2013 Can-Am Spyder RT Safety Recall - Elevated Temperature in Engine Compartment

[robertdgrant]

Wife just picked up her 2013 from the dealer. She said it seems to run cooler, not as much heat on the right leg.
They added two air scoops under the mirrors. Time will tell if the fix is permanent.

 

[dsoileau]

I've moved on to the acceptance stage . . .

After having been shocked by the only so-so effectiveness of the recall modifications, and having gotten angry about what I face having to do on my own dime, I've determined what I can do myself and what I'm going to hire out. I've not had the fuel vapor issue, which the recall seems to have been primarily focused on, so I consider myself lucky. I'm only dealing with excess heat at the floorboards and the passenger footrest. Thanks to everyone for the many suggestions and for having expressed frustrations. Keeping the '13 RT-S seems the best option for now. It's a good thing I love riding it. Now, on to the work at hand.

Dan

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

After having been shocked by the only so-so effectiveness of the recall modifications, and having gotten angry about what I face having to do on my own dime, I've determined what I can do myself and what I'm going to hire out. I've not had the fuel vapor issue, which the recall seems to have been primarily focused on, so I consider myself lucky. I'm only dealing with excess heat at the floorboards and the passenger footrest. Thanks to everyone for the many suggestions and for having expressed frustrations. Keeping the '13 RT-S seems the best option for now. It's a good thing I love riding it. Now, on to the work at hand.

Dan

I'm surprised by your comments considering the success of the recall mod most everyone else has reported, me included. As for the heat on the feet that was never part of the recall issue. The best way to take care of that is the use of the '14 right side grill, cutting a hole in the plastic behind the radiator, and removing the underside panels. Here's what I did: www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?69303-My-upper-heat-block-mod

 

[whiteyron]

Fix

I had my 13 in for the recall update, I have nothing but good to say about BRP, the bike looks great, runs great and cool. My wife and I just put on 300 miles today and the MPG went up to 33 and 30 on the two fill ups, I will not complain about that. Sad to say IMHO a lot of the complainers are just that, me, I'm happy and my wife is happy, so life is good for us. Thanks for listening. :yes::yes::yes::yes::yes::yes::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

 

[KennW]

After having been shocked by the only so-so effectiveness of the recall modifications, and having gotten angry about what I face having to do on my own dime, I've determined what I can do myself and what I'm going to hire out. I've not had the fuel vapor issue, which the recall seems to have been primarily focused on, so I consider myself lucky. I'm only dealing with excess heat at the floorboards and the passenger footrest. Thanks to everyone for the many suggestions and for having expressed frustrations. Keeping the '13 RT-S seems the best option for now. It's a good thing I love riding it. Now, on to the work at hand.

Dan

Hi Dan

Found something on my RT yesterday while trying to figure out what was causing the lower RH side panel (next to my ankle) to buckle.

I finally decided to drop the catalytic converter out and check the gaskets.

Here I might add my 2013 only has 15000 klms on it.

Anyway I found that the clamp on the RT side of the catalytic converter where it connects to header pipe wasn't really all that tight and the gasket was paper thin and pretty much collapsed in my hand when I removed it.

So obviously this has been allowing hot exhausts gasses to escape in this area for quite some time thus causing the body panel by my right ankle to buckle and additional heat to be generated in this general vicinity.

I don't have a pillion so I never had any idea of any extra heat being experienced in that particular area but your pillions experience could be indicative of escaping hot exhaust gasses.

Guess I just put the heat down to the normal hot foot syndrome on the RT 2013's and never noticed the extra heat in that specific area as I always wear riding boots and jeans when out on the RT.

Might add that the LH gasket was in excellent condition.

Maybe worth checking this area on your ride mate !!

Hope you get your RT's issues soon.

Regards
Kenn

 

[dsoileau]

I'm surprised by your comments considering the success of the recall mod most everyone else has reported, me included. As for the heat on the feet that was never part of the recall issue. The best way to take care of that is the use of the '14 right side grill, cutting a hole in the plastic behind the radiator, and removing the underside panels. Here's what I did: www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?69303-My-upper-heat-block-mod

Thanks again for that information. You responded to another of my posts with that suggestion, and I described in reply how the heat I'm referring to is not from the radiator opening. I also indicated how the heat is coming from the side and under the footboard and rear footrest. I'm going to investigate the catalytic converter, as suggested in this thread by KennW. There's simply way too much heat for it to not be a mechanical issue.

Otherwise, I'm happy that the upper tupperware is now considerably cooler. The scoops provide much better air flow in that area.

