Steering Assist

OK, let me preface this by saying I have no problems with my dealer and have had no issues with them. I have a 2010 RT. I started noticing about a month ago that it would at times become very difficult to turn at low speeds like the steering assist was not working. I also noticed this only seem to happen after the bike was heated up. I finally took it to the dealer to have checked. They are telling me that the steering assist unit has a fail safe that shuts it down if it gets to hot. Since I have a Spyderpops heat panel installed (upp panel) and the temps have been over 100 it is causing it to shut down. I have over 4000 miles with the heat blocker installed and tis is the first issue I have had. On the other hand this is the hottest summer I have been rydeing. My dealer has a call in to BRP to verify this is he issue. The point of all this rambling is to ask if anyone else has had an issue like this? Does this sound feasible?

There is protection for both cold and hot temps. This is from the '08 service manual but yours would likely be similar.:thumbup:

Maybe you're trapping too much heat in. Did you remove the underside 'splash pan' panel which is under the radiator? That might help allow heat out the bottom after you've blocked the side.

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Originally Posted by tnhoover

OK, let me preface this by saying I have no problems with my dealer and have had no issues with them. I have a 2010 RT. I started noticing about a month ago that it would at times become very difficult to turn at low speeds like the steering assist was not working. I also noticed this only seem to happen after the bike was heated up. I finally took it to the dealer to have checked. They are telling me that the steering assist unit has a fail safe that shuts it down if it gets to hot. Since I have a Spyderpops heat panel installed (upp panel) and the temps have been over 100 it is causing it to shut down. I have over 4000 miles with the heat blocker installed and tis is the first issue I have had. On the other hand this is the hottest summer I have been rydeing. My dealer has a call in to BRP to verify this is he issue. The point of all this rambling is to ask if anyone else has had an issue like this? Does this sound feasible?

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I dont see how the heat shields could be the culprit. The dps is in front of the block offs, and center. Mine is very hard to turn also. She is at cowtown for this and throttle body replacement.

Thanks for your replies guys. I feel better knowing they may be on he right track. Shouldn't have doubted as they have never let me down before. In answer to the previous question, yes I removed the splash pan when I installed the heat blocker.

Thinking back to Durango. There were lots and lots of Spyders that ran in temperatures well into the hundreds and haven't heard any reports from them with this problem. Doesn't mean there were not any, just haven't heard about them. That said, if it is the sensor and it is responsible for the problem. It may be that it alone is defective in some way. Could be on the sensitive side when it comes to heat. Just a thought.

On my last few rides I have noticed that the DPS seems to not be working well. These have all been hot days. It seems that in a steady state higher speed turn the assist stops working. At first I could not really convince myself it was not working. One ride it would feel "funny" then the next I wouldn't notice anything.

Reading the manual page in the above post, I can see that this is indeed what is happening. Sometimes the assist "fades" a little and sometimes it stops entirely. This has not created any handling issues, just made me wonder what was happening. The curious thing here is that I have over 35k miles on my '08 and I never noticed this until recently.

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Originally Posted by mike3069

On my last few rides I have noticed that the DPS seems to not be working well. These have all been hot days. It seems that in a steady state higher speed turn the assist stops working. At first I could not really convince myself it was not working. One ride it would feel "funny" then the next I wouldn't notice anything.

Reading the manual page in the above post, I can see that this is indeed what is happening. Sometimes the assist "fades" a little and sometimes it stops entirely. This has not created any handling issues, just made me wonder what was happening. The curious thing here is that I have over 35k miles on my '08 and I never noticed this until recently.

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Yes, that is exactly what I am experiencing. I noticed it most on a couple of charity rides where you are going fairly slow and have to negotiate turns at low speed after the Spyder was heated up.

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Originally Posted by mike3069

On my last few rides I have noticed that the DPS seems to not be working well. These have all been hot days. It seems that in a steady state higher speed turn the assist stops working. At first I could not really convince myself it was not working. One ride it would feel "funny" then the next I wouldn't notice anything.

Reading the manual page in the above post, I can see that this is indeed what is happening. Sometimes the assist "fades" a little and sometimes it stops entirely. This has not created any handling issues, just made me wonder what was happening. The curious thing here is that I have over 35k miles on my '08 and I never noticed this until recently.

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Do you use any of the radiator heat blocking mods?

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Originally Posted by Jerbear

Do you use any of the radiator heat blocking mods?

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I have the "Missing air dam" and a home made deflector to send the heat out the hole in the side instead of on my foot. Also the underside panels have been removed. The panels came off @ 5k miles, the deflector went on @ 7.5k miles and the Missing air dam" went on @ 20k miles. I didn't notice this steering issue untill 35k miles.