Police Dept. in the morning, ride home in a Sheriff's Dept. car at night...what a day

[DocRags]

What a day! First, we stopped by the Amarillo PD to file a report on our missing license plate. Then we took off on a ride, visiting the Cadillac Ranch and Midpoint Cafe (Adrian, TX...midway on Route 66) before heading to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. These places are in different directions, so we ended up at the local Sam's twice in the same day. We rode around the park for a little while before the show...a great musical drama about Texas history with the backdrop of the canyon walls. :clap: (Thanks for the recommendation about the show, Big Spark :thumbup:)
There are six areas in the park that can/do have standing water on the road...avoid the 6th one if you go there! :yikes: It was WAY deeper than the other spots...our poor Spyder was sputtering a bit after that, and almost immediately flashed the check engine warning. Then we went into limp mode with a hi temp warning. We made it back to the show theatre and parked. The warning lights and limp mode went off after Erags removed the key and walked away. We ate dinner and watched the show. After the production ended, we had driven just a short way up the canyon when we went back into limp mode with the temperature warnings again. We had to stop twice to put water in the coolant reservoir...then we noticed the water was coming straight out the bottom when we got into a more well lighted area near the park entrance. Erags was going to try duct taping things to get us back to Amarillo but after removing some tupperware he decided it wasn't going to work. The plastic reservoir is cracked along the bottom. A Sheriff's Officer stopped, just around the time we were wondering what we were going to do. We were 25 miles from Amarillo with a broken bike, no cell phone service and no one around the park offices. He offered to take us to our RV on the north side of Amarillo and notified park officials of our broken bike at the entrance. Erags got to ride in the back seat while I got the passenger seat....a ride with an LEO without handcuffs being involved. :roflblack:

At least the local Can-Am dealers are open on Monday out here...now we just need to drive the toyhauler to Palo Duro Park to pick up our poor Spyder. (We're hoping it isn't hauled off before we get there...it doesn't have a license plate). Then we need to keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't take forever to get the parts.:pray:

[Dwanton]

That sux !

How the heck did the resivior get cracked ?

Ive worked on plenty of police cars and just refuse to sit in the back . Never have and never want to either .:lecturef_smilie:

Dont think you could leave any bike on the side of the road here in jersey , definately be gone in the morning .

[flamingobabe]

Bummer....hope all is OK this morning...bike still there etc....keep us posted on the outcome.....

[Bob Denman]

:pray: Hoping that your Spyder is okay... You guys too! Please let us know how you fare.. Good Luck! :thumbup:

[MikeinGA]

I have read of that happening to others. I must put that on my maintenance list replace coolent tank every 3 years. Must be made of poor grade of plastic, because the ones on my car and Jeep are about ten years old.

Mike

[steve635]

I have also read of this happening, seems really odd, has an overflow so wouldn't think pressure would be an issue. Maybe it just heats too fast? Hope things turn out OK.

[Jeriatric]

Really like this tank

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?38150-coolant-tank&p=463560#post463560

Now, if we only knew where to source it?


Hope everything goes OK for the two of you.


Edit: If interested. Figured out who makes the tank. Not sure if this is the correct model or not?

http://www.streetortrack.com/Coolant-Expansion-Fill-Tank-80-200-pr-16879.html

[SpyderAnn01]

Good luck with your repairs I hope you get back on the road tomorrow.

[retread]

I have also read of this happening, seems really odd, has an overflow so wouldn't think pressure would be an issue. Maybe it just heats too fast? Hope things turn out OK.

The tank on a Spyder is an expansion tank, not overflow, so it's under pressure just like the radiator. Usually, small puddles of coolant under the radiator are a good indication of a split tank.

john

[d.o.spyder-rts]

Sorry to hear about your spyder. :( Since the Sheriff notified Park officials, there shouldn't be any problems with the license plate issue. Good luck with the spyder and the rest of your trip. Dale

[Firefly]

Bummer on your broken tank....... Let me know if your dealer can't get one quickly----- I have a spare (brand new) sitting here that I could overnight to you......

[bruiser]

Dude, that's some bad karma. It's always good to get a ride from a LEO without the bracelets. Keep us posted. Just wondering, with all the cracks occurring on coolant tanks, are they in the same place? Could this be a manufacturing defect from the supplier? In that case it's up to BRP to rectify it with the vendor or find another one. With all the vibration and heat around the tank, maybe they need to look at another materieal. JMHO.

[ARtraveler]

Sorry to hear about the bad stuff with the :spyder2:. Hope you can get it fixed timely. Keep us posted.

[murphybrown]

What a day! First, we stopped by the Amarillo PD to file a report on our missing license plate. Then we took off on a ride, visiting the Cadillac Ranch and Midpoint Cafe (Adrian, TX...midway on Route 66) before heading to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. These places are in different directions, so we ended up at the local Sam's twice in the same day. We rode around the park for a little while before the show...a great musical drama about Texas history with the backdrop of the canyon walls. :clap: (Thanks for the recommendation about the show, Big Spark :thumbup:)
There are six areas in the park that can/do have standing water on the road...avoid the 6th one if you go there! :yikes: It was WAY deeper than the other spots...our poor Spyder was sputtering a bit after that, and almost immediately flashed the check engine warning. Then we went into limp mode with a hi temp warning. We made it back to the show theatre and parked. The warning lights and limp mode went off after Erags removed the key and walked away. We ate dinner and watched the show. After the production ended, we had driven just a short way up the canyon when we went back into limp mode with the temperature warnings again. We had to stop twice to put water in the coolant reservoir...then we noticed the water was coming straight out the bottom when we got into a more well lighted area near the park entrance. Erags was going to try duct taping things to get us back to Amarillo but after removing some tupperware he decided it wasn't going to work. The plastic reservoir is cracked along the bottom. A Sheriff's Officer stopped, just around the time we were wondering what we were going to do. We were 25 miles from Amarillo with a broken bike, no cell phone service and no one around the park offices. He offered to take us to our RV on the north side of Amarillo and notified park officials of our broken bike at the entrance. Erags got to ride in the back seat while I got the passenger seat....a ride with an LEO without handcuffs being involved. :roflblack:

At least the local Can-Am dealers are open on Monday out here...now we just need to drive the toyhauler to Palo Duro Park to pick up our poor Spyder. (We're hoping it isn't hauled off before we get there...it doesn't have a license plate). Then we need to keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't take forever to get the parts.:pray:

Are you calling this an adventure or a misadventure??? :dontknow: Really glad that all seems to be fixable and doable for you guys and the Spyder...

[YPILOT]

The tank on a Spyder is an expansion tank, not overflow, so it's under pressure just like the radiator. Usually, small puddles of coolant under the radiator are a good indication of a split tank.

john


Be sure to put a new cap on your new tank. One possible cause for the tank to split is for the cap to let the take build too much pressure. The cap fails first causing too much pressure to build in the tank so it splits at the seams. It happened to mine last season.