I dunno if this is preaching to the choir or not, but for those who aren't up to speed on this stuff, if your coolant level is halfway between FILL & FULL when the engine hasn't been run for a while, saaay, in over 12 hours, then you really don't need to top it up to FULL, cos all that'll do is dump that extra coolant out when the engine warms up next!! But if it's halfway between FILL & FULL within seconds of stopping or while everything is hot, then you might want to keep an eye on the level to make sure it's not dropping while you continue to ride, and wait til it's cold again to check the level to see where it goes, cos if it's below the FILL mark when it's cold, then you certainly need to top it up....
Anywhere above the FILL mark when it's cold means the coolant level is OK, & as mentioned, filling it to the FULL mark when it's cold but already above the FILL mark will almost certainly mean that it's gonna dump some if not all of that extra coolant when it warms up & expands the coolant next time you ride!! As you thought, a loose cap could certainly be the cause of that puddle under the Spyder when you went to go home; but even without that, if your lunch-time ride was the first real 'warm day' ride it's had for a while, then it is quite likely that it's simply the first time it's actually got warm for a bit & because of that the coolant expanded & it got rid of that extra coolant from when it got topped up when the level was somewhere between FILL & FULL while it was warm before you put it away last!! My Missus does that to me all the time - altho I guess I should be thankful that she checks the oil & coolant herself! She's good that way, even checks the tire pressures sometimes! :2thumbs:
Our RT is a 2013 Ltd with the V-twin motor, so it uses a bit of oil, & my Missus knows to check the oil AFTER every ride, so she does that, taking her time, then once the oil's all done she checks the coolant.... Of course, by the time she gets around to doing that the coolant's already started to shrink back down from the FULL & expanded level after the recent ride, so it's down from FULL a bit but she still tops it up, every time! So of course, the next time I ride, once everything gets warm enough it piddles all that 'extra' coolant outta the overflow on me, giving me a heart attack until I remember who checked the coolant last! :gaah:
It doesn't matter which engine your Spyder (or Ryker) has, if your coolant is ABOVE the FILL mark when it's cold, you don't need to put any more coolant in! But if it's BELOW the FILL mark when cold, add enough to get it well above, but do realise that any coolant you add above it's normal cold level will simply overflow once the coolant expands enough to reach the FULL Level when it gets warm/hot - and as things cool down again & contract after your ride, the coolant level will also fall down towards the FILL mark as it contracts. So any level above the FILL mark when cold is fine! :thumbup:
