Issue shifting gears after heavy rain fall.

Hi,

I am experiencing issues shifting gears after heavy rain fall. After waiting the rain to stop, we decided to continue our ride but shortly after that I was experiencing difficulty changing gears. This was intermittent so I decided to check the oil. Did not notice that it being extremely low but top it up. I recently got an oil change so it is not old oil. Contined our ride but when the rain started again the problems seems to worsen. I am suspecting that some water got into the shifter.

Has anyone ever experienced something similar ? Could water be preventing the shifting of gears ?

I will be going to the nearest dealer tomorrow morning .

Thanks

This sounds quite odd …. what Spyder do you have ( it makes a difference ) ….is it an SE or Manual ??? ….. and How much oil did you have to add ???? Mike :ohyea:

No manual would develop a shifting problem from rain but due to the electronics involved with the Semi automatics it could be water is getting to the actuators or the paddle shifter. Would help to know what the shifting problem is.... hard to shift, not shifting, popping out or into gear etc...:thumbup

I would say Chupaca is on to something with the water shorting stuff out. It happened to me and caused performance issues also.

After about six months, during a routine service, the dealer mechanic found a spark plug wire that was shorting out. It only happened if I drove in rainy conditions.

The actuator area would lead to shifting issues.

The paddle shifter switch is sealed. I know because I spent $250 to swap it out and examined the old one (perfectly good). However, it's connection is on the nose frame of the bike in my case (GS). Not sure where it is on the ST frame, but it is up front. It was a MAJOR PITA to connect that new cable for the paddle switch, but I noticed being up front it probably got wet. I believe that unplugging it cleaned up the contacts well enough. In a very quiet place, press both sides of the paddle switch slow and you should hear it click. Without BUDS to monitor it, you can't definitively rule it out but solid clicking noise *should* tell you it is OK. If you can tear the tupperware off and have long needle nose you should be able to trace down the connector, unplug it, spray it with WD40, as well as other connectors in the area. Can't hurt. Also you can do the same thing (check connectors / clean) on the left side near the shifting unit; and at the TCU computer (gray box you should be able to get to with huge connector) in middle front of bike. Unless rain is just a red herring, that's all I got :). You didn't say what model/ year your bike is. The 998cc engine did have an issue where it would get stuck in a gear and required a kit from BRP (wire jumpers).

I recall this problem being reported long ago. The finding then was water penetration in the paddle shifter unit. Not saying this is the problem here, but it has happened in the past.

If is is an SE version, it is most likely the Gear Position Sensor. It is located fairly low on the byke and most def would get wet. There was a bulletin for them on some models for water intrusion and it was replaced under warranty. There have been other posts by GS/RS owners that have had this problem and had this sensor changed to resolve....

Hi all,

Thanks for all your input . Went to two dealers, Klinger Powersports + Matt's Cycle center and tryed very hard to get me back on the road by trying to locate the parts needed. The mechanic noticed that my shifter was not returning to its proper position. I was able to manually return the shifter to its proper position everytime a shifted without having problems. I will keep doing this until I get back home and see my regular dealer. It looks like i need to replace the left Handel unit unless there is a way to replace the spring (I assume it is a spring inside that brings the shifter back to its proper position )

I have a 2015 ST-S (5 speed semi automatic )
So, bottom line it was not a water issue just a fluke that it happened after the rain.

It has been a week without any shifting problems. It will rain tomorrow so I will ride in the rain to see if the problem will reoccur.

Reading all threads available. Rode past Wednesday (08-12-20) got caught in terrible storm. Friend and I both stopped for Frogg Toggs. We finally got home. Soaked but safe! Dried bikes and self. Lol problem: next day in riding shifter didn’t want to up shift and constantly was down shifting to lower gear at higher rpm than normal. Trike 2011 RTS SE5 11,800 miles. Recently replaced DPS. OUCH. Called dealer, quoted multifunction SS. -399 plus 1.5 to 2 hrs labor. Have had hi power fan on trike drying out an moisture. 2 days later problem still exists. Btw oil level normal, on 1600 miles on this chg. Thanks for any and all help, D-Daddy

The Gear Position Sensors on Spyders of around that vintage were a little prone to dirt/water issues; but at least initially, cleaning &/or drying them could help.... for a while! :rolleyes:

Even if you get it sorted now, I expect that eventually, you will need to replace the GPS - which, IIRC, is not a particularly expensive part nor is it a difficult job. So I'd be looking at getting yourself some Contact Cleaner & giving the Gear Position Sensor a bit of a jiggle & a squirt, re-seat the wiring plugs etc, and basically just clean & dry the sensor & surrounding area before getting too far down the 'dealer & expensive repair' track. Once you've seen how easy it is to access & how it's connected/mounted, you probably won't have too much concern about replacing it yourself, whenever the part comes in.... and with any luck you'll be ryding happily in the meantime! :thumbup:

Ps: that 'malfunction SS -399 doesn't look like an error code to me - they're usually a single alpha character followed by 4 numerics. Are you sure you pulled/reported the error codes correctly? :dontknow:

Sorry about that SS 399, spell checker again, should have been SW. cost $399. Btw, no error codes displayed, Tks, D-Daddy

I'll keep looking, but I was gonna post a link for you to check out too..... only the Bleedin' search link won't copy across & still work!! :gaah:

So.... try searching (with the 'search titles only' checkbox ticked) on 'Gear Position Sensor' or as it's labelled in some of the parts catalogues 'Angle Position Sensor' - there should be a fair few threads to check out returned in the results, but in there I'm pretty sure you'll find info on locating & cleaning that sensor; and there's also info on checking the selector shaft & linkage &heaps more, ijncluding resolving just about every/any problem you'll ever be likely to encounter that has any relationship to this sensor! :thumbup: