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Replacement Fan

Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 5:11 pm
by Pegleg Pete
The OEM fan on my'88 fzr 400 was rusted to a standstill on this bike when I bought it.

I have managed to free the mount assembly from the radiator but I wondered if anyone has fitted a modern, lighter, more powerful / efficient electric fan?

Any hints on which type of fan might be most suitable and how to mount it / wire it in would be gratefully accepted!

I was also wondering whether any larger capacity radiators can be retrofitted from other yamaha models or other manufacturers without too much modifying.

Cheers again :)

Pete

Re: Replacement Fan

Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 8:15 pm
by bweight
There's been a bunch of different rads used on the bikes.. the one from the fzr 600 mounts no problem, but you have to re-route your coolant hoses and get something that makes a fairly hefty bend in it without kinking.. That's what I've got on my bike...

Umm, off the top of my head I believe the F2/F3 rads have been used, I know there's a few bikes with rads off the 636.. Pretty much anything can be made to fit I would imagine. You just have to take into account the clearance you're going to have between the fender and the rad after installation..

As for Fans.. I've got 2 from a local auto parts store mounted and running on mine, however I don't think they're quite strong enough. Once again anything will work as long as it doesn't interfere with anything else on the bike...

Good luck and let us know what you find as a replacement for the fan though.

Re: Replacement Fan

Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 3:26 am
by Pegleg Pete
Cheers for your input mate. I don't want to feck about too much with rerouting coolant hoses at this stage as I have what appears to be a perfectly serviceable oem cooling system in place but I do have an uprated radiator in mind further down the line.

I know these bikes have a tendency to run hot. In the first instance I was hoping first to just try a straight swap for a newer type electric fan wired in using the existing gubbins just for the least cost / hassle. If this isn't enough, I was thinking of mounting a second fan and having them wired so I can manually power them on. *After* that, I would go down the route of changing the radiator if it wasn't happy.

Can I see picture of how you have mounted the fans please? Are they just ordinary 12V fans? I've done a good amount of searching but if there is a proper 'How to' of wiring the fans for a manual switch somewhere?

With everything on this project, my heart is screaming "Strip it all down. Fix everything!" My head, on the other hand, is reminding me that I bought the bike in this condition purely to ensure the basics were spot on to get it running and save the proper restoration for next winter. Trouble is, once you start...

Re: Replacement Fan

Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 9:00 pm
by bweight
I'll have to take pics of the current setup.. If the fans are still on the rad.. I can't remember right now if I took them off when I pulled the motor, or left them attached to the rad...

I'm pretty sure they're not powerful enough for the application, and I'll probably be replacing them but like I said, I'll take pics when I go out in the garage tomorrow..

Re: Replacement Fan

Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2010 5:10 am
by yamaha_george
Hi,
I cannot recall any one just changing the fan there is a thread on the manual switch for fans ,there is no how to in the WIKI.(just looked)

As has been mentioned you could change rads the 400 racer boys tend to use the f2/f3 curved rad with fans,

I would suggest you go FLEABAY and look for another FZR fan

Re: Replacement Fan

Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2010 2:53 pm
by Pegleg Pete
Having investingated Ebay I have found that FZR 400 rads with fans (predominantly all sold as a whole) are going on average for the cheapest at £25 + P&P.

However I did find this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

Would need to invent some means to mount it - Might even manage with cable ties

Re: Replacement Fan

Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2010 6:07 pm
by yamaha_george
Pegleg Pete wrote:Having investingated Ebay I have found that FZR 400 rads with fans (predominantly all sold as a whole) are going on average for the cheapest at £25 + P&P.

However I did find this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

Would need to invent some means to mount it - Might even manage with cable ties
Neat fixing would be easy since the rad has fixings for a guard, how ever there is a set of fans for sale on this board one fan has "nicked" edges the other looks to be in good shape.