2011 Spyder RT - lots of air hissing noise - is it safe to ride? Ideas?

[goingup4m]

Well I just bought a 2011 RT for what I thought was a great deal, I now may be finding out why the guy was selling it.
When riding I am hearing a lot of air hissing, seems like it it coming from the front (both sides) but when I was backing up the wife said it was louder in the back.
From what I am gathering it is something in the air ride system. Bad check valve at the compressor, bad compressor, leak at the air bags....

A couple questions.

1. Is it saft to say I should not be riding this on the street until I get it fixed? Seems to ride just fine, but what happens when the compressor fails?
2. How would you go about trouble shooting this to see what the problem is?

Thanks,

[DGoebel]

I had the same issue with my '13 RTL, twice, the first fix cost a lot of time and money to replace it with stock components, the second time I just ran the airline straight from the underseat air valve stem to the top of the airbag and did away with the on the fly air adjustment. In both cases my Bad check valve failed open causing the compressor to fail the first time. Knew that it failed when the horn and other items on that circuit failed. Never had a problem with the direct line to the airbag. But it was fun doing the fix myself.
Naked spyder.jpg

You can troubleshoot in your garage by using the valve stem under the seat, fill the airbag to 90lbs (the max recommended) and if it leaks down with the Spyder off, it's likely the check valve, (which can be replaced if you want).

[Mikey]

First thing you got to do is take the right side covers off and find out where the leak is, with a little soapy water you should find the cause of your issue and see if you can fix it! If its the pump then you can do what a lot of the rest of us have done and make it a manual fill and ride off into the sun set happy as a clam. Or you can drop some cash on trying to make a crappie system work as it did! If you want to study up on the issue use the search engine at the top of the page!! Good luck if you want some subport PM me and I can give you some pointers!

[Peter Aawen]

You say it rides just fine goingup, so even tho I'm not the greatest fan of BRP's execution/quality control on the ACS, rather than just assuming it's busted, I'd hafta ask you what exactly is occurring aside from the hissing....

There can be what some not used to these things might think is a lot of hissing going on as a part of normal riding with the ACS, it can try to adjust ride height whenever there's the slightest change in ride height, but unless that's causing other problems or it's really continuous &/or the compressor is running ALL the time, it's not necessarily a problem.... . So unless it's clearly something along the lines of those previously mentioned concerns..... and confirmation would help, but you really need to tell us exactly what's happening, & especially so if there's anything else occurring - any error messages; is the hissing lots of short sharp bursts, or is it non-stop continuous with regular compressor runs; is the compressor going flat chat absolutely continuously; is the rear of the Spyder sitting on the top of the tire; does the rear ride height ever change at all.... anything like any of that lot?? If not, then what??

If not, & it's really just maybe a couple of seconds of hissing whenever there's an attitude change or a ride height change in the bike; or whenever you move your weight &/or change direction, there may not even be a problem (yet! )

Just Sayin'

[goingup4m]

Great idea, I will pump it up and test that.

[goingup4m]

Peter,
Thanks for the input. I rode a buddy's bike, same year for a week and heard a occasional noise in the air suspension.
On this bike at the beginning of the ride I hear an occasional short air hissing noise, really sounds like more of a pressure relief pssst. When riding I hear it when slowing down or turning. Once I an 5-10 miles in the noise is much more frequent. Same noise, short bursts of air.
I did check today at the Schrader valve and on the softest setting the pressure is about 25 psi, and I think about 55 psi on the firmest setting.
It just sounds quite a bit different than my friends bike which has me thinking there is an issue.

[Peter Aawen]

Peter,
Thanks for the input. I rode a buddy's bike, same year for a week and heard a occasional noise in the air suspension.
On this bike at the beginning of the ride I hear an occasional short air hissing noise, really sounds like more of a pressure relief pssst. When riding I hear it when slowing down or turning. Once I an 5-10 miles in the noise is much more frequent. Same noise, short bursts of air.
I did check today at the Schrader valve and on the softest setting the pressure is about 25 psi, and I think about 55 psi on the firmest setting.
It just sounds quite a bit different than my friends bike which has me thinking there is an issue.

