.

[AllanB]

JB Weld. That shit is amazing

[MarkW]

Almost four years ago I came home to find a pool of coolant sitting under my Honda NTV650. Investigation showed three closely grouped absolutely tiny holes in the radiator finning but no sign of any impact damage at all. My mechanical workshop owning brother in law suggested that the holes were probably caused by electrolysis. So I made up a couple of extra earth straps that went from the radiator fan mounts on the radiator to the frame thus bypassing the rubber mounts on the radiator. And I added half a can of a product called K-Seal that I purchased from Repco for not very much money to the new coolant. Now almost four years later the system is still completely water tight and I’ve had no problems at all. If your problem is similar you may not need a trip to the repairers.

Several members rubbished me originally for this now updated post which asked a similar question to that asked here - but with the problem bike in Christchurch.

My bike is an orphan as well, so a replacement radiator was absolute moonbeams price wise. This solution has been completely trouble free and cost less than $20.

[Temporary-Kiwi]

Hi, I can further recommend jb weld, I've glued up leaking radiators with it on several bikes, I carefully scrape around the hole, even make the hole bigger to allow it to fill inside the hole, and overlay it surrounding said hole.
I have also cut out the complete tube that is peirced and glued the tank ends with Jb Weld. it works

[sidecar bob]

Whenever the radiator shop did a alloy radiator repair for me when I owned the garage, they would always include one of these to be added to the coolant upon re assembly.
They work extremely well, even without repairing the radiator first.
https://gngtraders.co.nz/products/sealwel-cube-cooling-system-sealer-and-conditioner
They can be purchased from most auto parts stores.
You grate or chop the block into tiny particles & put it in a tin of boiled water & stir with a ring spanner until dissolved & pour in to the radiator.
We hardly did a repair for the last few years tho.
Radiators got so cheap that it was new radiator every time.

[caseye]

Take it out, go and see trevor french radiators in Huia road Otahuhu,ask for Allan (the owner), explain what you need. If he cant do it I'll eat my hat.

[nzspokes]

Well now im confussled.

Today I ran it for 20 mins with all the crap off so I could see where its leaking. I couldnt see any leaks at all. Fan ran 3 times.

Only thing I noted was the cap to the overflow bottle wasnt on properly and it leaked as it was hanging. And the overflow hose from the overflow bottle leaked at the top. Could this be the fault? :confused:

[sidecar bob]

Well now im confussled.

Today I ran it for 20 mins with all the crap off so I could see where its leaking. I couldnt see any leaks at all. Fan ran 3 times.

Only thing I noted was the cap to the overflow bottle wasnt on properly and it leaked as it was hanging. And the overflow hose from the overflow bottle leaked at the top. Could this be the fault? :confused:

Sounds like it.
Ride it around for a few days with the bits off just to be sure.
Maybe now is a great time for a cooling system flush & new coolant.

[SaferRides]

Check the rubber seals in the radiator cap. Any signs of damage, replace it.

[nzspokes]

Sounds like it.
Ride it around for a few days with the bits off just to be sure.
Maybe now is a great time for a cooling system flush & new coolant.

Thats a good idea, I can ride it without the big tank on and run the little rear one.

[sidecar bob]

Thats a good idea, I can ride it without the big tank on and run the little rear one.

No, really?:lol: you can't do that.
When you said you ran it with a few bits off I pictured plastic shrouds & such gaiety.

[nzspokes]

No, really?[emoji38] you can't do that.
When you said you ran it with a few bits off I pictured plastic shrouds & such gaiety.Has a 16l tank on the front and 9l under the seat.

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[AllanB]

Reminds me I should do a coolant change.

[Yokomama]

My spada has a tendency to piss coolant if it’s too full. It’s a right weirdo at times. It doesn’t ever get “low”, just dumps enough out to get to a level it likes and that’s that. (???)
Seems to only do it after a long ride. Flushed it more times than I care to count; new radiator, various cap pressures etc, still did it.

[AllanB]

My spada has a tendency to piss coolant if it’s too full. It’s a right weirdo at times. It doesn’t ever get “low”, just dumps enough out to get to a level it likes and that’s that. (???)
Seems to only do it after a long ride. Flushed it more times than I care to count; new radiator, various cap pressures etc, still did it.

I've had various cars over the years that would self regulate their coolant level by having a piss when it was high - after that the water level never dropped. I experimented on one by topping it up to the high mark, each time it would sort itself out to a level between high and low and once set just stay there happily.

Thinking back my Honda Hornet did the same - if the under seat coolant tank was high it just had a pee and sat mid way until I did the next coolant change.

You only have a issue if you are losing water and having to frequently top it up to keep above the low level. Which reminds me of Mrs B's ex VW Golf ...... bloody thing kept finding new locations to drip coolant from :no:

[nzspokes]

Great idea on riding it with the covers off.

There are bubbles coming up into the overflow bottle. Will ride it to work one day and keep an eye on it in case its just releasing some trapped air.

But in reality I think its done a head gasket.

[AllanB]

But in reality I think its done a head gasket.

Bugger :crazy: