2015-04-17 Radiator Leak

2015-04-17 Radiator Leak

Well crap. Noticed small coolant smell. Noticed small amount of coolant on ground. Noticed the catch tank is empty. Pulled left lower cowling. Hoses and connections good. 
 
Fire her up, run to fan cycling. No leak. WTFO?
 
Let cool. Fire up again. Fans running. No leak. WTFO²?
 
Let cool. Top off radiator. Fill catch tank to brim. Yes, I know, to brim is too much but we're testing.
 
Fire up. Find leak. Upper left radiator core. Well crap.

Evidently, it's been leaking for some time, based upon visual evidence of corrosion.

Upper left hand cvorner.

Check out the corrosion on the frame. This has been going on for some time.

Off bike, it sure doesn't seem like much.

Went to the parts shelf and found my old one, from the KrZy8 deer strike.

Takes a fair amount of work to pull the radiator.

I have officially decided this is the last time I'm laying on the ground. Yep. Purchasing a lift. ASAP.

Based upon the radiator, and the plastic cover broken to bits in the same area as radiator damage... something hard came flying through and imparted force...

Until the new part arrives, fixed!

The radiator mount, battery side, was a real bugger. I had the left side already in, but due to a tangle of wires, gaining a straight shot to the threads was difficult. I botched the initial threads by trying to center the bolt using a t-handle wrench. Had to chase it with a tap, using a 1/4" ratchet extension and 5 mm socket with electrical tape on the tap end to prevent slipping from the socket being slightly oversized. What a royal pain in the ass. Took me over an hour to recover from my initial hasty mistake.

Just found this pix - from when I performed steering head bearing service - note the leak in the upper right corner.