Sounds to me like yours is working OK (for now... ) even if it's a bit different to what you expected.

They do tend to vary somewhat between being so bloody responsive you think you've got a screw in a tire that's letting a jet/hiss of air out every rotation of the tire; thru those that'll hiss &/or pump air every time you brake or accellerate; up to those that never really seem to make aný noises, but always have the height setting correct! . And then there's those that fail, some giving you orange warnings on the dash or even Limp Home mode; others just dumping your bum onto the tire every time you ride over the shadow of a matchstick lying on the ground; and some that work alright most of the time, but juuuust keep on leaking air out overnight!

Great concept from BRP; but very poor quality control on assy/delivery; and extremely piss poor execution of the concept IMHO! . And to compound the insult to buyers of what is really a fairly expensive machine, the rear shock/spring assy is too light to work even vaguely well by itself; so once the ACS is failing/has failed, you really have no choice but to do something to fix or disable at least the problematic 'Auto' part of the ACS!

[goingup4m]

I did pump up the pressure in the air bag to 75 psi and left the bike off. I just checked it after about an hour and it had dropped to 65.
Does that tell you it has a leak in the system somewhere?

[Peter Aawen]

I did pump up the pressure in the air bag to 75 psi and left the bike off. I just checked it after about an hour and it had dropped to 65.
Does that tell you it has a leak in the system somewhere?

That does suggest a leak, but it could be in the air line connectors (frequent causes of similar issues - clean & refit, or replace!); the valve itself (replace); the air bag (top around where the air line goes in, replace; or bottom where it sits on dirt/fine gravel etc, add slime or replace; or just pinched/perished, replace); or leaking out thru the compressor, which means it's basically a replace with OEM or get an a/mkt form/fit/function replacement from VIAIR or similar... There again, it might just be worth pulling all the air lines & plumbing a hose direct from the Schraeder valve under the seat into the air bag & trying again. If that still shows a slow leak, you could try slime or replace the air bag; or you could toss the ACS entirely & get a good quality Shock/coil assy that will work without it, there are a few suppliers around, inc IKON, ELKA, M2, & others with names that escape me atm...

Over to you!

[goingup4m]

That does suggest a leak, but it could be in the air line connectors (frequent causes of similar issues - clean & refit, or replace!); the valve itself (replace); the air bag (top around where the air line goes in, replace; or bottom where it sits on dirt/fine gravel etc, add slime or replace; or just pinched/perished, replace); or leaking out thru the compressor, which means it's basically a replace with OEM or get an a/mkt form/fit/function replacement from VIAIR or similar... There again, it might just be worth pulling all the air lines & plumbing a hose direct from the Schraeder valve under the seat into the air bag & trying again. If that still shows a slow leak, you could try slime or replace the air bag; or you could toss the ACS entirely & get a good quality Shock/coil assy that will work without it, there are a few suppliers around, inc IKON, ELKA, M2, & others with names that escape me atm...

Over to you!

Thanks for all the help. Next step is to dig into it and see what I can find.

Can I switch topics. What are your thoughts on the front suspension setup. Right now both shocks are in position 3.
Are any of the aftermarket shocks worth the money. Or the sway bar replacement?

[Peter Aawen]

....Can I switch topics. What are your thoughts on the front suspension setup. Right now both shocks are in position 3.
Are any of the aftermarket shocks worth the money. Or the sway bar replacement?

