Thanks for everyone’s input on my radiator fan woes. Jody saved the day and sent me his stocker. I got it in the mail on Friday. I got off work at 8pm that night and got started in the garage at around 10:30pm. I hooked up both fans and listened to each within minutes of each other and it was clear that mine had a high pitched whine to it that Jody’s fan lacked. Hard to pick up on in the video, but easier to hear in person.
The wrenching part of it was pretty much just changing out parts. As Joe likes to say, this part could have been done with the ZRX tool kit on the side of the road. The tricky part was the coolant. I called John and Chuck ahead of time and asked them about the specifics of refilling the bike with coolant after having the radiator off. I wanted it to be simple. I didn’t want to have to mess with bleeder valves and pressure testers.
So we’re off to the races. I started off by adding the coolant mixture. When it filled up to the filler neck, I started the bike and ran it and waited for the level to go down. Instead of going down, it gradually rose and then went down……..down onto the floor of my garage. I repeated this process about three times and knew I wasn’t doing something right. So into the house I went and re-read the repair manual about how to use the bleeder bolts and valves. Back out to the garage…now confident with Kawasaki knowledge. I started the bike and cracked the bleeder bolt on the water pump. A very audible hissing ensues and within seconds coolant mixture emerges. Tighten the bolt and done. I did the same with the bleeder valve on the thermostat housing. By this point, the water level had gone way down and I was able to add at least one more cup of coolant….maybe two. Also very noticeable now was that the water was swirling in the filler neck and not just sitting still with the occasional bubble. Clearly the water was now actually circulating. How cool….pardon the pun. Buttoning it up was text book.
Lesson? RTFM. Read the Fuggin’ Manual.
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