Radiator recovery tank

[msherwood]

Greetings fellow riders,
I am a new owner of a 2013 spyder RT Limited. Does the plastic radiator recovery tank supposed to have any fluids in it when the bike is cold. Thanks in advance to your feedback.

[quasi]

yes. it should be at or close to the max fill line. use a flashlite to look at it.

[Tomline]

I was told at one point, at that level it would overflow and spill onto the floor?

[quasi]

cold mine is right near the max fill line on the jug. never have had any issues.

[ARtraveler]

It looks like your question is answered.

[Chupaca]

Hard to see what I do is sway the spyder so the liquid moves. It is easier to see... try to keep to the full mark cold..

[Peter Aawen]

yes. it should be at or close to the max fill line. use a flashlite to look at it.

When the coolant is Cold, the level in the Expansion Tank NEEDS to be somewhere below the Max level, ie low enough to allow the coolant to expand when the engine starts running & the coolant warms up! Which means that effectively, anything above the Low level is fine - but if you're level is up at Max already, then the coolant is gonna overflow when the engine gets warmed up.

It's not really a biggie if your expansion tank is topped up to the Max level once, just so long as you don't then panic about any coolant that might drip off the underside of your Spyder while it's parked! If the coolant level is too far above low/close to Max cold, then there's going to be some coolant expelled from the expansion tank the next time the engine warms the coolant up, & some will likely be caught in the placcy trays & underbody panels, probably also in the frame etc as it drains away. That means that once you've parked your Spyder & any trapped coolant drains out, you'll probably get to see a few little puddles under your Spyder over the next day or so. But if you don't top the coolant up again to that overfull level once all that has happened, it should only happen the once! The coolant level in these expansion tanks is 'self-regulating' thru the cold/hot coolant cycles, just so long as there's no leaks etc & the cold level is above the Low mark! The trap is in seeing the coolant puddle, noticing the level is now a little below Max, thinking it's too low & topping it up to the Max level again! That just repeats the overflow & drain cycle & often leaves coolant puddles under the vehicle. I've seen people panic about their 'leaky expansion tank' or cooling system pay hundreds of $$ to get it fixed when there was nothing wrong but their over-filling in the first place!! Some workshops/dealers will simply take advantage of your lack of knowledge, while the more honest places will just tell you that you've been filling the expansion tank too much & probably only stuffed the cap over time by doing so!

You don't need to fill your Coolant Expansion Tank to the Max level, anything above the Low mark is fine!

[Motorcycledave]

Manteca I am your neighbor.... I am in linden
give me a call some time and come and go for a ride.
Dave
209-887-3283

Greetings fellow riders,
I am a new owner of a 2013 spyder RT Limited. Does the plastic radiator recovery tank supposed to have any fluids in it when the bike is cold. Thanks in advance to your feedback.

[quasi]

When the coolant is Cold, the level in the Expansion Tank NEEDS to be somewhere below the Max level, ie low enough to allow the coolant to expand when the engine starts running & the coolant warms up! Which means that effectively, anything above the Low level is fine - but if you're level is up at Max already, then the coolant is gonna overflow when the engine gets warmed up.

It's not really a biggie if your expansion tank is topped up to the Max level once, just so long as you don't then panic about any coolant that might drip off the underside of your Spyder while it's parked! If the coolant level is too far above low/close to Max cold, then there's going to be some coolant expelled from the expansion tank the next time the engine warms the coolant up, & some will likely be caught in the placcy trays & underbody panels, probably also in the frame etc as it drains away. That means that once you've parked your Spyder & any trapped coolant drains out, you'll probably get to see a few little puddles under your Spyder over the next day or so. But if you don't top the coolant up again to that overfull level once all that has happened, it should only happen the once! The coolant level in these expansion tanks is 'self-regulating' thru the cold/hot coolant cycles, just so long as there's no leaks etc & the cold level is above the Low mark! The trap is in seeing the coolant puddle, noticing the level is now a little below Max, thinking it's too low & topping it up to the Max level again! That just repeats the overflow & drain cycle & often leaves coolant puddles under the vehicle. I've seen people panic about their 'leaky expansion tank' or cooling system pay hundreds of $$ to get it fixed when there was nothing wrong but their over-filling in the first place!! Some workshops/dealers will simply take advantage of your lack of knowledge, while the more honest places will just tell you that you've been filling the expansion tank too much & probably only stuffed the cap over time by doing so!

You don't need to fill your Coolant Expansion Tank to the Max level, anything above the Low mark is fine!

well, once again i'm proven wrong in my answer. I just know how I maintain mine and know it hasn't dripped a drop in almost 2 years after shut down. however, I do run royal purple ICE in my cooling system so maybe that makes a difference in it, I don't know. I know the engine runs cooler according to the digital gauge.

[Peter Aawen]

No quasi, not 'proven wrong' at all - just slightly different!! But if it's the stuff I think it is, then the purple ICE you run in your cooling system not only keeps your engine running a little cooler, it also expands less as it heats, so you should expect to be able to run the upper level closer to the Max level without it overflowing too!

Add to that the fact that the cooling system expansion tank is effectively 'self levelling', so it would only overflow IF you kept on topping it up to the Max level, & from then on,if you didn't add any more coolant, it should do what you've reported. So, if you let the level settle to a level that's above the Low mark but still something below the Max, & you don't repeatedly top it up to or above the Max level, it shouldn't overflow any more than maybe just the once - the first time the engine warming up makes the coolant go thru it's 'expand as it heats up & overflow any excess into the expansion tank so that it can then get siphoned back into the radiator as & when things cool down again'!!

The overflow generally only occurs when that expansion tank is too close to the Max level that the expansion over-fills the expansion tank that all the excess coolant gets expelled - if you don't over-fill the expansion tank (repeatedly or otherwise) then the tank quickly reaches it's 'normal' operating level & probably won't ever overflow again, unless maybe the ambient temp rises somewhat &/or the engine operating temp pushes the coolant to expand more than usual & expel a little more. But like I said earlier, if the COLD level remains above the Low mark, then you have sufficient coolant in the expansion tank that it shouldn't overflow when the coolant warms up or gets hot & you'll still have enough coolant in there to let it refill the radiator with coolant once things cool down again, all without the level getting so low that it starts sucking air into the radiator & stuffing the whole heat/cool cycle up! And if yours is doing that at the level you've got it filled to with the purple ice, then it's doing the job as it should! But that level is likely to be a little different to the level in a Spyder where the owner hasn't filled the cooling system with purple ice, just as it'll be a different from someone who rydes in the heat of tge desert all the time, & different again from that of the Spyder belong to the person who lives & rydes in the frigid climes of Northern Alaska!

[msherwood]

Manteca I am your neighbor.... I am in linden
give me a call some time and come and go for a ride.
Dave
209-887-3283

Dave,
I'm game when this heat spell leaves us alone for a while. I'll give you a call.
Matt