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Well this happened today…

cornponious

cornponious

Member
Member
Radiator ruptured apparently. I was planning a long ride today and left the house around 10ish. Rode five miles to town to get gas. When I got off the bike I noticed a pool of coolant under the bike. I immediately rode back to the house. I believe I was able to get back with no damage to the engine. I see nothing leaking from gaskets and oil looks normal color through the sight glass.

I don’t know what could have caused this, besides the fact it’s a nearly twenty year old bike. So now I guess I’m looking for recommendations on a replacement radiator. Also, is there anything else I should replace whilst replacing it?
 

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It could of thrown a rock up & hit the corner of the radiator. You also could take the radiator to a shop to be repaired. I took my Honda 750 Nighthawk radiator to a local shop it had a pinhole in it. Has been fine and runs great since. If I were you I would go on Murphs site and get a fender extension for your front fender to make sure another rock does not do the same thing. If that is what happened. I put a front fender extension on mine and it is great protection. Flush your cooling system out 2 times with distilled water each time going thru a heat cycle & drain complete. Purge the air with the water pump bolt. see your manual about that & fill with antifreeze. I used Honda blue coolant in mine. I just flushed my radiator last week. Distilled water only & bring to a heat cycle. Make sure your fan comes on a little less than half way on your temp gauge.
 
There are some folks that have been happy with a repaired radiator. Do some searching. I believe it was in regards to a C14. Maybe they'll chime in.
 
If you decide to repair it the radiator shop will pressure check it to make sure it is ok. And boil it in a vat to clean it out of any scale. They did great on my 750 nighthawk.
 
Couple years back at williamsport nationl, my c14 developed a big leak on the backside from the fan rubbing on it. I was able to do a temporary repair with jb weld. Repair held very well, during 4hrs of stop and go traffic, with temps in the upper 90's through virginia. I found a used one on flea bay when i got home.
 
cornponious said:
New or used? I would like to install a new one.
Click to expand...
I guess you could start calling Kawasaki dealers hoping to run into one. It's pretty tedious. Your bike might be down quite a while if new is an etched in stone requirement. Best of luck to you.
 
...and u will pay for it. A new one for my c14 was $800 from the dealership. Found one on ebay genuine kawaski (used) from a 2016 for $65...

....and it was in primo condition...
 
My son's bike is an 87. He and his bike are 35 years old this year. The bike has over 100,000 miles on it. Don't be afraid of used parts. Help yourself and Stasch and buy one from him. You'll be back on the road in no time. HTH
 
All the hoses are available from Kawasaki except the top angled one to the top of the radiator. I used a hose from a GEO Storm from NAPA, can't recall the part number now, it was last year, give me a few days and I'll get it.
 
......yes, not sure if he still includes the NAPA part or not, remember him mentioning to tighten the clamps very good on the NAPA hose.
 
Strawboss said:
All the hoses are available from Kawasaki except the top angled one to the top of the radiator. I used a hose from a GEO Storm from NAPA, can't recall the part number now, it was last year, give me a few days and I'll get it.
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Were you able to find that NAPA part number?
 
Murph said:
If theres a new one in stock out there , the price will be just north of $700..I can look if you want?...

murphskits.com

Cooling Hoses - Complete Kit

ZG1000 radiator hoses, Concours Radiator hoses, ZG1000 Cooling hoses
murphskits.com murphskits.com

Murph
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No I responded to Stasch asking him what his price would be for a used one. But I am going to order that hose kit. Is there anything else you’d recommend?
 
Id recommend the manifold log o rings as well...I believe you placed order number 4385 last night, I've got to be out of the office on family business today and need to fill orders early, I'm going to drop those parts in the shipments as well, you can place an order for them when you read this...they should be on thier way by then...if its not your order ,Iguess who ever gets them will think I'm a real nice guy...L..

murphskits.com

"Coolant Logs" or Cooling System Manifold Seal Kit

murphskits.com murphskits.com


Stash is a good guy, he has some folks to look after and hits up the forum when he has time, I'm sure he will get back to you.

Best
Murph
 
Murph said:
Id recommend the manifold log o rings as well...I believe you placed order number 4385 last night, I've got to be out of the office on family business today and need to fill orders early, I'm going to drop those parts in the shipments as well, you can place an order for them when you read this...they should be on thier way by then...if its not your order ,Iguess who ever gets them will think I'm a real nice guy...L..

murphskits.com

"Coolant Logs" or Cooling System Manifold Seal Kit

murphskits.com murphskits.com


Stash is a good guy, he has some folks to look after and hits up the forum when he has time, I'm sure he will get back to you.

Best
Murph
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I’ll be ordering shortly. Thanks very much!
 
Murph said:
Id recommend the manifold log o rings as well...I believe you placed order number 4385 last night, I've got to be out of the office on family business today and need to fill orders early, I'm going to drop those parts in the shipments as well, you can place an order for them when you read this...they should be on thier way by then...if its not your order ,Iguess who ever gets them will think I'm a real nice guy...L..

murphskits.com

"Coolant Logs" or Cooling System Manifold Seal Kit

murphskits.com murphskits.com


Stash is a good guy, he has some folks to look after and hits up the forum when he has time, I'm sure he will get back to you.

