ASK THE MXPERTS: 2016 KTM’S MAN-MADE RADIATOR LEAK

Dear MXA,

Last week the left radiator on my 2016 KTM 450SXF started leaking. It was a small leak, but water dripped off the bottom tank. I could not find the leak, even after inspecting all the radiator fins, hoses and radiator cap. Where should I look next?

We’ve seen this problem before. On one of our 2016 KTM 450SXF test bikes, we also noticed a small amount of water leaking down the radiator. We traced it to the top tank, originally thinking that the tank had a crack where the finning joined the tank. This was not true.

The cause of the leak was that the lower edge of the KTM’s plastic radiator shroud was touching the top of the radiator, and the constant rubbing wore a groove in the aluminum. Visually, the groove did not appear to be deep enough to allow water to escape, but when we started the engine, the groove would weep water through an invisible orifice. This could be easily fixed at a radiator shop or with a home brew of J-B weld, but we replaced the radiator and trimmed excess plastic away from the top tank.

 

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