in the shop again

[baldeagle55]

I had my Spyder in the shop for over 5 weeks. It was over flowing through the coolant tank. New coolant tank, radiator and water pump seals were put in. The caller called yesterday, said bike was done . I went to pick it up. I got half way home before it was lossing coolant again through the over flow. So no its back in the shop again. I"m about at my wits end, I don't know why and the dealer has to call Can Am to figure out what else can be the cause. Any ideas?????

 

[dave01]

Water blowing up thru the coolant tank.........Blown head gasket pressurizing the cooling system.

 

[dvmdf]

Water blowing up thru the coolant tank.........Blown head gasket pressurizing the cooling system.

Had the same thing on my Toyota Supra 10yrs ago. Blown head gasket. Did they check the thermostat?

 

[NancysToy]

Could be as simple as the pressure cap not being tightened to the second detent...or bad. Could be as bad news as a bad head gasket. It is too bad your dealer is not top notch. A good tech would be able to find teh cause and take care of this.

 

[Bob Denman]

Let's all hope that it's the cap then...
Good Luck! :thumbup:

 

[baldeagle55]

Had the same thing on my Toyota Supra 10yrs ago. Blown head gasket. Did they check the thermostat?

yes the it but water in the oil or coming from the tail pipe

 

[Bob Denman]

:shocked::hun:

 

[baldeagle55]

Could be as simple as the pressure cap not being tightened to the second detent...or bad. Could be as bad news as a bad head gasket. It is too bad your dealer is not top notch. A good tech would be able to find teh cause and take care of this.

scotty there is no water in the oil and nothing coming out of the tail pipe just coming through the overflow tube

 

[SPYD3R]

01

i think DAVE01 hit the nail on the head.... :2thumbs:

DANG....! ! ! i hate to hear all these problems... i'm coming up on 30,000 miles, and other than a front-end alignment, ZERO issues..... :bowdown: i'll keep say'n a little pray every night for all the SPYD3R's out there....

 

[BajaRon]

Have you checked the radiator cap? That would at lease eliminate one possibilty.

 

[boborgera]

scotty there is no water in the oil and nothing coming out of the tail pipe just coming through the overflow tube

Was your heat gauge maxing out ? If it was,
Then a bad [non opening] Thermostat will blow coolant though the overflow also, That's the first thing the dealer should have checked.:dontknow:

 

[NancysToy]

scotty there is no water in the oil and nothing coming out of the tail pipe just coming through the overflow tube

A blown head gasket could exhibit itself in a variety of ways. I do not think it is one, though. My money is on the radiator cap or a stuck thermosat.

 

[bruiser]

I agree with Scotty. A blown head gasket can cause the engine to run rough. One quick way to test for water in the oil is to pull the dipstick, put a drop of oil on the hot exhaust and if it sizzles theres water in the oil.

 

[Warlock]

A bad head gasket, or cracked head can pressure up the water side and blow it out. I have changed radiators out for this same thing. Hoping this isn't your problem., unless under warranty.
David

 

[gypsy_100]

A blown head gasket could exhibit itself in a variety of ways. I do not think it is one, though. My money is on the radiator cap or a stuck thermosat.

Certainly hope it is the cap or thermostat. Easy and inexpensive.

A proper test for a slight head gasket leak is to remove the spark plug and pressurize the cylinder with an air hose and adaptor. Look for bubbles coming out in the expansion tank. If you see air bubbles, you've got a head gasket leak. Of course on the Spyder, getting to each spark plug with an air hose would not be fun.

We were on a 2,000 mile trip around British Columbia and Alberta when this symptom occurred on an old Honda PC800 (think 3/4-size Gold Wing). Engine ran great as usual. No symptoms at all. Except... We could ride about 1/2 hour and then it would suddenly go from normal temp to overheat on the gage. Tank would be empty. What happened was the slight head gasket leak would over-pressurize the water system and some would leak out past the cap and down the overflow tube which we couldn't see while riding. Then it would be OK until it repressurized again. This would continue until the water system had pumped out a critical amount and then the engine would quickly go into the hot zone. We'd stop, let the engine cool down, add antifreeze and go again. We completed the 2,000 mile ride that way, stopping every half hour. It was a long trip!

We had removed the thermostat and flushed the radiator and cooling system at a gas station with no improvement. Then we added an electrical switch to the fan at an ATV shop so we could turn the fan on manually, again with no improvement. I called my ace Honda mechanic back here in PA and he diagnosed it over the phone. Then we knew why our repairs hadn't made any difference. When we got to Seattle, it went in the shop and they ran the air pressure test and sure enough, bubbles came out in the expansion tank. Complete engine rebuild followed.