2012 RT Won't Start with full battery, keeps resetting computer

[spidergreg]

Help, I have been down since Feb with knee surgeries but I have been starting the Spyder every couple of weeks. The other day I went out to the garage to fire up the Spyder. But, this time, it did not start. When I turn the key on, everything seems to be ok, but when I press the start button there is a click sound from the center to rear of the bike and then the bike reboots. I have generated a video of what is happening... Video

During this video I have disconnected the battery and connected a fully charged battery. Please give me any clues cause or ideas that you might have to resolve this issue. if I can't figure this out I will have to load her up and take her to the dealer 3.5hrs away. Also, please pardon the dust on my machine, I hate to see her this way, but I have been out of commission for awhile.

[Bfromla]

I saw a orange screen in the video but did not get to read it, please what did it say?

[2dogs]

You have a near dead battery. The 2014 and newer 1330 spyders have an alternator to charge the battery rather than a stator I believe. Anyway try charging your battery at about 4 amps per hour until it's full and then try and start it. If that works then charge your battery up again and put a battery tender on it to keep it up. Batteries don't take kindly to sitting around half full for long periods at a time. Even though your other battery may show 12v's, it may not have the amps to do the job. Good luck and let us know if that does or doesn't work. You may just need a new battery.

[Chupaca]

Bfromla
generally when you get an orange screen you will have codes to explain. Check for codes...

[BoilerAnimal]

If you kept starting your Spyder every couple of weeks and it's not on a battery tender, the battery is very likely run down. Take your battery to Auto Zone, O'Reilly's or somewhere similar and have it load tested.

Also,as Bfromla asked, what does the orange screen say? It may tell you everything you need to know to solve your problem. Good luck and keep us posted!

[Peter Aawen]

It certainly sounds like a low battery or a battery not standing up under the load?!?

The thing that traps many who park their bikes up for a few months and then religiously start them up every couple of weeks 'to keep the battery in good nick' is that they don't realise that just starting the motor takes about 30 minutes of running above fast idle to replace JUST the charge depleted by that start, and it takes some more running to recharge any other charge depletion since the last good run!! That's compounded on bikes like the V-twin powered Spyders, which don't have alternators that can pump a lot of juice in fairly quickly if the battery is down, instead relying on slower & lower charge rate magneto type charge systems instead. And THAT is really why battery tenders are such a great idea!!

So unless your 'starting every couple of weeks' also involved more than 30 mins of running the engine after that start at revs above fast idle; or you had it on a battery tender & put it back on a batterh tender; &/or any other battery used had more than about 12.7 volts of charge & that level didn't drop below about 12 volts while the starter was actually cranking, then flat battery/batteries are very likely the cause or at least contributing to your failure to start!!

A dead or dying starter solenoid or failure in one or more of the relays involved could also be the issue or contributing, but that vid sure sounded like a low battery just not having the OOOMPH to kick over the starter once the major load was put on it, & the dash display re-booting as it did is a pretty classic symptom....

[youngers]

wow was thinking I could just zip over there and help out , but WOW a bit of a far drive from me ! your connections are they good and clean ? grounding connections ... ( o.k. this one is going too sound like I am either a genius , or nutty as the professor ) put cycle in say 2nd gear , and just make the cycle bump , or rock not a lot , just a bump , 2 people can just make it move a 1/2 inch in motion , what we are looking for is a hard sound , or something dropping out of a bind ... as in your starter might ( a long shot ) might be stuck engaged , a little rocking might let her go ! I know sounds like I should hush -up and go back too cartoons ... ( but if your batteries are good and charged , and your connections are solid , something is jammed up like jelly .... ) but hopefully just the batteries are not strong enough to kick over the starter

[spidergreg]

I saw a orange screen in the video but did not get to read it, please what did it say?

The orange screen is stating that the passenger sensor is unplugged. I have tried with both plugged in and not plugged in same result.

[spidergreg]

Thanks for the responses so far, I am using a stand alone battery for the video with the YUSA unhooked on the bike. it's possible that the stand alone battery is also weak under load, So to verify if it is a power issue, can I jump the Spyder from a running car or truck?

[Peter Aawen]

..... So to verify if it is a power issue, can I jump the Spyder from a running car or truck?

Sure can! But it doesn't need to be running, & unless you've got a voltage surge suppressing set of jumper leads, it's probably safer for both vehicles (the car/truck & your Spyder) that you just jump start your Spyder from a 'known good' battery in another vehicle without the other vehicle's engine running!! That way, there's less chance of frying someone's ECU!

[spidergreg]

Sure can! But it doesn't need to be running, & unless you've got a voltage surge suppressing set of jumper leads, it's probably safer for both vehicles (the car/truck & your Spyder) that you just jump start your Spyder from a 'known good' battery in another vehicle without the other vehicle's engine running!! That way, there's less chance of frying someone's ECU!

Thanks, I'll try that today

[ofdave]

your battery is 6 years old.
Time for a new one.
As Peter noted, the occasional starting was no help in keeping the battery charged.
I suggest buying a new battery and not fiddling with jumping, or trying to charge it, etc. You risk screwing something up. These are very sensitive to proper voltage.
6 years is good for any battery. Especially one that seldom gets ridden enough to maintain a charge..

[Easy Rider]

but I have been starting the Spyder every couple of weeks.

During this video I have disconnected the battery and connected a fully charged battery.

