"Do Not Ride" Recall

[fredace]

My 2008 semi-auto spyder went into the shop yesterday for its 6k service and steering recall. Got a call from them that they can't release my spyder until they get the part for a ground wire addition, meant to PREVENT FIRES!

And, best thing yet, the part is on backorder until 08/13. So the spyder sits at the dealer for 10 days.

They also told me that people should "trailer" their spyders to their dealer for this, not to ride any more.

WOW. Letters supposedly are in the mail from BRP.

[spy1166]

Just wanted to know if the recall you're talking about is for the later models 2009 or for all .

[SpyderRyder810]

Is your bike the manual or the semi-automatic? Our dealer said the ground wire update was for the semi-automatics.

[Twodog185]

My spyder went into the shop yesterday for its 6k service and steering recall. Got a call from them that they can't release my spyder until they get the part for a ground wire addition, meant to PREVENT FIRES!

And, best thing yet, the part is on backorder until 08/13. So the spyder sits at the dealer for 10 days.

They also told me that people should "trailer" their spyders to their dealer for this, not to ride any more.

WOW. Letters supposedly are in the mail from BRP.

The dealership told you to get on the internet and tell everybody that BRP wants you to make an international alert for all spyder owners to trailer their bikes to the nearest dealership and stop riding them?

There should be some adult supervision on internet forums.

[bone crusher]

I just spoke with my dealer who had just spoken with BRP...

The ground wire is ONLY for the SE5s...not needed for the manuals.

However, the SM5 does have a GDPF (did I get the letters right?) sensor that can be replaced if there are any shifting issues with the SM5.

I'm going in 2 weeks for the DPS and the G-whatever sensor thingy...

[Big Arm]

There should be some adult supervision on internet forums.

[Questions]

The dealership told you to get on the internet and tell everybody that BRP wants you to make an international alert for all spyder owners to trailer their bikes to the nearest dealership and stop riding them?

There should be some adult supervision on internet forums.

Twodog I am not sure why you are questioning this persons alert. While you may think it is excessive his dealer advised them not to ride his spyder and nor should anyone else ride their spyders in for the recall. I think he was trying to warn this spyder community of the possible dangers of riding their spyder prior to the recall being completed. I guess it is true no good deed goes unpunished

[Saluda]

I don't panic and I do take these posts with a grain of salt. That being said I appreciated the info.

[j45p3r]

If there were a recall I think it'd be posted on the BRP site.

[fredace]

I don't panic and I do take these posts with a grain of salt. That being said I appreciated the info.

I wouldn't panic either. I just reported exactly what my dealer told me. If that deserves bashing, well, I just don't know.

[Twodog185]

I wouldn't panic either. I just reported exactly what my dealer told me. If that deserves bashing, well, I just don't know.

Had your dealership known you had access to probably 60% of all spyder owners, and many more perspective buyers, and were going to post his words on the internet, he may well have chosen his words more carefully. BRP probably wouldn't want dealerships posting international "cease and desist" calls for their product.

I'm just saying.

[BajaRon]

Not to discount the post or intension. Thank you for doing this. Still, it is very strange for several reasons.

First, that this dealership and this one Spyder owner seem to be the only ones on the planet that are aware of this leathal situtaion. (Wih the exception of those of us who have read this post).

Seems a somewhat unorthodox and less than efficient method of notification to me.

Second, that ungrounded coils on an SE5 is a fire hazard but the same exact ungrounded coil set is not a fire threat problem on the SM5?

That is because the ungrounded coil set is NOT a fire threat. It is an electronic noise issue that interfears with electronics on the SE5. The SM5 does not use the electronic sensors that are affected by this electronic "Noise". That is why it is not a problem on the SM5.

Third, that a dealership would have to wait for a "Part" to ground the coils. Many have already done this ourselves (including myself and Lamont). It requires extremely generic parts available to most do-it-yourselfers and certainly, any self respecting repair shop. Takes about 10 minutes to accomplish. So what "Part" could they be waiting for?

Since this makes no sense to me I would like to throw in a complete guess. The dealer is trying to buy some time, figures, as most dealers do, that they can tell just about any story and the poor, unsuspecting owner has no way to verify it and no reason to doubt it, and has no idea that this story will find its way to a forum where hundreds of Spyder owners will have access to it.

