2020 Ryker overheating - Any suggestions??

[Chubbin]

First time poster obviously, but as I have been searching the boards online trying to find answers to my situation I've come across this forum. Hopefully someone will be able to help me. I bought my 2020 Ryker in June of 2020. I went through the break in stage no problems, I made sure of my fluids and an inspection was done before each ride. In August, I even went on a 300 mile ride in 95+ degrees. Again, no problems. About 3 months ago in November/December it was about 70° when I went about 30 miles away. On the way back, the temp gauge starting moving up as I went faster. It went well up from the normal half way mark - to 1 extra bar, then 2, then 3! All of a sudden it went to the top and I got a flashing message saying it is over heating and I needed to shut down. I was going about 65-70mph at the time. I happened to have come up to a notoriously long stoplight, so I just shut it down... as usual, the fan stayed on a few seconds, then went off. After like maybe 4 minutes at that stop light, I turned it back on and started going - the heat indicator was at half way again. As I started going faster, with the RPM's around 4500, it stayed there, but if I got to say, 5k rpms it would go up one bar, 5500, 2 bars, and so on. If I slowed back down, the temperature would go back down as fast down as it did up!

Now I can understand something getting hot fast, but for it to cool off just as fast by just slowing down seems a bit weird to me. Now the thing is... if I try to ride it at all, once I'm on it for more than a few minutes going over 45mph, it will start to go up and the fan comes on. Then once that fan comes on, it NEVER goes off unless I shut the bike off. I have checked the oil level, it looks good; the water/antifreeze liquid is at a good level too. I cannot figure out what is causing it to over heat like this. I live in Texas, and if it's doing this in the 60's and 70's, I don't want to know what is gonna happen in May-Sept when it's over 100°.

Any suggestions??


Also, on a side note, I'm still under warranty, but they are telling me I have to PAY to get it evaluated/diagnosed. Even if the warranty covers the repair, I still have to pay to have them check to see what's wrong with it. Does that sound normal? This is my first BRP/Can Am product so I'm not as familiar with the warranties.

I have 2122 miles on it. The only customized things I put on it is LED lights, New head lights, thicker hand grips, and decals.

 

[BajaRon]

Several possibilities. But all should be investigated right away. You do not want to ride hot.

First, the radiator sits very low on the Ryker. It is very possible that you've collected enough debris to severely limit air flow. Easily checked and easily rectified. And is the most likely scenario.
Second. Make sure your cooling system is full. Check the fluid reservoir while cold. Make sure it is at the minimum level. Also possible. Especially if the set-up crew did not do a thorough job. Though this would have more likely given you trouble sooner. If you are leaking coolant, you would probably have smelled it.
Third. If these first 2 potential issues check out. It could be a faulty thermostat. Check this yourself or have it checked.
Lastly, it could be a faulty gauge. But this is the least likely scenario and poses the least potential for permanent damage. If it's reading high, it won't hurt the engine. Of course you'll still want to get this corrected if it is the culprit. But it's not as critical as the first 3 potential issues.

 

[JKMSPYDER]

I agree with Ron about what the potential problem may be but I can't imagine the dealer would charge you to diagnose/evaluate your Ryker if it is under warranty. I put this one on the BS meter. I would contact another dealer to see what they say.

 

[Chubbin]

Yeah, I checked the levels. they are fine. I was kinda thinking thermostat myself, seeing how the temp would go down so fast. It's almost like it is directly related to RPM's and not even taking account of any wind blowing in or not.

Good call on checking with a different dealer.
I'll update soon.

 

[jvclarke]

I would call Can Am corporate. They will probably contact dealer for you to encourage them to wave the service fee.

 

[jcthorne]

I think perhaps you misunderstand what the dealer is telling you. A great number of the things that can cause overheating are NOT warranty issues. Dirty radiator, low coolant and the like. If you bring the bike in and they find a cause that is not warranty related, you will be on the hook for the repair cost. If it turns out to be a defect like a stuck thermostat, BRP will pay the bill. But you are responsible for the bill that BRP does not pay. That is simply the way repairs work. Dealer is trying to cover their butt so if its not warranty, you are prepared to pay.

The dealer CANNOT charge you for warranty repairs but its up to BRP what is covered by warranty. The dealer gets paid either way.

 

[BajaRon]

I think perhaps you misunderstand what the dealer is telling you. A great number of the things that can cause overheating are NOT warranty issues. Dirty radiator, low coolant and the like. If you bring the bike in and they find a cause that is not warranty related, you will be on the hook for the repair cost. If it turns out to be a defect like a stuck thermostat, BRP will pay the bill. But you are responsible for the bill that BRP does not pay. That is simply the way repairs work. Dealer is trying to cover their butt so if its not warranty, you are prepared to pay.

The dealer CANNOT charge you for warranty repairs but its up to BRP what is covered by warranty. The dealer gets paid either way.

Exactly right...

This is why checking the non-warranty, easily determined possibilities can save you time and money.

 

[Chubbin]

Well I definitely appreciate the advice. I'll take it in on Tuesday to get it looked at. You know, a strange thing was brought up when I was calling different dealers - one of them asked me if the fan was blowing the wrong direction? I thought about it for a minute, why would it even change directions to begin with? What's the purpose of going the opposite direction? Also, how would you even tell that? Isn't the fan completely enclosed?