First, starting an engine just to let it idle for a while is a BAD thing to do. Often you do not recover the charge in the battery that you used to start it AND you cause condensation inside the engine and exhaust that is not burned off.

Then.....before you spend money on anything else, you need to fully charge BOTH of the batteries involved and have them load tested.
Unless and until you do that you don't really know if you are working with a "good" battery or not.

Just because a "smart" charger says a battery is full, doesn't mean that it is fully functional.

And finally, when jumping anything from anything, NEITHER vehicle should be running. Too much potential for damage.
Note: If it is -20 F and you need a little extra power, it's OK to start one vehicle AFTER you are sure the cables are connected right.

[spidergreg]

Ok, jumping resulted in the same thing... I'm off to purchase a new battery and will install it later today.

I have however gotten two error codes this time,
P0504
P0556

anyone know what these are?

[Easy Rider]

Ok, jumping resulted in the same thing...

You NEED a voltmeter.....or a trip to the shop.

IF.....pushing the start button causes the solenoid to close and apply voltage to the starter.....BUT the voltage at the starter and the battery then goes down to less than 10 Volts and nothing happens:
The battery is weak.
OR The starter is shorted or locked up
OR the engine is seized.

IF the solenoid clicks but no voltage appears at the starter, then the solenoid is bad. That assumes that there is voltage on the big cable from the battery of course.

Whatever codes you get when the battery voltage is suspect probably are useless.....and might just confuse the issue.

[Peter Aawen]

For what its worth, if I got Spyder Codes right, P0504 says 'ECM module - signal not plausible, Brake signal vs brake pressue correlation check failed'; while P0556 says 'Brake Pressure on Can-bus not valid. If no valid brake pressure on Can-bus is available from VCM a system check can not be realized. Therefore the condition for a non plausible brake signal is set after a certain time. Check fuse F5. Other than checking the fuse and the switch BUDS is required.'

None of which seemingly helps much.... unless maybe your brake fluid is low (even just a 1/2 a teaspoon down can be an issue at times?!) or that fuse F5 has gone, &/or possibly the engine/gearbox is jammed in gear so the starter can't turn it over??!? That might (possibly? vaguely?!) be the impact of the fluid being too low or gummy with age?

Have you had your foot on the brake while you've been trying the starter &/or trying the jump start? When was the last time your brake fluid was changed? Or as Youngers suggested earlier, have you tried the rocking thing to see if it moves at all (that'll show PDQ if something is jammed or not!?) Possibly grasping at straws with all this, & there's no guarantee my reading of the codes is correct, but again FWIW I'd still be guessing/punting on it being dead/dying batteries or a dud solenoid/relay; altho this latest info suggests the brakes/brake pressure might be the root cause or possibly it's just a dodgy code or two caused by the low voltage?

Over to you. Sorry I can't give you an easy solution!

[ARtraveler]

Another sign of a bad battery is that BAD codes pop up. EG. Seat sensor unplugged.

[youngers]

not looking like a push the cycle type fix , I am guessing ( boy that daffy he is sumpting right ? )

[UtahPete]

I saw a orange screen in the video but did not get to read it, please what did it say?

It was the warning for his trunk being open. He said that in the video.

Was there another one I missed?

[BoilerAnimal]

You can see the cargo open warning at the beginning and at about 32 seconds you can see an orange warning screen appear briefly.

[spidergreg]

Well, after trying everything that you guys said, I went and bought a new battery and installed it and viola! She started! I was so afraid that I was just buying a battery for nothing since the battery was only 2 years old, and even jumping the bike did not start it. BUT bike started with the new battery and we took a short 20 mile ride and realized just how much we missed riding. We will be riding for the next two weeks until my third knee surgery on June 27th (actually knee replacement, third in 8 months on the same leg).

Thanks again for all of your responses and be safe riding!

[ottawa-rider]

As others have mentioned above, if you have not done so yet and you'll be laid up for some time once again, you should invest in a battery maintainer (Battery Tender).

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Well, after trying everything that you guys said, I went and bought a new battery and installed it and viola! She started! I was so afraid that I was just buying a battery for nothing since the battery was only 2 years old, and even jumping the bike did not start it. BUT bike started with the new battery and we took a short 20 mile ride and realized just how much we missed riding. We will be riding for the next two weeks until my third knee surgery on June 27th (actually knee replacement, third in 8 months on the same leg).

Thanks again for all of your responses and be safe riding!

FYI if and when this happens again. If the battery voltage drops below 10.5 when you hit the starter the computer pukes and gives you the black screen. Things ain't like what they used to be. There was a time if the battery voltage was enough to crank the motor the car or bike would probably start. At 10.5 volts the battery would probably crank the engine but the computer controls everything, even the starting process. If it drops below 10.5 you're done for!!

[billybovine]

FYI if and when this happens again. If the battery voltage drops below 10.5 when you hit the starter the computer pukes and gives you the black screen. Things ain't like what they used to be. There was a time if the battery voltage was enough to crank the motor the car or bike would probably start. At 10.5 volts the battery would probably crank the engine but the computer controls everything, even the starting process. If it drops below 10.5 you're done for!!

I was wondering where you got the 10.5V from. Everything I have everseen says the cluster will reboot at 10V. Batteries are considered still good if it can maintain a minimum of 10V. No fault codes are recorded unless the voltage drops below 10V.

[kamper]

Spyders are not the only ones that act stupid when battery gets low. My daughters yamaha R6 acted the same till we put a new batery in then it acted like a new bike so were not alone on this one. Glad to see it was an easy fix.