 

[dsoileau]

I had my 13 in for the recall update, I have nothing but good to say about BRP, the bike looks great, runs great and cool. My wife and I just put on 300 miles today and the MPG went up to 33 and 30 on the two fill ups, I will not complain about that. Sad to say IMHO a lot of the complainers are just that, me, I'm happy and my wife is happy, so life is good for us. Thanks for listening. :yes::yes::yes::yes::yes::yes::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

I'm glad that you only had that recall issue to deal with. BRP is lucky to have such a loyal customer in you. Safe riding. :thumbup:

 

[dsoileau]

Hi Dan

Found something on my RT yesterday while trying to figure out what was causing the lower RH side panel (next to my ankle) to buckle.

I finally decided to drop the catalytic converter out and check the gaskets.

Here I might add my 2013 only has 15000 klms on it.

Anyway I found that the clamp on the RT side of the catalytic converter where it connects to header pipe wasn't really all that tight and the gasket was paper thin and pretty much collapsed in my hand when I removed it.

So obviously this has been allowing hot exhausts gasses to escape in this area for quite some time thus causing the body panel by my right ankle to buckle and additional heat to be generated in this general vicinity.

I don't have a pillion so I never had any idea of any extra heat being experienced in that particular area but your pillions experience could be indicative of escaping hot exhaust gasses.

Guess I just put the heat down to the normal hot foot syndrome on the RT 2013's and never noticed the extra heat in that specific area as I always wear riding boots and jeans when out on the RT.

Might add that the LH gasket was in excellent condition.

Maybe worth checking this area on your ride mate !!

Hope you get your RT's issues soon.

Regards
Kenn

Thanks, Kenn, for that thorough explanation. I believe that the heat source is coming from the exhaust, given its proximity to the metal plate the footboard and footrest are attached to. That metal plate got extremely hot on a recent ride, and a lot of very hot air was coming out of the passenger footrest mounting holes. I'm going to see if the dealership will investigate the matter while it's under warranty.

While riding over the past two months 5,000 miles in high temperatures in the southern states, I became curious about how well the cooling system worked. So I did an experiment while riding a long stretch of road without commercial traffic and intersections, the Natchez Trace. I set the cruise control to maintain a constant 4100 to 4200 rpm for about an hour. The Spyder ran cooler than usual at 1/4 on the temp meter. I'm usually riding at a higher RPM/higher speed, and the temp meter is typically at 3/4. The temp meter has only been at halfway or lower this summer while riding in the rain or in the cooler morning and evening temperatures. Halfway and 3/4 are not indications of problems, of course, and I understand that to be normal. The sustained 1/4 temp reading surprised me, and it convinced me that the cooling system works adequately. Still, adding a fan to the oil cooler may be worth the investment for all the benefits it would provide. Cheers!

 

[Magdave]

Thanks, Kenn, for that thorough explanation. I believe that the heat source is coming from the exhaust, given its proximity to the metal plate the footboard and footrest are attached to. That metal plate got extremely hot on a recent ride, and a lot of very hot air was coming out of the passenger footrest mounting holes. I'm going to see if the dealership will investigate the matter while it's under warranty.

While riding over the past two months 5,000 miles in high temperatures in the southern states, I became curious about how well the cooling system worked. So I did an experiment while riding a long stretch of road without commercial traffic and intersections, the Natchez Trace. I set the cruise control to maintain a constant 4100 to 4200 rpm for about an hour. The Spyder ran cooler than usual at 1/4 on the temp meter. I'm usually riding at a higher RPM/higher speed, and the temp meter is typically at 3/4. The temp meter has only been at halfway or lower this summer while riding in the rain or in the cooler morning and evening temperatures. Halfway and 3/4 are not indications of problems, of course, and I understand that to be normal. The sustained 1/4 temp reading surprised me, and it convinced me that the cooling system works adequately. Still, adding a fan to the oil cooler may be worth the investment for all the benefits it would provide. Cheers!

Those RPM on a 998 motor are a invitation to disaster . The clutch is barely engaged and you will be buying new clutch plates soon. You should be cruising at 5k RPMs that is the beginning of the power band on this engine.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I'm usually riding at a higher RPM/higher speed, and the temp meter is typically at 3/4. The temp meter has only been at halfway or lower this summer while riding in the rain or in the cooler morning and evening temperatures. Halfway and 3/4 are not indications of problems, of course, and I understand that to be normal.

