Attention all those with increases on the temp gauge

[leonml]

It is my advice to all having the temp go up on their spyder temp gauge, to not blow it off as some silly gauge that is off. It is my experience with the exact problem, that my temp just seemed to go up, not a huge amount, but enough, and more than I remembered it ever being, to the point I had the gauge hitting the red zone, or the hot area, and the fan coming on right on or after the black line at that spot on the gauge. For those unplugging the gauges when this happens and blowing it off as a faulty gauge, please read this. The gauge is not the problem. The temp sensor is not the problem. So long as the fan comes on at the right point, which is right at hot, it's fine, but when the gauge never drops to a safe area, or where it used to be, theres a problem. I tested all the things people suggest, and to my surprise, and experience, although usually a thermostat sticks and the engine overheats and you get steam and problems on a car, the spyder actually is able to keep, just cool enough in many conditions to not do this, or go limp mode on you. It also can have a problem just the opposite, where the engine never gets warm enough. I replaced my thermostat after testing and fully understanding the flow of the spyders coolant, and guess what, it fixed my problem. The fan kicks in at the same temp, but this time, it drops the operating temp back to where I remember it being when I bought the bike and drove it for 2 years. The temp gauge gets stuck either too open, or too closed. The new thermostat had a new number on it, but not sure any actually difference or change in operation.

If you have an overheat problem like this, do yourself a favor, pick up a thermostat, or get it replaced.

 

[MidLifeCrisis]

If that's really the issue, unplugging the the analog gauge in favor of the digital should reveal the same results. They should both read hot. I am rather surprised though, that the engine CAN keep itself cool enough with a thermostat stuck in the closed position! That would seem bizarre for any vehicle. Good advice on not ignoring it though.:thumbup:

 

[cuznjohn]

temp

when i brought my bike in yesterday for the tests that brp asked the dealer to do, the service manager said that brp was trying a new anti freeze in the bikes to try to reduce the heat. i am going today to see what they found and what they did to try and fix the issue

 

[SpyderAnn01]

LIke Midlife said if you disconnect the analog gauges the digital gauge will still give you the temp reading. So if it goes over the normal operating temperature to the red zone I would hope that owners would take the Spyder in for service.

 

[Ryblueyez]

Does anyone have a How-to for us rookies on how to disconnect the analog Guage?

 

[MidLifeCrisis]

Does anyone have a How-to for us rookies on how to disconnect the analog Guage?

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/...agues-disconnect&highlight=digital fuel gauge

 

[leonml]

Not saying

I would suggest that even if the digital gauge seems like a more accurate measure and the analogue is off, but for some reason the gauge analogue is doing what mine and others have done, that the reading on the analogue isn't so much that if it was actually doing what it was doing, but at a lower reading on the gauge, you wouldn't think anything of it because it's not a whole lot, but again enough. The digital gauge may be reading higher, but again, not enough for most to remember what it was before noticing a change on the analogue to test or take note. Remember also I'm only suggesting that the thermostat should be looked at if it's a case where you can tell your getting more heat on the right side, the gauge hitting red or hot, and that you see the fan kick in, but notice a negligible drop on the analogue. I'm not saying in some cases, the gauge can't be goofy, but not under my tests and problem or any like it. Actually while having gone to the dealer, the mechanic, who I respect out of few, had a spyder in with the opposite problem of not getting warm enough and he even suggested the thermostat, especially after talking about the flow of the machine, location of the temp sensor and the fact the fan was operating as normal just unable to see a good drop in coolant temp. He also discussed the thought process of other countries and how they set up gauge readings, and that to them unlike Americans, they see the redzone or HOT as a safe area, but past it is when you need to worry, or at the top. We also discussed other bikes not spyders that operate in higher gauge readings.

If you have the spyder in the shop and at a loss and the thermostat hasn't been done, tell them you want them to drop one in just to see what happens, I'm telling you, you might be shocked, and it's worth a shot.

I'm not saying that in the most extreme temps the spyder could stay cool enough under these conditions of a stuck thermostat, and I guess it would depend on the place it stuck and the amount of coolant able to reach the block after the radiator and if your stuck in traffic.

 

[leonml]

If that's really the issue, unplugging the the analog gauge in favor of the digital should reveal the same results. They should both read hot. I am rather surprised though, that the engine CAN keep itself cool enough with a thermostat stuck in the closed position! That would seem bizarre for any vehicle. Good advice on not ignoring it though.:thumbup:

It's a matter of the temp rising, but not so much that a digital gauge would change to some shocking number, but due to the spyder already running hot, and not having much headroom to reach the redline/HOT that it may be a matter of 10 degrees or so, but forever fluctuating during operation or the engine running to pin down a stable reading, once the engine is at operating temp. Besides that I'm assuming most never looked at the operating temp on the digital gauge and compared it to the analogue to see how each compared when it ran fine, until they saw a problem. Comparing the reading to the manual won't be precise as there may be difference in each machine.

I'm not saying the engine stays cool because the thermostat is stuck closed all the way, if you read, if a spyder had one stuck in a position that it was constantly open too far, it won't get warm as it's constantly cooling through circulation. With this in mind, what I'm saying is the thermostat is stuck in a middle position somewhere not full open or closed, which isn't common in cars, but I learned something here, the spyder one is different.