But I found one of the dealers who will service it and they told me that the diagnostic would be covered IF it was a warranty issue that ended up being the culprit, but the place where I actually bought it said $120 for the diagnostic regardless of if it ended up being warranty or not. The warranty would only cover the cost of the repair. Guess I need to do business with a different place now.

I rode it today to the friends house about 20 minutes away to load it onto a trailer to take to the dealer on Tuesday (about 50 miles away). When I left my house, it was 71 °F outside. If I went over 48 mph, it started temp climbing, if I slowed down to 47 mph, it would go back down to operating temp. If I got up to 60 mph it would go up to 1 bar from the top and the alert would come on. Slow down again... back down to Operating temp.

Funny thing is that a cold front came in about half way there. The temp outside instantly dropped 15 degrees. Then all of a sudden I could go 55 mph and stay at operating temp, lol! I'll let you guys know what the outcome is as soon as I find out.

 

[Possible]

If it were anything except the amazingly electronically complicated Spyder/Ryder, I'd think thermostat isn't opening far enough. Won't let
the water circulate heat away from the engine fast enough. Works with lower heat generation at lower rpm, but more heat generation
overwhelms the cooling ability. JMO anyway.

 

[Markubis]

If it were anything except the amazingly electronically complicated Spyder/Ryder, I'd think thermostat isn't opening far enough. Won't let
the water circulate heat away from the engine fast enough. Works with lower heat generation at lower rpm, but more heat generation
overwhelms the cooling ability. JMO anyway.

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[sKiZo]

Are the fans temp controlled on these things? I've had issues with "smart" electric fans that wouldn't know the difference between a hot potato and an ice cube.

Speaking of easy checks - next time it overheats, pop the hood and make sure the fan's running full speed. That would definitely be a warranty issue.

 

[AlanTn]

Took the wife's Ryker in today. She bought it in july 2020. We have 3277 miles on it. The fan started running wild last Nov. It ran more in November than in the heat of august. It was almost constant. I think its a bad heat sensor causing the fan to run. It never ran hot according to the dash and never caused the coolant tank to overflow. We'll see what the dealer has to say. Should take 3 to 4 days according to them.

 

[Chubbin]

2 weeks

I was thinking the same thing.

Unfortunately, it will be 2 weeks before I know anything.

It's a 2 week wait for an appointment to even get it looked at.

 

[Tbird56]

To me it almost sounds like a blown head gasket. That's pretty much how they act on a car but not sure if it would act the same way on one of these.

 

[rugercharger]

One of the things BajaRon said was to check for an obstruction in front of the radiator. Did you check that?

 

[Chubbin]

Ok guys 3 weeks and a few days later. The issue has been found and resolved. Apparently the thermostat went out on my "7 month old bike", then it caused the "cooling system to fail and ruin". Thus, a new thermostat and entire new cooling system (radiator and valves ) were replaced.

Also, it looks like it happened when the battery had run down due to leaving the lights on and they didn't' auto turn off. When the battery ran down, I charged it with a battery charger (disconnected from all the other wires) but that is when the trouble started. The thermostat failed, then caused the cooling system to overwork and burned it out and the radiator ended up getting damaged. I do not pretend to know how a radiator gets damaged, but they said it was damaged.
After it was all said and done, I took it to the right place because it cost me $0 - completely covered under warranty. However, a word of advice - if you leave the key attached and kill the bike, "sometimes" the lights stay on. I do not know why it happened, and I have been unable to reproduce it. With the Kill switch on or off, the lights normally turn off...

 

[RykerRick]

Thanks for the update, and thank goodness it was still under warranty. That would have been one costly repair bill.

 

[Hoginedgewood]

Radiator is bad? Id be more worried about how hot the engine got!

 

[chris56]

Ok guys 3 weeks and a few days later. The issue has been found and resolved. Apparently the thermostat went out on my "7 month old bike", then it caused the "cooling system to fail and ruin". Thus, a new thermostat and entire new cooling system (radiator and valves ) were replaced.

Also, it looks like it happened when the battery had run down due to leaving the lights on and they didn't' auto turn off. When the battery ran down, I charged it with a battery charger (disconnected from all the other wires) but that is when the trouble started. The thermostat failed, then caused the cooling system to overwork and burned it out and the radiator ended up getting damaged. I do not pretend to know how a radiator gets damaged, but they said it was damaged.
After it was all said and done, I took it to the right place because it cost me $0 - completely covered under warranty. However, a word of advice - if you leave the key attached and kill the bike, "sometimes" the lights stay on. I do not know why it happened, and I have been unable to reproduce it. With the Kill switch on or off, the lights normally turn off...

If I switch her off (with the kill switch) the lights are still on for a while, that's normal!

 

[SportsterDoc]

I can understand the headlight time delay relay "hanging up" allowing the lights to remain on, but fail to understand how charging the battery, when "disconnected from all other wires", could affect a mechanically operated coolant thermostat within the cooling system.

Is the thermostat reference perhaps to the fan on/off thermostat, which if failed open, would prevent fan operation?

If not (and unrelated to the battery condition), the coolant thermostat failed closed/partly closed, and the resultant heat/pressure expanded the radiator, maybe that is a possibility.