2013 RT Limited frunk latch won't open with the key - any suggestions?

[davos]

Hi, just purchased a 2013 RT Limited and can't open the frunk using the key but can open it on the second or third time with the switch. Had a quick look and there seems to be a lot of play in the cable, any suggestions? Also, does anyone have a replacement part # for the hydraulic seat strut as the seat won't stay up when refueling. The previous owner has spent a lot of money on upgrades and accessories, one being a positive terminal where you can charge the battery but I'm not sure where the negative terminal is, any help is appreciated, David, Albany, Western Australia

[NorwegianRT]

Hi and welcome to the Spyder forum.
I will give you a link to the online part catalogue:

https://can-am-shop.brp.com/on-road/us/en/shop/sales/parts/?aribrand=CAN_ONR_EN_US_USD#

The cylinder ref number is: 708000658

Easy to figure out and find parts for your specific model.

The play in the cable for the frunk latch might be fixable for you, just dig under the plastic around the latch and see what can be done. The other end of the cable is way deep, under the key cylinder.

My RT is a 2012 and the cable for the seat latch corroded stuck and the key opening was not working, so I had to make a manual solution. I will make one for the frunk as well, before the same thing happens to that cable, cos I do not feel like taking half the bike apart to get to the bottom of the key cylinder. As for the negative terminal, you will find it on the right side just beside the fuse box, in front of your brake fluid reservoirs.

Hope this was helpful in some way. And the Forum has a search function that will bring up previous threads about various subjects. (Try search for frunk latch solution to your issue.)

[Peter Aawen]

Hi, just purchased a 2013 RT Limited and can't open the frunk using the key but can open it on the second or third time with the switch. Had a quick look and there seems to be a lot of play in the cable, any suggestions? Also, does anyone have a replacement part # for the hydraulic seat strut as the seat won't stay up when refueling. The previous owner has spent a lot of money on upgrades and accessories, one being a positive terminal where you can charge the battery but I'm not sure where the negative terminal is, any help is appreciated, David, Albany, Western Australia

Hi David, Welcome aboard, and glad to see you posting out here! :thumbup: Did you read the PM I sent earlier?? (if you didn't, then simply click on the Flashing Red 'Notifications' up in the top Right Corner of the page to open your Inbox & select the PM you want to read - and please do respond Yes to the 'Read Receipt' too. ;) )

As for that remote 'Positive Terminal', if it's the one under the Right Hand side (as you're standing in front of the bike facing the open frunk & headlights) vaguely triangular black cover that's hidden under the closed frunk lid just below the LH headlight (when sitting in the bike, which is the usual point of reference! ;) ), then that came from the factory on the 2013 RT's. ;)

Edit: See pics attached below.
1st is the black triangular cover below the LH Headlight under the frunk lid & just above the LH Fog light (or our Oz spec LH Low Beam light!);
2nd is that black cover removed;
3rd shows the Red capped Positive Terminal on the Left of the pic, close to the centre of the bike, while the exposed nut on the Negative Terminal is clearly visible toward the Right, away from the centre of the bike & closer to the wheel .

I believe the negative terminal under the seat/in front of the brake fluid reservoirs that Martin is talking about in his post up there ^ was only on the pre-2013 bikes, like his 2012 RT - I'm pretty sure that all the 2013's moved the battery out from under the seat & into the cubby hole in the bottom/back of the frunk, and the 2013 RT's (and possibly only the 2013's) got that particular 'Red capped Remote Positive Terminal' thing shown in the pics up under the headlight (altho maybe the 2013-2015-ish 'run-out' V-Twin powered RS & ST models got it too?? :dontknow:) while the Negative Terminal that goes with that Red Capped Positive Terminal iscas shown, just on the other end of that same block (about 8-10" away from the centre of the bike - look for the battery sized lead held down by a deep nut! ;) ), only the Remote Negative Terminal nut comes with NO snazzy coloured placcy cover - it's just naked, unlike the Remote Positive Terminal! :rolleyes: But with them both just there, it's pretty easy to connect your battery tender charge-tail to them & they do come in handy for a lot of other things too! :ohyea:

Regardless of that being the Positive Terminal you're talking about or not, there's a Negative Terminal just there under that cover in a fairly accessible position, but you do hafta open the frunk, pop up & then remove a push-pin, and take the black cover off to get at it. :thumbup:

As for your frunk not opening via the cable, certainly in the early days, many had the other issue - the dual switch (Park Brake one way/Frunk Opener the other way!) wouldn't reliably trigger the solenoid to open the latch, maybe working one time out of ten or more tries; replacement switches were pretty expensive; rarely worked reliably as well; and never really lasted long anyway; so many used the key pretty much exclusively to open the frunk! That might be why your Key no longer works - it's possibly worn out one end and now the cable needs replacing. If you can see the frunk latch end of the cable move but not really connecting with anything when the key is pressed in and turned, then maybe the squared off lead-like elbow/kink on the end of the cable has worn &/or broken off; or maybe the cable's just diconnected/come off one end - if that's the case, as I said in the PM, I do hope it's come off the frunk end and not the key end, cos it's a bit of a pain to get at the key end! :banghead:

All that said, there's a lot of info going back some years in quite a few earlier threads about all these issues, so it's well worth your while to do some searching and a bit of reading - if you do, you'll find there's a lot of people who've fitted an extra 'Hidden Release Cable' to allow them to open their frunk if the key &/or switched solenoid fails; and also they frequently add one to the Seat release to ensure they can always un-latch the seat to re-fuel! Plus, there's a few quite recent threads with the applicable replacement BRP numbers and a/mkt alternative Part Numbers about those seat struts too. ;)

So it ALWAYS pays to do at least some searching and a bit of reading BEFORE you start a new thread, especially on something like these problems that are very likely to be common issues. After all, the Forum's been around since 2008, so there's not too much that hasn't been asked and answered, or at least discussed already, so you will often find the answers to these types of questions without resorting to starting yet another thread on a subject that has already been addressed! :thumbup:

Good Luck getting your 2013 RT Ltd sorted, and it is really good to see another Ozzie here, especially one riding what is arguably the absofreakinlutely BEST Spyder out there, especially after the Heat Recall work's been done and extra especially if you've had an ECU Upgrade done to unleash some of that significant amount of power & performance that BRP wouldn't let us access in their stock Spyders, despite the proven capability and reliability when it was permitted to be used in other platforms! :2thumbs: Mind you, there's a very slight chance that I might be a tiny bit biased about this, but I don't think so... :cheers: And I'm rarely wrong! :p :roflblack:

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Forget the OEM release (ie. ignition switch lock) method ..... It was flawed from the start ..... it's super easy to ADD a manual release that you will see is a better way to open the Frunk (and also the seat latch) .... look at the frunk release mechanism .... see the long arm that goes towards the rear of the bike .... remove the mechanism and drill a hole at the end, this makes it easier to open using a separate cable (Home Depot sells very thin woven wire cable that is covered by plastic & sold by the foot - get 2 ft. also two ferules that you can attach permanently to the cable) .... I stretched the cable to the left side of the bike (right side if you are facing it) added a small piece of wood to use as pull and put that end over the plastic grill ... I can easily get to it to open the Frunk.... No one can see it and it stays there even over a thousand bumps in the road ..... good luck .... Mike :thumbup:

[davos]

Lots of great info', many thanks, much appreciated David