Also if your having problems, and the dealer hasn't done it, and hasn't a clue, try it, for the price, if it works, good, if not, at least you eliminate it as a possibility. I threw it out as a possibility till I ran out of possibilities and aside from replacing the radiator which would be silly, the thermostat was all that's left.

 

[Chupaca]

As I see it..!!

most do not ignore the fact their machines are running hotter but because you have a gas guage that seems to be considerably off and when both are disconnected you get the digital on the dash they do disconnect. Now the digital will show the actual temp and if it is high they check it out. They also replace the analog gauges with others like volt meters etc. The thing is will the tech check the termostat..your post is a reminder to let the dealer know this...:thumbup:

 

[leonml]

most do not ignore the fact their machines are running hotter but because you have a gas guage that seems to be considerably off and when both are disconnected you get the digital on the dash they do disconnect. Now the digital will show the actual temp and if it is high they check it out. They also replace the analog gauges with others like volt meters etc. The thing is will the tech check the termostat..your post is a reminder to let the dealer know this...:thumbup:

I know what you mean with the fuel gauge. Mine bounced, and was replaced. The local tech says even the new ones are an issue for some, again, I blame this on qc in China, etc. I'm used to bouncy fuel gauges on sleds for years. I'm guessing the gauge may not be the only issue, but possibly the type of sensor, float sensor of sorts, and the digital just averaging the reading, where the analogue would be just set to not be as sensitive to the fluctuation perhaps. I'm not saying the Temp gauge couldn't be whack too, but if you know from just riding, that it's getting warmer by just the heat on the right vent side and how the gauge is responding in correlation, I'd say, get the thermostat looked at, and test a new one out. A good mechanic won't charge you if it doesn't resolve a known issue.

Either way, just helping here. On top of all this, I thought about ways to divert more air to the radiator, but due to the fact that if the thermostat isn't opening correctly, it won't make a difference, or even if it is, it won't cool anything until the coolant is hot and runs it through the radiator, in the meantime you would just be cooling dead coolant. I guess at some point the bike would run coolant constant, but at a lower percentage, it would still close off once the temp dropped. I think that a thermostat that opens at a lower temp is a well advised mod, even if the stealer can't or won't advise this, they may not in order to stay emissions compliant, or some BS. From what I've heard, to slip past the emissions, they run the bike hotter, but this may be another spyder owner/owners misinformation.

 

[zbunker]

Hi Temp Issue

It is my advice to all having the temp go up on their spyder temp gauge, to not blow it off as some silly gauge that is off. It is my experience with the exact problem, that my temp just seemed to go up, not a huge amount, but enough, and more than I remembered it ever being, to the point I had the gauge hitting the red zone, or the hot area, and the fan coming on right on or after the black line at that spot on the gauge. For those unplugging the gauges when this happens and blowing it off as a faulty gauge, please read this. The gauge is not the problem. The temp sensor is not the problem. So long as the fan comes on at the right point, which is right at hot, it's fine, but when the gauge never drops to a safe area, or where it used to be, theres a problem. I tested all the things people suggest, and to my surprise, and experience, although usually a thermostat sticks and the engine overheats and you get steam and problems on a car, the spyder actually is able to keep, just cool enough in many conditions to not do this, or go limp mode on you. It also can have a problem just the opposite, where the engine never gets warm enough. I replaced my thermostat after testing and fully understanding the flow of the spyders coolant, and guess what, it fixed my problem. The fan kicks in at the same temp, but this time, it drops the operating temp back to where I remember it being when I bought the bike and drove it for 2 years. The temp gauge gets stuck either too open, or too closed. The new thermostat had a new number on it, but not sure any actually difference or change in operation.

If you have an overheat problem like this, do yourself a favor, pick up a thermostat, or get it replaced.

Hi, I too have a temperature issue. I went from a 2102 RT that had a temperature that ran in the middle of my analog gauge. When the temperature rose to the 3/4 mark the fan would kick on, and the needle would be back into the 1/2 mark in a short time (Keep in mind I'm in Florida, not Wisconsin) Now I have a 2013 RT, and the analog gauge stays constantly in the 3/4 to just under the red line. :yikes: I brought this up to the service guy who sez that this seems to be the case with the '13s. You mention thermostats. Now a question. As with cars, are there different operating temperatures for the thermostats for spiders? Somehow I doubt it, but for you up north, and me down south that may be an option, no?

And on another note. Analog and digital indicators. While it is true with multi-meters, a digital will give a more accurate reading than analog (but stinks when looking at fluctuating readings), I really don't like digital gauges that give readings in 'Bars' as opposed to numbers. I have a car that has a gas gauge with a digital bar read out. You have to go through the entire bar before it disappears. So what is the reading when there is a 1/2 a bar's worth of stuff the gauge is reading? Given that, I prefer to stick with an analog reading.

And still another note. The bouncing gas gauge needle. They seemed to address that on the '13s. But on the 2012, I felt as long as the needle was bouncing, there was gas in the tank (fluctuating reading??) The bounce of the needle would be within a range depending on how much fuel. As you know, the only times the needle didn't bounce was when the tank was either empty or full:roflblack:
Ron