Low Battery?

[PamT]

I only have 3K miles on my 2015 F3. Last summer my Spyder started fine, I drove about 2 miles and noticed my gear number read E and I had several warning lights on the dash. Went to turn around to go home, engine died. Waited a few minutes and it started again with no errors. Called dealer, they said battery was low. Changed battery and all OK. At that point I bought a battery tender which was on all winter. I have ridden a few times this spring and now the same thing is happening. Gear reads E, numerous errors coming across dash...transmission problem, electronic error, DSS...engine choked out when it tried to shift down to stop. I got home finally and checked for fault codes, it said no active fault codes. Bought new battery (where I bought battery they said old one was still good) and seems fine. I thought the battery tender would keep it in good shape. I'm leary going very far from home with this coming out of no where. Any thoughts?

[Mikey]

If the battery is load testing fine, then you may want to go over your terminal connections, both ends of your ground wire should be clean and shiny!! And put some star washers on the battery connections. Make sure when you take the ground to frame connection apart the frame side is clean and free of paint! Good luck

[Piratezz]

Mikey is right on the money, clean the battery cables/ connections, and you should be good to go, starwasher do the trick so they don't rattle loose...

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

If the battery is load testing fine, then you may want to go over your terminal connections, both ends of your ground wire should be clean and shiny!! And put some star washers on the battery connections. Make sure when you take the ground to frame connection apart the frame side is clean and free of paint! Good luck

+ 2 on the Star washers ..... " Gear Position Sensor " ( GPS ) should be OK with such a low mileage spyder .... " no active fault codes " .... doesn't mean they weren't logged into the computer when you checked .... Every error that occurs is logged into the computer, a good Tech can find them using " BUDS "..... I had an issue with my " Paddle shifter - SE 5 trans. " that the dealer Tech couldn't find .... At SpyderFest 2014 a BRP Tech found 240 error codes logged in !!! .. The Dealer Tech contacted the BRP Tech and all was solved ( under warranty )..... good luck .... Mike

[ARtraveler]

and on your first post. To bad it is an issue post.

Advice above good. Get battery to a full charge. Make sure the connections are tight, and employ the use of star washers to keep them that way. That should do the job. If not, you may need to do a load test and check out the battery further.

[KX5062]

Not all battery tenders are created equal. Some of the el cheapo battery tenders don't work well or even worse can drain the battery. That happened to me years ago. The battery tender worked for several years and then over the course of a winter didn't work and actually drained the battery. There was no outward sign the tender was malfunctioning, it just was, and it ruined a brand new battery.

[PamT]

Thanks for the advice. I added star washers to my battery terminals and made sure they were clean. However, I have no idea where or how to get to the ground terminals. Rode yesterday and all went well but would like to take care of any possible problems.

[UtahPete]

Thanks for the advice. I added star washers to my battery terminals and made sure they were clean. However, I have no idea where or how to get to the ground terminals. Rode yesterday and all went well but would like to take care of any possible problems.

I don't think you should be concerned about the frame to ground terminals. They are never touched during any routine maintenance or accessory install.

[UtahPete]

I only have 3K miles on my 2015 F3. Last summer my Spyder started fine, I drove about 2 miles and noticed my gear number read E and I had several warning lights on the dash. Went to turn around to go home, engine died. Waited a few minutes and it started again with no errors. Called dealer, they said battery was low. Changed battery and all OK. At that point I bought a battery tender which was on all winter. I have ridden a few times this spring and now the same thing is happening. Gear reads E, numerous errors coming across dash...transmission problem, electronic error, DSS...engine choked out when it tried to shift down to stop. I got home finally and checked for fault codes, it said no active fault codes. Bought new battery (where I bought battery they said old one was still good) and seems fine. I thought the battery tender would keep it in good shape. I'm leary going very far from home with this coming out of no where. Any thoughts?

There is a wide range of quality and specs on battery tenders. Which one do you have?

[Peter Aawen]

I don't think you should be concerned about the frame to ground terminals. They are never touched during any routine maintenance or accessory install.

But the 'earth/frame ends' can be moved/loosened simply by removing & replacing the battery; or by doing anything else in the area around wherever they are bolted!

A while back, after replacing the battery some time earlier, I had DPS issues develop over time on my Spyder - issues that were ultimately found to be caused by the loose earth bolt on the other end of the cable - but no one had been anywhere near it, it was only the movement of the cable required to replace the battery that was apparently enough to juuust loosen the bolt on the far end, and then the vibrations of ryding did the rest over the next 100 miles or so.... It seems that while BRP might use a heap of yellow locktite in some places that seemingly don't really need or warrant anywhere near that much, they then install NO 'anti-loosen' features in some places that REALLY DO warrant such protection!!

So PamT, I'd STRONGLY SUGGEST that you check & if necessary fit star washers to BOTH ENDS of your battery cables - the battery ends on the terminals, AND the frame/earth ends too! It's easy enough to find the earth points, simply follow the cable from the battery terminals until you find where they are bolted to the frame, then ensure the terminals are tight on the cable and they bolt securely with a suitable locking/contact washer onto the clean, bare metal of the frame.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

But the 'earth/frame ends' can be moved/loosened simply by removing & replacing the battery; or by doing anything else in the area around wherever they are bolted!

A while back, after replacing the battery some time earlier, I had DPS issues develop over time on my Spyder - issues that were ultimately found to be caused by the loose earth bolt on the other end of the cable - but no one had been anywhere near it, it was only the movement of the cable required to replace the battery that was apparently enough to juuust loosen the bolt on the far end, and then the vibrations of ryding did the rest over the next 100 miles or so.... It seems that while BRP might use a heap of yellow locktite in some places that seemingly don't really need or warrant anywhere near that much, they then install NO 'anti-loosen' features in some places that REALLY DO warrant such protection!!

So PamT, I'd STRONGLY SUGGEST that you check & if necessary fit star washers to BOTH ENDS of your battery cables - the battery ends on the terminals, AND the frame/earth ends too! It's easy enough to find the earth points, simply follow the cable from the battery terminals until you find where they are bolted to the frame, then ensure the terminals are tight on the cable and they bolt securely with a suitable locking/contact washer onto the clean, bare metal of the frame.

.... STAR washers are your friends ..... but BRP doesn't believe that so they don't use them ..... I would and do ..... Mike

[Little Blue]

+ 1 on the Star Washers. It's the only way to get good electrical connections for your Spyder. .....

Good Luck with your Mission.