[zeebill]

Spyderaddict, on Mar 31 2009, 11:48 PM, said:

The Evoluzione race air filter has nothing to do with running 'cooler'. It only allows more O2 into the engine so it can burn more fuel. 5-6 bars shouldn't be of any concern. If your Spyder actually overheats - you'll know it as it will go into limp mode. Have you ever had it go into limp mode?

I notice you say you have a Kewlmetal Spyderweb Radiator Hole Insert, which may restrict airflow. If you're having such serious problems you might want to remove it and see if it helps.

Ok for starters more air means the engine is running slightly leaner which tends to make it run warmer and hopefully more efficiently. So yes the air filter could have an effect on temperature. I doubt the ECU or computer is sensative enough in stock form to put any great measurable amount of fuel into the low range of power to adjust for the increased airflow and am basing my comment on that. Why else would after market O2 sensors be recommended?

Moving on we have synthetic oil in these beasts and that will more than handle 220 degrees of temperature or roughly 5 bars. This engine like many others built today is meant to run hotter than us old farts may be used to liking from our experience many years ago. They have higher temperature thermostats in them and they are supposed to lessen emittions by running hotter and therefore more efficiently. When I raced I ran an air-cooled engine and synthetic oils and we often saw 270 degrees with no problems during the heat of summer and sometimes higher.

Going on to restrictions in airflow I took notice that the brand new Shadow Spyder in the dealers show room has a deflector on the upper A arm along with the lower one that mine has so maybe quietly BRP has begun to address heating problems. This additional deflector would duct more air into the upper body cowlings no doubt at least helping cruising speed cooling and airflow.

I am among the no voters here I might add and find many other things about the Spyder needing attention more then the temperature it runs frankly. I live in WV and while it gets fairly warm here I live in the central highlands at about 1200 feet elevation and it gets nice and cool after the sun goes down. I have seen 5 bars as a maximum so far and had the fan kick very briefly in when I sat at long traffic light. I find that kicking the bike into nuetral and giving it a cold shot of fresh gas while sitting at lights works just fine to keep her cooled down just nice at about 5 bars or 4 bars. I know this won't help the fuel mileage but that stinks anyway so who cares?

The above points tell me the Spyder is in the ball park temperature wise with modern standards considered. My old age and being used to things of yester year say I would like to see it run cooler but I am adaptable and considering what we have here I would grudgingly say the temps are OK. Bill

[TharkunRT]

zeebill, on Jun 30 2009, 06:53 AM, said:

Going on to restrictions in airflow I took notice that the brand new Shadow Spyder in the dealers show room has a deflector on the upper A arm along with the lower one that mine has so maybe quietly BRP has begun to address heating problems. This additional deflector would duct more air into the upper body cowlings no doubt at least helping cruising speed cooling and airflow.

What is the Shadow Spyder ?

[zeebill]

Tharkun#409, on Jul 1 2009, 01:25 PM, said:

What is the Shadow Spyder ?

My dealer has an all black matte finish model in the showroom and when I asked about it they called it their shadow model. I am not interested in another one as this one is hard enough to maintain so I asked nothing l else about it , sorry. Bill

[Marc]

zeebill, on Jul 1 2009, 09:05 PM, said:

My dealer has an all black matte finish model in the showroom and when I asked about it they called it their shadow model. I am not interested in another one as this one is hard enough to maintain so I asked nothing l else about it , sorry. Bill

He must have misspoke, that is the Phantom Black kit you are describing. I am not familiar with any additional air deflectors with that kit.

[TharkunRT]

From the 2009 models I have seen, nothing has been changed or added from the 2008 model, that is why I was inquiring, thought perhaps I missed something.

[2333]

I have also noticed the air foils on the upper control arms of the newer Spyders. They look like they are designed to quiet airflow around the front suspensoin to me. They do look kinda nice though I doubt they have anything to do with cooling.

[Custom_Ken]

Folks,
You may be aware that a few years ago the emissions laws became tighter for all engine manufacturers. In order to meet the tougher emissions laws around the world, they all had to make their engines produce less harmful gasses. The easiest way to achieve this is to ensure full combustion of all fuel that enters the engine, and most manufacturers have taken the route to make the engine run hotter, thus burning off more of the unwanted contaminants in the exhaust charge.
If you notice on the Rotax 990 and 991 series engine, the thermostat is sealed into the cases, so that it is not easily changed after production.

