What Is The Cause Of Paint Lifting Off Left Radiator Tank On My 95?

[Beck]

Noticed last time I recently took of the fairings to do maintenance that the black paint on the left side tank of my radiator seems to be lifting off (actually air between the paint and the tank surface). Should I worrry about this? Could it be a pinhole leak on the tank letting out pressurized coolant between the paint and tank, although I have not seen any sign of wetness/coolant leaks coming through the paint. Can this just be the paint lifting off from the heat? The right side tank where the filler cap is on does not have this problem. I'm thinking of just removing the radiator next time I have the fairings off and cleaning of the lifting paint then re-painting the left side tank/end of the radiator with hight temp paint, but I;m worried that I moght be ignoring some sort of radiator leak in the process. I've also seen a few 4th gen radiators for sale at eBay with semmingly the same exact thing going on....

Anyone else have this happeingin on their 3rd or 4th gen VFR?

Beck

95 VFR..

[MadScientist]

How is the paint coming off? Just in a small spot or big flakes? Do you see any white powdery substance around the area of the peeling?

Chances are you got a small scratch or pinhole in the paint and you are now having a bit of aluminum corrosion where contaminants have gotten in behind the painted surface. If it were my radiator, I would remove the flaking paint and wet sand back to good surface and shoot on some fresh radiator paint. I would think any leaking would be obvious when the system is hot and pressurized.

[Beck]

It's actually not flaking off........yet, just almost like big loose paint membrane covering the left radiator tank tank the paint has not fallen off yet but there is like air under the paint. No signs of dried up or wet coolant anywhere, otherwise....

I think I'll take your advice and take off the paint and see what's under it. It might be the only way to find out what's happenening. If the metal is clean, then it 's most likely just a paint/heat separation thing going on. If I see a lot of corrosion and maybe remnats of dried up coolant, then it's probably a leak somewhere on the tank......

[SEBSPEED]

It's aluminum oxidation. It happens over time. No need to worry about pressure loss.

If it bothers you enough on a "forever" bike, then take some time to shop for a nice spare, and have it professionally refinished before installing.

[Veefer800Canuck]

I scrubbed my radiators, off the bike, until they were spotless, and hit them with some Tremclad gloss black.

They've been prefect for years and years now.

Just repaint 'em and go.

[Beck]

Trenclad......

I'll look into that!

Thanks for the feedback and tips guys!

[Roebling3]

Could brake/clutch fluid get in there? R3~

[Beck]

Closest brake fluid would be the hydraulic clutch line and reservoir. I'll check that, but have not seen any sign of my reservoir losing any fluid so far. I wonder if it all started when I did my last clutch system flush and maybe didn't notice spilling it on the radiator tank....but that was quite a while ago.

[SEBSPEED]

They've been prefect for years and years now.

Was that a pun?

[Veefer800Canuck]

Fat finger syndrome, apparently.