Hey guys, just purchased a water cooled head for my fl350. Included with the head is a radiator which appears to mount behind the seat where the air scoops funnel air to the Engine. Not sure if I care for that setup as I would rather mount the radiator up higher to get more uninterrupted air flow. My question is what are you guys running for radiators and where did you mount them? Has anyone tried using a complete setup out of a fl400? Thanks

I as well as some others here run a radiator from a Honda civic auto.
No issues with this for years now.
My rads are mounted behind my head on the roll bar. They just fit.
You do have to weld some tabs on though and you must use some rubber grommets between the rad mount and the rad itself. This is to prevent vibration from breaking the plastic/aluminum radiator. It was suggested by the rad shop guy and it works very well.
Some guys run a banshee or some other motorcycle rad but I want max cooling. I have found that the cooler you run the more power and better the oddy Engine runs. If you don't like to run cold blooded then put some cardboard or some tape over part of it. Not needed in my experience.
Pics below.
CO

Was that the one on eBay? In my opinion it was waaaay too small of a radiator. Don't forget to run a water pump too.


+1 on the Civic Radiator

Mounting wont be an issue, will definitely run rubber mounts for vibration, do you have a certain year on the civic radiator? Also yes I picked it up off Ebay, don't plan on running the radiator that came with it. It also came with a pump, don't think I'm going to use that either. What do you guys run for pumps? Any input on running a pilot setup with the fan? I like the idea of it cooling even when sitting.

1) see pic below of the rad I run on my 3 oddys.
2) see pic below of the pump must of us here on this site run. It's a Bosch unit.
3) Pilot set up --- good luck on that because it will be impossible to find. Anyone with a Pilot is not likely to remove it and sell it LOL.

Bosch Water Pump: PA66-GF30
Very high quality universal 12v water pump made by Bosch.
Suitable for permanent long term use.
Another situation where an electrical water pump come is indispensable is when cylinders in air-cooled engines are replaced with liquid-cooled cylinders.
Instead of installing a mechanical pump, you can go for the electrical water pump.
12V brushless. 69x97mm.
Weight 250g.
Flow 8 liters/min – 2 gallons/min.
16mm pipe diameter.
The current draw is low (less than 1 amp)

The reason almost everyone here run this pump is because of the very low amp draw. The oddy electrical system is weak at best and you don't have a lot of extra juice to run stuff.
CO

Perfect, thanks for all the info. When wiring in the pump are you running it off the key switch and having it run constantly or are you running a temp switch to turn it on and off as needed? The reason I brought up the pilot setup is that there is a complete setup for sale on Ebay right now.

The pilot unit is for sale from one of the members on this forum I believe socalgii is his user name. 200$ shipped doesn't sound too bad of a price, plus I'm kind of partial towards genuine Honda stuff. Lol

Well then you better score it.
You never see that kind of stuff for sale.

I run my pump all the time -- no thermostat.
CO

I ended up buying the pilot setup. Looks like there are a couple sensors threaded into the radiator, guessing temp switches for fan?

Yes. One is for the fan at about 180F. The other is for over-heat sensor a bit higher. Guess you could design similar or just plug em. In my FL400R build I found a proper sensor as an OE replacement.

The unit I bought came with the fan, so I'm hoping to ba able to run the setup as is. Use the first temp switch for fan and or water pump, and maybe wire in a overtemp light with the second one if that's what its intended for. Thanks for the info

the 2 pilot sensors, one is 2 wire, it just closes a switch between the 2 poles the other works the same but is only one wire and closes to ground. as mentioned one is hooked to the fan via a relay, that would be an easy setup, the other is for the temperature light. be sure to use a relay, the switch would be for the ground on the relay coil so very little current going through the switch. you could get away with hooking up the light to the same relay, that way you can tell right away when the fan is on, or supposed to be on.

Ok, sounds simple enough. Now that the fan situation if figured out, I need to figure out a way to wire up a pump. Maybe replace the higher temp light sensor with one that is in the 140°F range, that way the Engine gets to temp prior to the pump moving coolant.

I saw that setup for sale. Interesting mounting for the rad.

We're running an YFZ450 rad an fan. $55 shipped for the complete unit on Ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-2009-Yamaha-YFZ450-YFZ-450-Radiator-fan-cap-hoses-sensor-04-05-06/271176485522?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

IMG_0372 by TerryHatfield, on Flickr

That install looks nice. I've been watching your progress, that is one beautiful fl350. Don't think mine will ever look that good.