The next step is for all of this to boomerang on the dealer where he then says that the owner got the story all wrong and they never said it in the first place.

Hope I'm 100% wrong but been there, done that.

More information would be greatly appreciated on this one.

[bone crusher]

The grounding wire is not for a fire hazard...it's for electrical/shifting issues...the dealership probably told the person the wrong thing...

Second, it's only for the SE5s due to this reason...

As I posted above, there is another fix for the manuals, if you want to get it done...

Not to discount the post or intension. Thank you for doing this. Still, it is very strange for several reasons.

First, that this dealership and this one Spyder owner seem to be the only ones on the planet that are aware of this leathal situtaion. (Wih the exception of those of us who have read this post).

Seems a somewhat unorthodox and less than efficient method of notification to me.

Second, that ungrounded coils on an SE5 is a fire hazard but the same exact ungrounded coil set is not a problem on the SM5?

Third, that a dealership would have to wait for a "Part" to ground the coils. Many have already done this ourselves (including myself and Lamont). It requires extremely generic parts available to most do-it-yourselfers and certainly, any self respecting repair shop. Takes about 10 minutes to accomplish. So what "Part" could they be waiting for?

Since this makes no sense to me I would like to throw in a complete guess. The dealer is trying to buy some time, figures, as most dealers do, that they can tell just about any story and the poor, unsuspecting owner has no way to verify it and no reason to doubt it, and has no idea that this story will find its way to a forum where hundreds of Spyder owners will have access to it.

The next step is for all of this to boomerang on the dealer where he then says that the owner got the story all wrong and they never said it in the first place.

Hope I'm 100% wrong but been there, done that.

More information would be greatly appreciated on this one.

[Twodog185]

BajaRon,

I haven't yet installed the ground, although fully capable of doing so. Is there a post or something that you could use to explain the "from here to there" for us with wire and stakeons.

Thanks in advance.

[jimmykjimmy]

My 2008 semi-auto spyder went into the shop yesterday for its 6k service and steering recall. Got a call from them that they can't release my spyder until they get the part for a ground wire addition, meant to PREVENT FIRES!

And, best thing yet, the part is on backorder until 08/13. So the spyder sits at the dealer for 10 days.

They also told me that people should "trailer" their spyders to their dealer for this, not to ride any more.

WOW. Letters supposedly are in the mail from BRP.

I'm getting a small fire extinguisher to put in the trunk. I had the ground wire installed, but who knows if this is the answer!

[CheeseCake]

got to love the internet!

Last time I was at my dealer I asked them about the ground wire issue...
they had no idea what I was talking about...

I did the mod myself with stuff I already had in my Garage....
took me maybe an hour to accomplish...
I would think that a competent dealer could do the same....If they wanted to...

[Firefly]

Not to discount the post or intension. Thank you for doing this. Still, it is very strange for several reasons.

First, that this dealership and this one Spyder owner seem to be the only ones on the planet that are aware of this leathal situtaion. (Wih the exception of those of us who have read this post).

Seems a somewhat unorthodox and less than efficient method of notification to me.

Second, that ungrounded coils on an SE5 is a fire hazard but the same exact ungrounded coil set is not a fire threat problem on the SM5?

That is because the ungrounded coil set is NOT a fire threat. It is an electronic noise issue that interfears with electronics on the SE5. The SM5 does not use the electronic sensors that are affected by this electronic "Noise". That is why it is not a problem on the SM5.

Third, that a dealership would have to wait for a "Part" to ground the coils. Many have already done this ourselves (including myself and Lamont). It requires extremely generic parts available to most do-it-yourselfers and certainly, any self respecting repair shop. Takes about 10 minutes to accomplish. So what "Part" could they be waiting for?

Since this makes no sense to me I would like to throw in a complete guess. The dealer is trying to buy some time, figures, as most dealers do, that they can tell just about any story and the poor, unsuspecting owner has no way to verify it and no reason to doubt it, and has no idea that this story will find its way to a forum where hundreds of Spyder owners will have access to it.

The next step is for all of this to boomerang on the dealer where he then says that the owner got the story all wrong and they never said it in the first place.

Hope I'm 100% wrong but been there, done that.

More information would be greatly appreciated on this one.

Well stated. Whoever this dealer is - they are clueless. There is NO other Recalls on the Spyder other than the Steering and the early Brake issues.

