Can-Am Fires
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Wow how did that happen? Was it the ujoint failing?
The investigator said the best he could tell was the battery shifted and the positive terminal contacted the frame heated up and caused the fire. The machine was parked for 3 hours before it went up in flames. It also damaged my fifth wheel and my wife's 500 parked next to it. My insurance company hates me!!!!
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Ouch. Im sure he does hate you, lol. Glad no one was hurt. Keep an eye on the ujoint though, its know that it can fail if not properly serviced, swing around and hit the gas tank and puncture it, causing a fire, seen it happen on a renegade.
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Not sure what years it applies too, but i would watch it anyways, last thing i would want happening lol. Seen pictures of a 08 rene that was fried from that, completely burnt, nothing but the frame left.
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Holy crap! That story blows! But...I am grateful for your willingness to share it. I am going to investigate my 09 for battery stability. You guys will hear more about this in the future.
dmaxlly, welcome to the site and thanks again for sharing the pics.
ccasion14:
dmaxlly, welcome to the site and thanks again for sharing the pics.
ccasion14:
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Wowser, Can-Ams up in flames. Not what I would ahve expected. Good you got it covered and replaced. Thank god for insruance huh???
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From what I recall, this was a problem with several units at one time. I think either a recall was issued or a technical service bulletin, but I am not 100% sure.
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Click Here to visit the only recall in recent years that involves a fire hazard. It has nothing to do with the battery or u-joints.
As I mentioned I will inspect my 09 800XT for battery stability and monitor the u-joint closely. This has def. sparked my interest. (No pun intended).
As I mentioned I will inspect my 09 800XT for battery stability and monitor the u-joint closely. This has def. sparked my interest. (No pun intended).
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Ahh...That may have been it. As I said I remember reading about this happening.
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I dont think the ujoint failure was ever put under recalls, its just from people not servicing the joint, it goes dry and breaks loose, and its right by the gas tank so it runs the risk of hitting it, and fuel pouring all over the hot motor. There are pictures from one forum, dont think im allowed to post the link, but he said he was riding when he felt something warm, turned around and there was a fireball behind him. I would keep a close eye on the joint, probably re-grease often just to make sure it doesnt happen. If the battery has the risk of hitting the frame and shorting, probably heavy foam would help that.
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Very good point GR98. I didn't crawl around underneath too much this evening examining the u-joint referenced, but you can bet your muffler I will be doing just that, very soon.
As far as the battery housing goes; I hadn't given it too much thought until this thread started. I went and examined this and found that the battery was not loose, and it doesn't seem as if it would be easily shifted. At least so much that the terminals would touch metal. HOWEVER, It is pretty wide open. Seems to me that the battery is pretty much just sittin there waitin on a rock to bust it. Additionally, the rubber strap and base plate don't give me a warm and fuzzy. Check out the picture.
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As far as the battery housing goes; I hadn't given it too much thought until this thread started. I went and examined this and found that the battery was not loose, and it doesn't seem as if it would be easily shifted. At least so much that the terminals would touch metal. HOWEVER, It is pretty wide open. Seems to me that the battery is pretty much just sittin there waitin on a rock to bust it. Additionally, the rubber strap and base plate don't give me a warm and fuzzy. Check out the picture.
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That is actually worth looking into. If the dealership weren't so far away I'd visit them to look at the Gade's battery set-up. I will probably end up doing a home made mod unless the Gade set-up is easy and inexpensive.
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3TV, have any input? Any pictures of yours?
the basic setup looks identical from your picture. the only part i'm not sure about would be the hold-down on top of the battery. it's a piece of flat metal on the renegade, that "hooks" into the bike (at the front side of the battery). then, you have the metal rod that runs vertically at the rear, securing the top hold-down.
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I use photobucket. Make a account, and you can upload pictures for free. Pretty easy to use, just click on choose file under uploads, and you can choose which picture you want to be uploaded.
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