The reason why your engine runs hot is because the thermostat doesn't open until the predetermined temperature by the factory, and I'm afraid that no amount of extra radiators and bigger fans is going to change that, because if the thermostat is closed so that the engine reaches it's factory determined operating temperature no coolant from the radiators is circulating. If you do have larger radiators and fans then, sure they will cool the engine quicker, but only until the thermostat closes again. So you will shorten the period that the engine receives coolant.

BRP like all makers dont a have choice in complying with the emissions laws, so just take cold comfort in the fact that you are helping to make a greener environment.

If you dont believe me, go and take a current model 1000cc Yamaha, Kawasaki, Honda or Suzuki for a ride, and stop at the traffic light for 5 minutes on a hot day. You will have the hair burnt off your legs on them too.

The new Spyder RT has made a good improvement in the heat issue by insulating the rider from it with more fairing panels and metallic reflective padding on the inside of panels, but latent heat will always rise up when you are stationery.

I know this info wont solve your problem, but might stop you searching in the wrong places for a solution.

Cheers

[Donzo]

This may have already been said - I did'nt read all the posts. I put on the Spal fan relay. I have the fan come on 120 seconds after it has gone to 3 bars - before hitting 4 bars - the fan doesnt come on during normal operating/cruising speeds. The fan comes on 1/2 speed at 3+ bars and full speed around 4 bars. Long story short - I never have more than 4 bars regaurdless of the temp and driving situation.
I am very happy with this set up.

The Spyder doesnt need a bigger fan, just to kick on earlier to keep it running cooler.

[spyderme]

ProviderEx, on 02 April 2009 - 09:27 PM, said:

I have never hit limp mode on my spyder so i guess I have never over heated.
but I do hit 6 bars and some 7 on regular bases. I don't think it is so much that the spyder needs a new fan or a bigger fan, i think the spyder needs better programing in that respect.
the fan should kick on at a lower temp and maintain on for a longer period. it seems as if it comes on at the hgih end of the temp instead of midrange or low end of the scale.

My dealer has wanted to run the Spyders he has sold at a lower temp, (gets pretty hot here, Sydney Australia) but has been told by BRP that to meet pollution requirements they have to run the engines hot.
Apparently BRP is adamant they must be run hot. Myself I think I would rather my engine ran at optimum performance temp. To me it's only commonsense that if your engines not running hot it will last longer. Is this why we have to change the oil at 5000K's because it breaks down quickly due to a hot running engine. I know for a fact that that my Spyder runs better on a cool winters day. Must be a reason for that.

[Marc]

spyderme, on 28 March 2010 - 05:52 AM, said:

My dealer has wanted to run the Spyders he has sold at a lower temp, (gets pretty hot here, Sydney Australia) but has been told by BRP that to meet pollution requirements they have to run the engines hot.
Apparently BRP is adamant they must be run hot. Myself I think I would rather my engine ran at optimum performance temp. To me it's only commonsense that if your engines not running hot it will last longer. Is this why we have to change the oil at 5000K's because it breaks down quickly due to a hot running engine. I know for a fact that that my Spyder runs better on a cool winters day. Must be a reason for that.

That sounds a little off to me...running hotter to meet environmental requirements. I haven't noticed a performance difference in different temps on my Spyder.

[mtdoragary]

doctor, on 31 March 2009 - 10:20 AM, said:

not trying to sweep anything. your car gets just as hot. if there were no gauge you would never know the differince. it's just no problem.

No, none of my cars get just as hot. They get up to the thermostatically controlled operating temperature (190 degrees) and stay there. To assume the BRP has everything under control and there is no problem is to follow the company line without thinking for your self. I'm with "newbie". My Spyder is NOT running at optimal temperature and want to DO something about it. I suspect the radiator undersized, but I'm going to try the Spal fan controller before spending big bucks to having a custom radiator built.

[mtdoragary]

Donzo, on 17 March 2010 - 05:35 PM, said:

This may have already been said - I did'nt read all the posts. I put on the Spal fan relay. I have the fan come on 120 seconds after it has gone to 3 bars - before hitting 4 bars - the fan doesnt come on during normal operating/cruising speeds. The fan comes on 1/2 speed at 3+ bars and full speed around 4 bars. Long story short - I never have more than 4 bars regaurdless of the temp and driving situation.
I am very happy with this set up.

The Spyder doesnt need a bigger fan, just to kick on earlier to keep it running cooler.

Thanks; that's what I'm doing next. I already put on Pops stage 2 kit. And I'm also ceramic coating the pipes, which I do on ALL of my bikes!