[QuadManiac]

The dealer was simply mistaken or mis-informed. The ground wire fix is common now, most dealers know about it, but it is on backorder from BRP. It is (as said earlier) an attempt to reduce radio frequency interference (RFI) aka electrical noise from causing problems with the computer's communications with the bike's sensors.

There is no correlation between a less than ideally grounded spark coil and fire. All the ground wire does is improve the current path from the coil to the common ground point to reduce electrical noise.

[bone crusher]

The dealer was simply mistaken or mis-informed. The ground wire fix is common now, most dealers know about it, but it is on backorder from BRP. It is (as said earlier) an attempt to reduce radio frequency interference (RFI) aka electrical noise from causing problems with the computer's communications with the bike's sensors.

There is no correlation between a less than ideally grounded spark coil and fire. All the ground wire does is improve the current path from the coil to the common ground point.

[BajaRon]

BajaRon,

I haven't yet installed the ground, although fully capable of doing so. Is there a post or something that you could use to explain the "from here to there" for us with wire and stakeons.

Thanks in advance.

I don't know if anyone has given a step-by-step on this with photos. But it is very easily done. Both Lamont and I have the SM5 but figured it couldn't hurt and was so easily done, why not.

I was concerned that it might interfere with my electronic cruise control which I had to locate pretty close to the coils. And it says to keep the contol head at least 10" away from the coils (which it is, just barely).

There is a grounding bolt/stud located on the left side (sitting on the bike) of the frame tube just infront of the steering shaft (directly infront of the engine). I used that but any good ground on the frame (not the engine) will do.

It takes about and 18" piece of insulated copper wire (14 gauge is fine but larger, or not too much smaller, will work just fine too). Put crimp eyes on both ends that match the grounding stud and the bolt you connect to on the coil.

You have to use a bolt on the coil set that has direct contact to the metal of the coil set. If I remember correctly I used the coil set bolt that mounts to the frame. It is rubber insulated to the frame to reduce vibration which is why the coils are not grounded from the factory.

This bolt does have continuity to the metal frame of the coil (again if I remember correctly). This can be easily checked with a multi-meter or continuity light if you are not sure.

If I have time today I'll take a look at this to double check.

[Twodog185]

Thanks baja...I had thoughts that was it, but wanted confirmation.

[Big Arm]

BajaRon,

I haven't yet installed the ground, although fully capable of doing so. Is there a post or something that you could use to explain the "from here to there" for us with wire and stakeons.

Thanks in advance.

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/s...ight=coil+wire

[SSPSpyder]

Let's not "shoot the messenger", I read everything to get an idea if there is something to worry about, resolution or not, etc., I don't want a censored version. Honest, open communication is why we are here, isn't it?

Also, when the steering issues were first brought to light, BRP, and some members of the various forums, just pooh-poohed it, and look where we are today

[bone crusher]

Let's not "shoot the messenger", I read everything to get an idea if there is something to worry about, resolution or not, etc., I don't want a censored version. Honest, open communication is why we are here, isn't it?

Also, when the steering issues were first brought to light, BRP, and some members of the various forums, just pooh-poohed it, and look where we are today

Awe, come on...someone has to get shot!

Anyway, BRP apparently tested both models and due to the auto shifting mechanisms, the grounding is only needed with the auto...no issues with the manual...people can do the grounding on their own, but there is no need...nothing can get affected as in the autos...

[BajaRon]

Let's not "shoot the messenger"

Description and pictures below are not mine but I think this is a great visual and description. I could not do better so I am posting this from another member's post.

I did the Coil to Center Post fix but the Coil to Oil Radiator is a great method as well.

A bit of an overkill to do both as either will work, but HEY!, why not? Can't hurt.

Look at these pictures and ask yourself. What "Parts" does the dealer have to wait for? Is this a credible explination from a highly trained mechanic who makes their living fixing vehicles?

Originally posted by spyderdylr

First pic shows the ground wires at the coil pack, and the wire to the oil cooler mount. Remember to clear the paint off of the oil tank for a good ground.

Second pic shows the chassis ground. There are 3 wires to it and there is also a star ground washer. It is at the frame member that the steering column passes through.

Third pic is a better side view of the chassis ground. run the wire to the frame and through the existing wire ties along the frame. Be mindful of the exhaust, keep the wires away.