That doesn't sound right to me. Last week while I was riding in 105° temps, mostly in 4th gear at around 65 which, IIRC, is somewhat over 5000 rpm, I don't recall seeing my temp gauge go more than 5 bars out of 9. Most of the time it's at 4 bars.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Those RPM on a 998 motor are a invitation to disaster . The clutch is barely engaged and you will be buying new clutch plates soon. You should be cruising at 5k RPMs that is the beginning of the power band on this engine.

You sure? The clutch is locked at 3600, as I understand it, so anything over that will not be slipping the clutch. The BUDS rpm histogram increments are 0-2000, 2000-4000, 4000-6000, and over 6000, IIRC. The 4000-6000 band is where BRP and the techs want to see the majority of the time. So anything above 4000 is OK. Now the best power may occur at 5000+, but I don't enough about the engine to say I agree or disagree. I will agree though that the engine sounds happiest at 5 to 6k, but it doesn't complain at anything above 4k.

 

[dsoileau]

You sure? The clutch is locked at 3600, as I understand it, so anything over that will not be slipping the clutch. The BUDS rpm histogram increments are 0-2000, 2000-4000, 4000-6000, and over 6000, IIRC. The 4000-6000 band is where BRP and the techs want to see the majority of the time. So anything above 4000 is OK. Now the best power may occur at 5000+, but I don't enough about the engine to say I agree or disagree. I will agree though that the engine sounds happiest at 5 to 6k, but it doesn't complain at anything above 4k.

What's "BUDS" WasWinger? I normally shift above 5k RPM and cruise at the same because it's what feels right. I'm glad to know that this is within the range suggested by BRP. I'm curious about the higher end and that the tach would indicate a range of 0 to 12. That's really high. Could you really run a Can-Am at 12k RPM, even on the race track?

 

[dsoileau]

That doesn't sound right to me. Last week while I was riding in 105° temps, mostly in 4th gear at around 65 which, IIRC, is somewhat over 5000 rpm, I don't recall seeing my temp gauge go more than 5 bars out of 9. Most of the time it's at 4 bars.

Your Spyder runs a lot cooler than mine. Hopefully the changes I plan to make will lower the temperature. ray:

 

[Bob Denman]

You sure? The clutch is locked at 3600, as I understand it, so anything over that will not be slipping the clutch. I will agree though that the engine sounds happiest at 5 to 6k, but it doesn't complain at anything above 4k.

:agree: We've had more than enough hysteria over what is going to positively DESTROY these bikes... :shocked:
Let's try to stick to some facts. :thumbup:

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

What's "BUDS" WasWinger? I normally shift above 5k RPM and cruise at the same because it's what feels right. I'm glad to know that this is within the range suggested by BRP. I'm curious about the higher end and that the tach would indicate a range of 0 to 12. That's really high. Could you really run a Can-Am at 12k RPM, even on the race track?

Something like BRP Utility Diagnostic System. It's the computer program that is used to read and make changes to all the data and software that runs the Spyder. One of the things it does is show the history of the engine operations. You can't rev the engine up to 12k. 'Nanny' prevents over revving. I think the cut off is somewhere below the redline of 9k.

 

[DrewNJ]

9500 for the RT and 10k for the RS

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[Bob Denman]

9500 for the RT? :dontknow:

Are you sure?
I tapped the rev limiter at 9200 with my 2010 RT...
(3rd gear: 83 mph...)

 

[Magdave]

You sure? The clutch is locked at 3600, as I understand it, so anything over that will not be slipping the clutch. The BUDS rpm histogram increments are 0-2000, 2000-4000, 4000-6000, and over 6000, IIRC. The 4000-6000 band is where BRP and the techs want to see the majority of the time. So anything above 4000 is OK. Now the best power may occur at 5000+, but I don't enough about the engine to say I agree or disagree. I will agree though that the engine sounds happiest at 5 to 6k, but it doesn't complain at anything above 4k.

The problem with running at ~4k in any uphill situation will put strain on the drive train will drop the rpms to a dangerous level close to slipping.And who is to say all bikes do not slip after 3600? I certainly do not trust what BRP states there is obviously some wiggle room in any spec they come out with. I NEVER run much if at all below 5k for that reason. I avoid borderline RPMs myself. And cruising in higher gears puts more strain on the clutch system too. I would rather error on the safe side and run at the best RPM.

 

[Magdave]

:agree: We've had more than enough hysteria over what is going to positively DESTROY these bikes... :shocked:
Let's try to stick to some facts. :thumbup:

Bob you are not Scotty. 'nuf said.

 

[DrewNJ]

9500 for the RT? :dontknow:

Are you sure?
I tapped the rev limiter at 9200 with my 2010 RT...
(3rd gear: 83 mph...)

According to BRP for the 13'RT and 12'RS

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