Head's up - vulnerable rad fan - F800GS

[Slippy]

I'm currently in Meh-hi-co after shipping my bike over from the UK to New York then riding up to Alaska & south from there.

Just to let you know the radiator fan on my 2008 F800 GS swallowed some grit & dirt & died. $420 & only a week later with very little dust & dirt inbetween the new one was clogging too until I intervened with some WD40.

Seems like there may not be enough protection around the fan bearings to stop the ingress of dirt.

Just so you know to invest in a can of WD.

Slippy

 

[Greggers]

Thanks for the heads up - enjoy the rest of the ride!

ps - you have pm!

Greg

 

[Dave Ett]

That's not good news! I have read that removing the plastic shroud from around the fan decreases the chance of it getting blocked with stones and failing, maybe you should consider modifying yours?

 

[Micky]

Some grit or small stones find their way into the radiator fan housing, that's all, but it's sufficient to stop the fan turning.

We were under armed escort in to Quetta last year when it happened

I had boiling water spewing everywhere but luckily with no lasting damage

What make of sumpguard/engine protection plate do you have?

I have a theory, probably to be shot down in flames, but I've ridden countless unmade rough roads with the BMW (read Touratech) sump guard on and it never happened! In Iran I had the Wunderlich guard on ....

It's just that I think some guards direct the gravel up there ... and some don't

 

[Slippy]

I'm using the BMW (Touratech) sump guard.

I'll look into modifying the housing but it's a little tricky whilst on the road. In the meantime I'll keep an eye on it (with a can of WD40 to hand).

 

[GunZenBomZ]

Yeah I must say in all my mileage of 30K+

Even in 36degree heat, rarely did my fan activate. But I've always gone out of my way to WD40 it for peace of mind. Plus give it a little turn to check its not blocked.

 

[colint]

My 2008 800GS overheated in traffic the other week and the fan did not come on checked when I got home and the fan wouldn't turn, took the shroud off (the fans' shroud not mine!) and let all the s**t out fired it back up and fan came on when hot OK no damage.
But as the fan has to come on for the oil check it just shows I haven't checked the oil for a while!
Now when the bike is cold I stick my hand in without the engine on and just check the fan blades rotate without catching.

 

[rce]

I had a Yamaha FZ6 and they were notorious for getting stones jammed in the fan, it happened to me after riding a tar & chipped road, thing was with the FZ6 it just burned the fan out.

On the replacement (under warranty) Yamaha had added a small grill under the fan (at 90' to radiator) to prevent stones coming from the front wheel, bouncing off the rocker cover and forward into the fan. Maybe a similar arrangement would work.

Other fix maybe a mudguard extender to limit the angle stones can be thrown from the front wheel.

 

[Micky]

Now when the bike is cold I stick my hand in without the engine on and just check the fan blades rotate without catching.

In a squeaky voice .... "That's the way to do it"