Orange spyder skid light comes on

[MMcc]

Today while riding home in the rain I turned right at the corner and then a quick left onto my street. The engine stopped and the orange light showing a skidding spyder was lit. Pulled to the curb and tried a few times to get it restarted but nothing. Then I remembered turn the key on and off 3 times quickly. Kind of like the wizard of oz. "Click you heels 3 times ------". I did that and it started and ran for about 1 block and then it quit again. Same idiot light. Redid the 3 on and off trick and the light went off and the spyder started. Rode it the rest of the way home without a problem. Then later when the rain had quit I went out and started it up and rode a few miles with no problems. Any ideas what happened? I don't think I took the turns to quickly but I was in somewhat of a rush to get out of the rain. Maybe nanny kicked in or perhaps moisture, who knows. :helpsmilie:

[SpyderDog65]

U just got outta sorts and your VSS kicked in don't know why it stalled for though :-((

[SpyderDog65]

Also if u take the key out and walk at least three feet away for a few min it resets the comp least Its worked for me one tome when I was on the other side of Lake Tahoe and it did the same thing too me cept it didn't stall :-))

[NancysToy]

Your Spyder was just doing its job. It is surpising sometimes how rain affects the Spyder, and how quickly the rear wheel slips and the traction control kicks in. The turn could also have cause sieways slippage, or overturning the bars, which would activate other aspects of the VSS. The warning light is merely an indication that the nanny is active, so you can ride more carefully if you feel it is prudent.

[SpyderWolf]

Your Spyder was just doing its job. It is surpising sometimes how rain affects the Spyder, and how quickly the rear wheel slips and the traction control kicks in. The turn could also have cause sieways slippage, or overturning the bars, which would activate other aspects of the VSS. The warning light is merely an indication that the nanny is active, so you can ride more carefully if you feel it is prudent.

:agree:

The Nanny was keeping you out of trouble. You can activate at will many times by turning the bars sharply in one direction and getting on the throttle. At times if you attempt to make a left hand turn through an intersection and you are running fast enough to make the Spyder lean, the icon will light up and the engine will begin Jay Braking in order to keep your wheels down as well. The rain can make it happen much faster.

[Lunar Rover]

Whey I ride to work I park the Spyder in a maintenance yard that looks as though it was last paved in 1927. Recently I've had some momentary DPS cut-outs which I attributed to a battery that needs tending but now I'm wondering if maybe it has to do with hitting these small potholes that happen to be filled with water this time of year.

Is a momentary DPS cut-out part of the normal function of the VSS if it detects crappy pavement?

[NancysToy]

Whey I ride to work I park the Spyder in a maintenance yard that looks as though it was last paved in 1927. Recently I've had some momentary DPS cut-outs which I attributed to a battery that needs tending but now I'm wondering if maybe it has to do with hitting these small potholes that happen to be filled with water this time of year.

Is a momentary DPS cut-out part of the normal function of the VSS if it detects crappy pavement?
I would say "No". Have you had the DPS recall (replacement) done? Classic sign of a DPS or electrical problem. Check your battery connections and other connectors first, as well as your relays. If problem continues, see your dealer.

[Raptor]

I would say "No". Have you had the DPS recall (replacement) done? Classic sign of a DPS or electrical problem. Check your battery connections and other connectors first, as well as your relays. If problem continues, see your dealer.

:agree: sounds like the DPS itself or a cracked/pinched wire that feeds it. And nothing brings out electrical gremlins like water. A very small crack in the insulation can become a big problem when water enters into the equation. Those jolts are probably not helping either!

As far as the DPS/VSS inter-action causing the Spyder to stall as a result of wheel slippage or rotation factors seems strange as well. I would think that is the last thing you would want to have happen.

I got into a hell of a slide in the wet some weeks back and was somehow able to recover and keep going with no stalls or strange behavior of any kind. I don't even remember seeing an indicator on the cluster, but it was probably there - I wasn't really looking at that at the time! Generally speaking I have found the Spyder to be fairly stout, but of course no two are the same...

[MMcc]

A little more information on my problem. The DPS was replaced because I had lots of problems, but that was weeks ago. I was on a ride home from the dealer about having the rear brake pads replaced when the skid light and stall happened. The tech determined that the rotor was glazed and he did not want to install the gen 3 pads. Service manager told me that the 08 did have some rear brake problems that could cause the rear rotor to glaze like that. He tried to contact BRP and was on hold for over 1 hours but was not able to speak to anyone there. The reason for the pad replacement was the loud squeal whenever I backed up. I had kind of fixed the brake squeal when braking going forward by filing the grooves that were worn into the locating pins holding the pads in place. Carlo did not feel that was a good idea and since I had order new pads he wanted the dealer to check for other causes before the new pads were installed. I have been out riding twice since the stall problem and have not had any problems. I did try to get the rear to skid on some turns with loose gravel. Not been able to duplicate the stall problem. Being it was now the holidays there was no-one at the dealer to speak to when I called about the stall problem. Will check back with them next week. I did send Carlo an email about the rotor glaze and asked for a replacement under warranty.

[Motavar]

MMcc,

When the fault happened did it display VSS, DPS, Limp, Check Engine, and the End of the world is near warnings? When you turned the key off did it fail to turn off the instrument panel off?

If so, then most likely its the main relay in the front compartment. I've been running into that with my 09 Phantom where the VSS kicks in and the relay can't handle it and shuts the whole engine down (locks up the computer). I've had to pull the relay out to get the instrument cluster to power off.

To solve the issue I swapped the relay with another one in the panel. Waiting on new ones to arrive this week.

But yeah.. that 3 on/off thing works great :P

[Raptor]

MMcc,

When the fault happened did it display VSS, DPS, Limp, Check Engine, and the End of the world is near warnings? When you turned the key off did it fail to turn off the instrument panel off?

If so, then most likely its the main relay in the front compartment. I've been running into that with my 09 Phantom where the VSS kicks in and the relay can't handle it and shuts the whole engine down (locks up the computer). I've had to pull the relay out to get the instrument cluster to power off.

To solve the issue I swapped the relay with another one in the panel. Waiting on new ones to arrive this week.

This is good information. Thank you! Sounds like in your case the relay was weak as opposed to surges from the circuit burning it out. SO far 14 has been good in that regard. It puts a higher premium on good technique and being smooth thereby keeping the VSS out of the picture. But if you go hard it's GOING to happen! :D

Since hearing more about relay issues I carry a spare with me now in both bikes.