Attached image(s)

• 

This post has been edited by mtdoragary: 19 September 2010 - 05:49 PM

[mtdoragary]

Custom_Ken, on 05 March 2010 - 08:48 PM, said:

Folks,
You may be aware that a few years ago the emissions laws became tighter for all engine manufacturers. In order to meet the tougher emissions laws around the world, they all had to make their engines produce less harmful gasses. The easiest way to achieve this is to ensure full combustion of all fuel that enters the engine, and most manufacturers have taken the route to make the engine run hotter, thus burning off more of the unwanted contaminants in the exhaust charge.
If you notice on the Rotax 990 and 991 series engine, the thermostat is sealed into the cases, so that it is not easily changed after production.

The reason why your engine runs hot is because the thermostat doesn't open until the predetermined temperature by the factory, and I'm afraid that no amount of extra radiators and bigger fans is going to change that, because if the thermostat is closed so that the engine reaches it's factory determined operating temperature no coolant from the radiators is circulating. If you do have larger radiators and fans then, sure they will cool the engine quicker, but only until the thermostat closes again. So you will shorten the period that the engine receives coolant.

BRP like all makers dont a have choice in complying with the emissions laws, so just take cold comfort in the fact that you are helping to make a greener environment.

If you dont believe me, go and take a current model 1000cc Yamaha, Kawasaki, Honda or Suzuki for a ride, and stop at the traffic light for 5 minutes on a hot day. You will have the hair burnt off your legs on them too.

The new Spyder RT has made a good improvement in the heat issue by insulating the rider from it with more fairing panels and metallic reflective padding on the inside of panels, but latent heat will always rise up when you are stationery.

I know this info wont solve your problem, but might stop you searching in the wrong places for a solution.

Cheers

In a properly designed cooling system, the thermostat opens at the desired coolant temperature and the airflow KEEPS it there. Thats why, in my cars that HAVE temp gauges, the needle goes to 180 (or 190) and STAYS there. I have no issue with the Spyder's thermostat. I have issue with the radiator, ECU and fan's ability to KEEP it at the thermostat's temp. And according to one of the above posts, the real culprit seems to be the ECU. Bypassing it with SPAL's fan controller seems like the right approach to me. It sure would be quicker and more comfortable than waiting for BRP to get off their frozen butts and deal with the heat issues their southernmost customers are facing daily.

[mooneych]

Capt.Jim, on 30 March 2009 - 06:33 PM, said:

I live in S. Fl. and mine get's to five bars often, then the fan starts and goes back to four eventually. I also added WATER WETTER, a water surface tensioner , supposed to lower the temp something like twenty degrees, but i didn't notice any difference on the gauge to any great amount. I have to admit i would like to see it at 3 bars all the time, if it ever got to 6 or 7 bars i would start to get nervous. Are the ones getting to 6 or 7 bars going into limp mode and actually overheating? The spyder has a fan made by SPAL, and they offer a programmable fan controller, #fan DMW V3, but it's $165.00, maybe worth the piece of mind to have it come on at four bars, and there are others out there alot less expensive that will work also. If mine was running at 6 or 7 i would put a temp gauge to see what it was actually running at

I have discovered that I have a SPAL V3 installed as well. During the past Virginia summer, it's been quite warm and the bike has never been above 4 bars. I would like to see some tests with the SPAL to see if it really works.

[WICOHM]

Spyderjockey, on 30 March 2009 - 12:05 PM, said:

I never really had any issues with overheating last summer, but tend to get a little nervous if you get held up in traffic or going to some event with long lines waiting to get in to park and the temp. gauge starts getting 5 then 6 bars. I think it would be a good idea for a more efficent cooling fan.

I own a 2010 Spyder RT and it has a temp gauge different from the RS. I live in South Dakota with high humidity temps. This summer i noticed mine running hot so asked the dealer and he told me they are built like that. We went on vacation thru Ok NM AZ this summer and my temp gauge was on the red line. I stopped at a dealer for service and asked him about it and his answer was the same. I didn't pay anymore attention as I figured under warranty and if it seizes up fine, new motor. Well, after out trip, I got to looking at the manual and decided to remove panels and locate things. My first was the radiator overflow. It was low, so I added 18oz of anti freeze. Why? I have no idea, never noticed anything under the bike when we stopped for gas etc: I had serverce done twice b/4 we left and assumed the dealer looked at this. Apparently not, anway since I have maintained the overflow mine has been over the 1/2 hash mark a couple of time even riding in stop and go traffic. So I think my probelm might be solved, but, I agree they do need a larger radiator and fan with the thermostate at a cooler temp. The bike will run a lot smoother and more efficient