The Front suspension design is old school & agricultural, but as delivered it's basically adequate for it's purpose, altho you won't be able to change too much without spending substantial $$ anyway, so it is what it is;
the OE Shocks & coils, they're sorta OK, if you don't ask too much of them;
the OE Sway Bar & links, not so much OK & definitely not good for anything much but making you think there's something there when there really isn't; aaand

I know you didn't ask specifically about them, but the OE Spec/size Kenda tires (especially the rear) are the single largest safety risk & limiting factor on your Spyders performance bar none!! . In short, IMHO, unless you don't put too much in the way of demands on the OE spec Kendas &/or their clones, &/or you really don't expect your tires to do much more for you than keep the metal bits of your Spyder off the road, then they aren't much chop at all! . So if you've got Kendas, Kanines, or those Arachnid copies on your Spyder, then personally, I'd replace them immediately, or at least toss them & replace them with proper auto tires in a reasonably close size (cos BRP uses sizes that're hard to match, so don't!) within the next few thousand miles (& then run the auto tires at the right {lower} pressures for the {lighter} load being placed upon them!! ) There's lotsa threads on tires, tire sizes, brands, & tire pressures here already, so do a search or 6 & read until you can't stand any more!

If you've got the Adjustable shocks on your Spyder, you're quids ahead of most, and those can work OK for most as they learn to ryde their Spyders; plus, you can wind them up a bit as they gradually wear/sag over time.... but if you've got much over 50,000 miles on the original shocks/coils, then they're probably not up for much any more & it's past time for a replacement. Once you've got the Spyder Ryding basics under control &/or your OE Shocks & coils are worn out, there are some fairly expensive a/mkt replacement options out there; some I mentioned above, along with some of the not so expensive versions.... . Me, I'm from Oz, so I really like the not so expensive IKONS, which you can also get over there; and I personally wouldn't pay what they're asking for the Elkas, as I feel they're not such a great value for money buy; but hey, it's your Spyder....

The OE Sway Bar is a useless cheese stick when compared to the BajaRon, Rabbitworks, or European upgrade bars, and the OE Links are dangerous once they start to twist & flex, which they WILL do, so yeah, replace them if you want to improve &/or push the handling - any of the a/mkt alternatives will be heaps better, & BajaRon is a Forum Sponsor, as is Martin the Vlogger, who supplies the EU versions!

Over to you!

[goingup4m]

Thanks for all the advice. I may look into that after I have ridden the bike for a while.

[goingup4m]

Well just as a follow up on this, this past weekend I tore into the Spyder and took that back end off to get to the compressor and the air ride system (some real helpful youtube videos out there)
Eventually I took the entire air system off the bike from the compressor check valve to the airbag. I pressurized the system at the Schrader valve and put all the components (except for the solenoid valve under water) No air bubbles. When wiggling some of the connections I saw a few air bubble at the hose connections.
So I replaced the hoses with new hose and put it all back together. Really no change when out for a ride so I am going to just keep riding it as is until I see some sort of air code or if the back end feels like it isn't holding pressure.

20220910_125824.jpg

Thanks for the help with this one.

[Peter Aawen]

......
So I replaced the hoses with new hose and put it all back together. Really no change when out for a ride so I am going to just keep riding it as is until I see some sort of air code or if the back end feels like it isn't holding pressure.
........

Thanks for the help with this one.

Sounds like a plan!

Cheers

[safecracker]

Now you know how to take the rear end and compressor units off. You have to remember that the ACS system is always going to keep your bike level. So every time you go down a hill or stop on a down hill angle it will bleed off air. If riding double it may even do it more. Another point, every time you check the air pressure you will bleed of up to 5 lbs or more. Since you had it apart did you remove the check valve. Check valve is the most problematic piece of the ACS system. If the check valve gets dirty and it will it will not hold the air pressure. This will cause your compressor to over work and fail. Since yours is a 2011 you may have a compressor that has a bolt that may come off on the piston rod, causing the compressor to fail. When you press the Soft/Hard button and you do not see MANUAL in the right side of the screen your systems is still working per BRP specs. If you decide to remove compressor, run a hose from Schrader valve right to air bag. Good luck, Bruce