MidLifeCrisis
New member
Anytime it is really, really hot, and you shut off the Spyder for a short while, you risk a limp mode on the restart. The water isn't circulating when the engine is off, and the heat under the bodywork doesn't allow the engine to dissipate heat readily, so the temp goes up and you get an overheated Spyder upon the restart. Lots of vehicles will do this, but the low water volume of the Spyder and other small engines makes them more susceptible to the problem. It happened to me a couple of times on the way home from Durango.
If it happens to you, let the Spyder idle for a couple of minutes. The temp gauge should come down out of the red, and the limp mode should clear. A check engine light might remain. Once the temperature is down to six bars/marks or below, go ahead and shut off the Spyder briefly (until the display shuts down) to reset the fault, and then restart. Everything should be fine from there on. Don't worry about the temperature gauge unless the fan fails to run (check your relay and fuse) or the Spyder hits limp mode from the heat while moving.
I hadn't thought of the low volume of water, I suppose running it longer could have made the difference. I thought I had read six bars was the limp mode limit, but if not that's good to know. I'll probably still back off if I see six and just let things settle down a bit. I don't think the boss is interested in riding in that hot of weather again, but good information to have, just in case we happen to be in the same situation.