Best
Murph
Click to expand...
Order has been placed. Order #4392
 
NAPA part number 7741 for the C-10 top radiator hose, it should be for a GEO Storm. It mounts reverse of what it may look like factory, meaning if you try to mount it with the bends like in the factory part, it will not work, it needs reversing for the bends to work proper.
 
Lower radiator hose close the exhaust pipes tends to be the first to go.At any rate if you bought the last C10 made your hoses are 16 years old , you might want to think about changing them in the off season ..

Murph
 
Strawboss said:
NAPA part number 7741 for the C-10 top radiator hose, it should be for a GEO Storm. It mounts reverse of what it may look like factory, meaning if you try to mount it with the bends like in the factory part, it will not work, it needs reversing for the bends to work proper.
Click to expand...
FWIW - Assuming SB's NAPA number is correct (which I'm sure it is), that same NAPA H7741 hose can be used for a number of the lower hose sections when cut in the required segments. Also, the car it was reportedly used on a number of years ago was different than the Storm, but I don't recall what that car was. The top straight hose is NAPA H151, which comes in bulk. Just tell them the length you need. Have used them both several times.
 
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Did you ever determine if the leak was the radiator or just a hose?
NOTE: I once thought I had a radiator failure too.
Turned out to be a pinhole in a hose and the coolant was spraying into the radiator fins.

On the radiator. You've said you preferred a new.
I/others have been around the C-10 for over 20 years.
There have been few failures of the radiator's. (ie; Yours is a rarity)
So, used should be fine.

Ride safe, Ted
 
How many oil cooler failures have you had? I'm on my third on the 200K + mile '95. Not the finned part of the cooler, per se, but one of the fittings. Cracked and allowed oil to seep out over time and cover the banjo fitting. Narrowed it down to the heavy wire loop that bound the two lines together. Would have thought just loosening all four (4) of the banjo bolts to allow the lines to seek a "happy place," would work, but that didn't help. Finally, just removed that loop altogether and that seemed to solve the problem. My next option would have been to replace the metal sections of those lines altogether with ones that were more flexible, but removing that innoculous loop seemed to take care of it.

Trying to weld up those fittings would be tough, because the cracks had made their way all the way into the threads.

Crazy!

1663267066030.png
 

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I've never had one fail that I recall. I have had leaks where the oil line's attach to the motor.
No idea why. (Out of the blue) they just started leaking.
Tried tightening but was scary tight. Replaced the seal washers and all was fine.

Recently had a new "Gotcha".
Getting ready for the last National, did an oil change on the C-10 and the front drain plug started leaking.
Replaced washer/cleaner surfaces/etc with no luck.
Did a close inspection and discovered the case was cracked at the drain plug (thru the treads).
Tightening made the crack wider.
Had no time, so I drained the oil, cleaned and coated everything near the plug with silicone so we could make the National.
It worked. Bought a used Pan on Ebay when we got home.

Ride safe, Ted
 
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I MIGHT still have another NEW radiator laying around... well, it'd be in one of about 200 boxes of stuff in my storage container. I bought several 2005 radiators years ago and think I still have one. But a used one will last fifty plus years if it doesn't get hit by a rock. They really are pretty tough.
 
rev ryder said:
I MIGHT still have another NEW radiator laying around... well, it'd be in one of about 200 boxes of stuff in my storage container. I bought several 2005 radiators years ago and think I still have one. But a used one will last fifty plus years if it doesn't get hit by a rock. They really are pretty tough.
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Well I already have received one from someone else. But I appreciate the offer!
 
gbyoung2 said:
How many oil cooler failures have you had? I'm on my third on the 200K + mile '95. Not the finned part of the cooler, per se, but one of the fittings. Cracked and allowed oil to seep out over time and cover the banjo fitting. Narrowed it down to the heavy wire loop that bound the two lines together. Would have thought just loosening all four (4) of the banjo bolts to allow the lines to seek a "happy place," would work, but that didn't help. Finally, just removed that loop altogether and that seemed to solve the problem. My next option would have been to replace the metal sections of those lines altogether with ones that were more flexible, but removing that innoculous loop seemed to take care of it.

Trying to weld up those fittings would be tough, because the cracks had made their way all the way into the threads.

Crazy!

View attachment 33970
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So far, knock on wood, I've not had any issues there.
 
connie_rider said:
Did you ever determine if the leak was the radiator or just a hose?
NOTE: I once thought I had a radiator failure too.
Turned out to be a pinhole in a hose and the coolant was spraying into the radiator fins.

On the radiator. You've said you preferred a new.
I/others have been around the C-10 for over 20 years.
There have been few failures of the radiator's. (ie; Yours is a rarity)
So, used should be fine.

Ride safe, Ted
Click to expand...
Thank you for that information. I've not yet to take a good close look at it out of the bike. I'm removing it tonight and I will let you know.
 
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