Just got back yesterday from Calibogie were 6 of us rented a cabin for four nights. Thursday while on a ride my rad started leaking. We were in some snotty trails and I had to refill with puddle water. Got back to the cabin found the leak and patched it up with JBW.
Traffic was horrid getting back yesterday and the trip took almost 9 hours. Rad didn't leak a drop. Have decided this is the permanent fix.
Just got back yesterday from Calibogie were 6 of us rented a cabin for four nights. Thursday while on a ride my rad started leaking. We were in some snotty trails and I had to refill with puddle water. Got back to the cabin found the leak and patched it up with JBW.
Traffic was horrid getting back yesterday and the trip took almost 9 hours. Rad didn't leak a drop. Have decided this is the permanent fix.
Regular JB weld has its places, cooling systems in not one of them. The epoxy in regular jb will soften when exposed to water or ethyls in coolant. Faster under pressure.
Water weld is better, I’ve used it countless times to repair boats, but even then, after a year it becomes iffy when used on the pressure side.
If it’s a permanent fix, keep an extra package under your seat, you’ll likely need to make another permanent repair to that permanent repair when you least expect it.
Solder actually, but that was back in the day when rad cores were made of copper, they're aluminum now... and back in the day the core was soldered to the tanks, and could be repaired... now the tanks are glued on and can't be fixed.
The crappy double row copper core rad for my Gbody was almost $500, just for the core. I bought a improved double core (about twice the surface area) aluminum rad (complete) for $120
Repairing rads is mostly a thing of the past
Regular JB weld has its places, cooling systems in not one of them. The epoxy in regular jb will soften when exposed to water or ethyls in coolant. Faster under pressure.
Water weld is better, I’ve used it countless times to repair boats, but even then, after a year it becomes iffy when used on the pressure side.
If it’s a permanent fix, keep an extra package under your seat, you’ll likely need to make another permanent repair to that permanent repair when you least expect it.
The second time around one has to deal with removing the failed material from the first repair. The hardest repair is one done over several times with the wrong method. White glue, epoxy and hot melt piled on top of each other.
I've had moderate luck with alumi-braze rods but that requires at least a propane torch. My efforts were on moderate temperature, low vibration items in a workable thickness. The items were not critical to transportation so if something failed I wouldn't be stuck. I'd put the JBW in the same category as a tire plug.
The second time around one has to deal with removing the failed material from the first repair. The hardest repair is one done over several times with the wrong method. White glue, epoxy and hot melt piled on top of each other.
I've had moderate luck with alumi-braze rods but that requires at least a propane torch. My efforts were on moderate temperature, low vibration items in a workable thickness. The items were not critical to transportation so if something failed I wouldn't be stuck. I'd put the JBW in the same category as a tire plug.
Low temp rods are challenging to work with because the area needs to be 1000% clean, and dry and you only get a short window to solder before the bare aluminum forms a thin oxide really fast - once that happens the solder will puddle instead of wetting down.
You might be able to solder a crack in the tank, or reseal a bung - but forget about pinholes in fins.
Low temp rods are challenging to work with because the area needs to be 1000% clean, and dry and you only get a short window to solder before the bare aluminum forms a thin oxide really fast - once that happens the solder will puddle instead of wetting down.
You might be able to solder a crack in the tank, or reseal a bung - but forget about pinholes in fins.
At the shows the guy demonstrating the rods solders pop cans. Empty pop cans are cheap. The curse of aluminum is no visual temperature indication and a very narrow liquidous / solidous band. Poof! You just made a bigger hole.
I really should stop commenting on threads like this.
Within 48 hours, out riding last night: "I smell coolant".
Get home and see signs of coolant spray down the side of the bike. Discover a brazed/soldered rad repair from previous owner that popped. OK FINE. Ebay rad on the way.
Maybe I should stop buying 10 year old used Italian bikes. Character!
p.s. this did send me on a brief search for rad repair locally. Apparently some good ones are still out there:
New lower rad installed and good to go.
EBay aftermarket special, $300 shipped. You wouldn’t believe what Ducati wanted for a direct replacement (well, maybe you would).
Anyway, here’s the offending repair that must have held for a while but eventually let go:
My patch held for the ride to Mosport and back. I think it would last the life of the bike but I can't take the risk of it failing and holding up my group a second time.
This is rad is on order.
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